Reputation in “The Crucible”:
Something Dear; A Reputation
In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, I found myself struggling to grasp the full intensity he portrayed. One intense subject he really pinpointed was reputation. Reputation seemed to be a major focus of almost all they characters in this literary work. Whether it be reputation as a good member of the Salem Massachusetts community, or reputation as most successful preacher, the townspeople seemed to revolve around reputation. Many townspeople including John Proctor, Reverend Parris, as well as Giles Corey. This was not always necessary a bad thing, as it kept them in check, but in this case, the longing for a good reputation overpowered many lives, literally. Too much want for a triumphant
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By sleeping with Abigail Williams he had completely lost his honor and all hope for a reputable reputation, but towards the end of the story, John begins to realize his sins and the mess that has been made by one foolish act. John slowly beings to attempt redemption to his prestige. In the final act of this performance, John has a choice to make; save his own life by signing a confession to witchcraft, or be sentenced to hang if he did not. At first he began to lie, signing the false confession, then he snatched it back, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows my how black my sins are! It is enough!” John does not want his name and his false confession hanging in public for all to see, his name means too much to him. John also talks about the effects it would have on his sons, “I have three children-how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” In John’s eyes it would be more honorable to die than to hang his lie for all to see. All would know it was a lie, and how could John raise his sons, living a lie? In short, John’s reputation meant more to him than his …show more content…
Giles Corey, your reputation may be the one thing you treasure most. The Crucible was filled with characters that held a reputation that meant something of great importance to them. From selfish reputations like Parris, to honorable reputations like Proctor, and even to reputations that show how much you truly care for something or someone like Corey. Any way you look at it, a reputation is something held dear, for negative or positive
How far would a typical person go just to keep their reputation clean? Two specific characters in the play The Crucible by, Arthur Miller, were involved with actions that would be considered terrible sins just to keep their name and reputation safe. Some ways which they were similar, and some ways which were different.
Every character in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible had their fair share of sins throughout the play. There is betrayal, lechery, lying, death, and cowardice.
At the beginning of the play, it is revealed that John has an affair with Abigail Williams, a 17 year old girl who is Reverend Parris’s niece. He states “ I have known her, sir. I have known her.” as he confesses his major flaw to the court. This is considered adultery, and he could be hanged for it. This is a flaw that will eventually cause his death. If he would’ve instantly told the court what he had done, he could’ve saved many lives from the noose as well as deeming Abigail a fraud rather than a savior. But he keeps his secret away from the court, and it turns into a whole witchcraft fiasco because of Abigail.
Everyone is willing to go some distance to preserve their reputation and integrity but how far they go is determined by their strength of character. John Proctor and Reverend Parris represent the polar opposite ways people go about protecting their integrity. Though they went about different ways of preserving their dignity, they both showed an immense conviction to do so. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses John Proctor and Reverend Parris to reinforce the substantial effect that risk to a person’s reputation has on their thoughts and actions.
John Proctor faces many decisions in response to his moral dilemma to try to save his life. One of the difficult decisions John makes is to reveal that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and thereby has committed adultery. If the local court convicts him of this crime, he faces being jailed. Also by admitting this crime, John reveals a weakness in his character. This flaw in his personality will make it harder for him to stand up in the community as an honorable and believable person. In trying to convince others that witchcraft does not exist John’s dishonesty with his wife will make him less convincing to the community.
One such character is Giles Corey who neither confessed nor denied his accusation. He fiercely defended his answer till the very end when he was being pressed with stones and he uttered his last words, “More weight.” (Miller 135). Another supporting character that showed strength in her morals was Rebecca Nurse who responded, “Why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot. I cannot.” (Miller 140). Nurse stands by her beliefs, and repeats it for intensification. She even criticized Proctor for considering a confession and remarked, “God send his mercy on you!” (Miller
Throughout the Crucible, maintaining their reputations in their society is far more important to the people. For example, when Paris’s daughter falls into a coma after dancing in the forest, he is more concerned on how the people of the town would think of him being associated with Witchcraft rather than his daughter’s own health. Another example of the town worrying more about their reputation is when Proctor’s wife get’s sent to jail, because he hesitates in admitting that he had an affair with Abigail just so people won’t judge him for his mistakes. In today’s society, people are just as, or if not more focused about their reputation, for instance today’s celebrities have atrocious behavior just because they get publicity and fame
The Crucible, a play written in the 1950’s by American playwright, Arthur Miller, is based on the chaotic witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1600’s. Abigail, a sinful protagonist in the play, is the root to the myriad problems that conspire throughout the play. She is to blame for the executions of innocent citizens, and for acts of lechery between marriages. An important reappearing theme throughout the play is one’s reputation and the extremes the characters would take in order to preserve their name. The characters in The Crucible, particularly, Parris, John Proctor, and Judge Danforth, use the sanctity of their names to prioritize how they will look in the public eye, rather than what is beneficial to them individually.
The Puritan obsession with reputation generally prompts a person into taking selfish actions in order maintain a good reputation among their peers. Two characters in The Crucible who are portrayed as more obsessed with their reputations than most are Reverend Parris and Tituba.
Reputation is a very important thing in life. You would like to keep a good reputation for the things you do in life, because if you have a bad reputation then people may not like you for all the bad things you have done. In the Crucible, reputation seemed like it was a really huge deal. Everybody didn’t want to have a reputation of being a witch or an evil person.
Reputation is a publicly recognized name of someone or something that had or has been specified. Reputation plays a huge part in the Crucible in public and private situations. The private situations it plays fear of guilt by association becoming harmful. Public reputation is when the townspeople of Salem must fear the sins of friends and associates will taint their names. Arthur Miller, author of the Crucible portrays various characters desired to protect their respective reputations by getting past the strict moral values. Reverend Parris, John Proctor and Judge Danforth find their own method of saving, building or keeping their good reputation status one way or another.
Does society’s elucidation of you demarcate everything about who you are? Arthur Miller explores how the community of 1692 Salem, Massachusetts’ people’s reputation defines everything about them in The Crucible.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller many people’s own reputation have effects on the story. People are inherently concerned about how others think about them and sometimes this causes issues. When people become too concerned about their reputation things can start to go downhill and people can become more absorbed. Sometimes a person even gets to a point where they are so concerned about how they are viewed by society that they lie and compromise other people's positions. They might even end up going to drastic measures in order to make people think highly of them. Throughout the play, many different characters care too much about their reputations which leads to trouble in the story. The most obvious characters who demonstrate this are Abigail
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.
In The Crucible, there are consistent themes of the importance of reputation in society during the Salem Witch Trials. Within the town of Salem women specifically were expected to keep and maintain a good image by their actions, words, etc. Due to the witch trials, women were robbed of their good-woman title, and their honor. Within the play, Miller continues to allude to the idea of morals, religion, standards, expectations, all while tying them into one’s reputation.