Handle with care
Our reputations are beliefs and opinions that are held by our friends, family and even complete strangers about bout us. Someone’s reputation determines how they will be seen before even meeting them, almost like a first impression. Which is why your reputation is something you need to handle with care and protect, however some will go to extremes in doing this for instance the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. It is a look into what it was like back in the 1800’s during the Salem witch trails. During this play Miller makes the strong argument of the importance of reputation and the countless ways people will protect it. In the play this occurs with many of the characters some more than others yet it’s of importance to everyone in some way or another. The protection of one’s reputation also occurs outside of the play, an example of this would be in politics and sports. In the play The Crucible, Author Miller makes the argument that reputation is incredibly important and people will go to great lengths such as betrayal and lying to protect it, quite often ones morality will become altered when protecting their reputation.
Protecting ones reputation can cause them to betray others witch will allow them to alter there morality. Right away we get a glimpse of what Paris values in his life when he tries to get information out of Abigail of what made Betty sick, “Abigail… now my ministry’s at stake … and perhaps your cousin’s life” (Miller 11). With this statement we can see that Paris places more importance in his church then his own daughter. Miller is communicating that the people of Salem are more concerned with their reputations then the important people in their lives. In a way Paris is betraying his d...
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...ns in regular life. For instance, recently the famous bike rider Lance Armstrong finally confessed that he had been lying about taking performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong lied to the public and to himself about taking the substances; the reason for his untruthfulness is so his good name will be preserved. However his lies eventually caught up to him.
The concept of protecting your reputation by lying or betraying others is in sense ironic; in order to keep people from seeing you as someone that is corrupt you do those corrupt actions. The importance of someone’s reputation and the distance they will go to keep it untainted is based on the individual but as Miller showed us it’s easy for someone to go against what they believe in and become corrupt. Humans naturally want others to see them in a positive way, which is why you must handle your reputation with care.
The absolute power of aristocracies is a scourge on society that corrupts minds and imposes too much of an impact on the lives of the majority. At the time when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, society was subject to McCarthyism, the unquestionable authoritative force that could and did ruin the lives of those suspected of communism. Yet, of these people who suffered the brunt of punishment from authority, a numerous percentage of them displayed hypocrisy in accusing others out of survival. In The Crucible, Miller reflects this idea of hypocrisy in an environment where unquestionable authority reigns. His work displays the essentiality in rising out of such an insincere state and acting upon what
In the crucible, I believe reputation and respect was interwoven in the term of the play the ‘‘crucible’’. Reputation and Respect can also be a theme or a thematic idea in the play, reputation is very essential in a town where social status is synonymously to ones competence to follow religious rules. Your standing is what enables you to live as one in a community where everyone is bound to rules and inevitable sequential instructions. Many characters for example, john proctor and reverend parris, base their action on the motive to protect their reputation which is only exclusive to them. People like reverend parris saw respect as what made them important or valuable in a town like Salem, this additionally imprinting to his character as a very conventional man.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible reputation was a critical factor for characters like John Proctor and Reverend Parris. As a hard working farmer, John Proctor cared very much about having a good name. Reverend Parris had a good reason to care about his reputation since he was a very respected religious leader. I don’t think reputation is everything but for these characters it was very important.
Would you be willing to die to keep your reputation clean? Would you besmirch the good name of other people for your own gain? These are the questions characters from the Crucible had to ask themselves. In The crucible by Arthur Miller, Young girls went around accusing people of witchery for their own gain this caused many people to falsely be hanged on accusations of witchery, and for some people it meant tainting their name or be hanged, like in the case of John Proctor. Arthur miller shows us in the crucible that one’s reputation is one of the most important things in
Honor, dignity, and integrity are traits that are becoming more and more rare in our society. The Crucible, a play written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, is based on the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and parallels the Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s. In the play, Miller attempts to focus his themes around traits such as honor, dignity, and integrity, and as a result, the theme "is it better to die honorably or live dishonorably" becomes vital to the story and well conveyed throughout it. The characters that exemplify this idea are John Proctor and Giles Corey, both of whom die by the end of the play, and Reverend John Hale and Abigail Williams, who live through the trials.
“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and it only takes one bad one to lose it” (Benjamin Franklin). Whether for fear of losing reputation or out of motivation to gain it, mankind has always had the natural desire of the respect of their people.This ardor for reputation has, over time, provoked humanity to aspire towards noble qualities. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates these effects of reputation, particularly in the case of John Proctor. John Proctor’s willingness and desire to sustain his moral character, consequently inclining him towards the balance that he possesses prior to his quietus, despite his “tragic flaw”, lead to his choices throughout The Crucible and justify his stubbornness at Miller’s denouement.
From the very start of the text we can see that reputation is a key factor in Salem, it is first noticed at the beginning of act one, when Reverend Parris’s daughter is sick due to unknown reasons, however this particular detail does not show that reputation is a motivating factor. It is the fact that Parris had found Betty dancing in the woods with various other girls from the village and at least one of them were naked. This event could prove Betty practising witchcraft, but also be the reason for her falling ill. Shortly after this event it is revealed to the reader that Parris is ashamed to call witchcraft in the “holy” town of Salem, let alone his own household, he states that he has “enemies” that if they find out this information would
Whether attempting to maintain safe relations, keep family out of harms way or to die with honor, each character placed reputation above religious morals to keep a good name in society. The importance of reputation makes a prominent appearance in today’s society as well as in the Crucible. For example, if a politician makes one bad move, it can end their career for good, which reflects what Parris’s fear of losing his place in society because of accusations of witchcraft in his family. Reputation is immensely important in 1692, and possible even more so, in modern
The reputation of a person is very important to their standing in the community, and especially in a religious community. In the play the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows the importance of social standing by religious beliefs and contemporary social dynamics. Therefore, the play was based off of a historical context, witchcraft, some characters represent as a scapegoat while others act as an antithesis of being a witch to meet the society’s standards.
The theme of reputation and quest for people is also portrayed clearly in The Crucible. In the old days, children were considered unimportant. They weren't allowed to speak until given permission to, and they didn't make important decisions at all. However, during the witch court trials, Abigail and other girls had the power to say who was innocent and who was guilty. Probably, for the first time in their lives, they had power over Salem and they wanted to maintain it. Moreover, the authorities of Salem were afraid of losing authorities and power. For example, the judges, Governor Danforth and Ezekiel Cheever didn't want to admit that they were being fooled by a bunch of girls so they insisted that witchcraft existed in the town of Salem.
“Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away from.” by Arthur Miller. All great works provide a way to reach in and grab the audience through the reoccurring themes like, greed, jealousy, reputation and hypocrisy. Arthur Miller had one of those great works and it was called “The Crucible”. The play was based off of the witch trials that happened in Salem in the year of 1962. Some of the characters were actual characters involved in the witch trials. Arthur Miller wrote this play during the time of the “Red Scare”. Miller wrote The Crucible because he wanted to turn the The Salem Witch Trials into
Great events, whether they are beneficial or tragic ones, bring change in a person. These scenarios can give one an entirely new perspective on life, and turn around his way of thinking. Events such as the Salem Witch Trials show the people involved what they could not see before. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor gain valuable insight into themselves, as well as others.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller has been considered a modern classic for some time now. Millions of theaters have performed the show, and it has now become a staple in educational theater. The Playmakers Repertory Company decided to take on The Crucible for this year 's season, and director Desdemona Chiang took the modern classic and reinvented it to be something fresh and interesting.
Reputation is a company’s biggest asset so you would think that organisations would avoid engaging in any sort of business that would put its reputation in jeopardy. Nevertheless, many organisations find their credibility destroyed due to practices that are harmful and illegal, which could land a CEO’s in prison.
Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. A famous American poet once said: “Oh reputation dearer far than life”. James Russell Lowell highlights the importance of reputation by declaring it more important than even human life itself. This idea is also found in ‘The Crucible’ as many characters will be challenged between telling the truth and dying, or saving their reputation. In ‘The Crucible’, this theme beholds a key position in the unrolling of the story as an impression of control over the outcome of people’s lives is created by its importance.