The Greatest Story Ever Told

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The Greatest Story ever told

Arthur Miller is the author to The Crucible; a play set in Massachusetts during the witch-hunts of the 1690s. The townspeople accused others of being witches they would later be tried and hanged. If they agreed to being a witch they were to be set free. One main character is John Proctor. Due to his high pride, when he was accused, he would not give up his own name and say that he was a witch. He is a true tragic hero because of one error in his life which he made led to his downfall.

First, the most important event of the play is John’s sin of adultery. In lust of passion John wandered from his sick wife and found himself in bed with Abigail Williams, his house servant. His wife, Elizabeth, would later of his infidelity and forgave him, but he never forgave himself. Also, Abigail was in love with John and believed that he had feelings for her also, but John was happy with his wife. Abigail and some of her friends went to the forest to call upon the Devil that was how the whole thing got started. Abigail thought that if John’s wife was dead John would come running with open arms. Abigail knew of only one way to kill Elizabeth and that was through the devil and attempted witchcraft. John knew that the girls had been dancing in the forest, and Abigail told him that it was all fun and games. John knew that Abigail had been up to no good but he didn’t try to stop the girls from lying about the many people they claimed to “see walking the devil”. John allowed the girls to go on accusing innocent people when he knew that they were lying. This is also one of John’s mistakes by letting them get away with this; it ultimately led to his demise.

John had to now battle evil and was defeated. For exa...

... middle of paper ...

...n Proctor is not perfect. John showed his beliefs by taking responsibility for his actions, risking his life in the battle against Abigail Williams, and doing none of it out of selfishness. John was not trying to save himself at first, dishonoring his name did no good for him. John stood up for the innocent townspeople that were wrongly accused by the girls of the town. John Proctor is as true a tragic hero.

Book Sources:

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible (Penguin Classics). New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.

Rovere, Richard Halworth. Senator Joe McCarthy. Berkeley: University of California, 1995.

Wilson, Lori Lee. Salem witch trials. Minneapolis: Lerner Pub., 1997.

Internet Sources:

WWW.THECRUCIBLE.COM. Web. 12 Jan. 2010. .

SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 13 Jan. 2010. .

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