Breaking Society’s Rules
American literature often examines people and motives. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, and in Arthur Miller’s dramatic classic, The Crucible, people and motives often depict patterns of Puritans struggling for life during a precarious time.
Guilt and shame can tear a person's soul away. The inevitable consequence of sin is the immediate reaction of guilt, shame, and remorse. For example: John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Reverend Dimmesdale have all committed a sin or sins and are feeling extremely guilty about it. They want to be forgiven, but they have no strength and are cowards. Forgiveness can only be obtained when these characters find the strength within themselves to speak the truth.
The first to commit a sin is John Proctor, the husband of Elizabeth Proctor. John is a good man until Abigail Williams comes into his life. John lives in a house feeling empty and thinking his wife does not love him. Lust is a very powerful feeling, and it tempts John right into bed with Abigail. Unfortunately once he commits adultery, Elizabeth does not forgive him. She finds ways to punish John and make him feel more remorseful. For example, Reverend Hale asks John to recite the commandments, and he forgets one, Elizabeth then says sarcastically, “Adultery, John.” Elizabeth responds in such a manner that John feels overwhelming pain in his heart.
Naturally, Elizabeth feels guilty as well. She tells John, “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery.” Elizabeth feels as though she is to blame for John committing adultery. She is a mother and, of course, Elizabeth will be consumed with taking care of their children, cooking, cleaning, etc. At first, Elizabeth does not recognize John pulling away from her and turning towards Abigail. Soon after Elizabeth finds out John committed adultery with Abby, she fires her. Later on in the novel Elizabeth is accused of being a witch and John goes to court to prove Abigail is lying.
Neatby, H. B. (2005). KING, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE. Retrieved February 15, 2014, from Biographi: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/king_william_lyon_mackenzie_17E.html
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s longest serving prime minister, is known for both the great contributions he brought to Canada and for the scandals he was involved in. The one event that makes him most famous to Canadians is the King-Byng Affair of 1926. During this event, Mackenzie King asked Lord Byng to dissolve parliament in order to force a new election as he had lost with a minority. Because King’s intentions were to regain a majority government, Byng refused out of distrust for King’s plans and King was replaced in power by the Conservatives. While William Lyon Mackenzie King’s actions were in accordance with all the laws regarding his power as Prime Minister, he acted for selfish reasons thus putting him in the wrong. Mackenzie King’s and Lord Byng’s histories will be quickly analyzed to understand their actions in the affair. Right after, King’s options and reasons for dissolving parliament will be analyzed. Thirdly, Byng’s options and reasons for refusing King’s request will be researched. Once enough evidence has been collected, the end results of this affair will be discussed and the conclusion as to whether or not King was right to go against responsible government will be made.
The video Round Trip, The Near Death Experience is an interesting and informative documentary. Five people were interviewed about their near death experience. Catherine was sick for several years; John almost drown from scuba diving, Mary had complications during childbirth, Alena was in an accident and Allan’s heart flutter during surgery. These five people near dead experience were similar. It is remarkable to hear them speak about their experience and how they are not afraid of death. The near death experience changed their lives. Catherine stated that she sees the future, she will know about something before it happens; also her religious structure became stronger. They all saw a bright light and experience a divine feeling and the power
Basically there is not an evil bone in her body. Elizabeth lied about John’s adultery to protect him, saying he’s a “goodly man” (113). Yes, that does not sound like that big of a deal, but for Elizabeth this is a monumental thing. She's going against everything she believes in, even her own morals of being a good christian morals and following the ten commandments to protect John. This is shows her selflessness on a higher level because she such a strong will women. Another example of her selflessness is when she asks John to “forgive” (137) her for being “cold wife” (137). Elizabeth does this because she begins to believe that she is the reason John committed adultery. Elizabeth said “ it were a cold house I kept” (137), which goes to show she believed she was the reactant which led to the product of Johns mistake. Selflessness is shown because first, she is taking on the responsibility so John does not worry and blame himself. In the movie she saved his life for a little longer because she gave him some self worth and made him feel like a better person. If she would not have told John it was her fault he would of died with the burden of ruining the family, but instead she took the responsibility. Secondly she comes to think that because she was self conscious and did not lover herself she was “cold” (137) or did not let her husband love her. This made her believe that she made him feel like there was little compassion between him and her which led John to give “a promise that a stallion gives a mare” (62) to Abigail. Elizabeth is all around a selfless human being. Always trying to make it better for the other person and take the responsibility on her self which is opposite of
This statement is true for John Proctor, he judges himself harshly for his sins and is disgusted with himself. John Proctor is a foil to most characters in the play. They are conformists and submissive as a result of the restrictive lifestyle they had to lead.
Early in the play, Elizabeth discovered a secret affair between her husband, John Proctor, and their servant, Abby. This led Elizabeth to fire Abigail on the spot and continue with John. Elizabeth is done with Abby, claiming “I have forgot Abigail, and - And I”(Miller 54). Elizabeth wants to move on into the future, but Abigail is stuck in the past. This allows Elizabeth’s loyalty to her spouse to shine. The fact that Abigail, and even John Proctor have committed adultery, and Elizabeth kept John, shows how true Elizabeth is to her morals. In fact, it is the wrongdoings of Abigail that show through Elizabeth in a positive manner. This is the first case where we see a side of Elizabeth that is brought out through the actions of Abigail Williams. However, Elizabeth this may seem like the end of Abigail Williams, but it is far from the end. Abby feels she is the right woman for John Proctor, not Elizabeth. In an act of revenge, Abigail blames a needle found in her stomach on Elizabeth, claiming witchcraft, and having Elizabeth arrested. When Ezekiel Cheever bears an arrest warrant, Elizabeth is surprisingly calm, stating “John- I think I must go with them”(Miller 77).
Abigail commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband who is John Proctor. In The Crucible John was thirty years of age and Abigail who was just seventeen. Even with a huge age difference Abigail seems to think she has a high level of maturity to do anything she wants. John and Elizabeth hired Abigail, until Elizabeth found out about his affair and fired Abigail. John told Abigail that he was done with the affair and that he will never touch her again. “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again”. (Miller 23) Abigail would claim that John was in love with her and that she also loved him too, but John never really loved Abigail he only saw lust.
At the beginning of the play Abigail’s motive is to save herself and her reputation; at the end of the play she realizes that she only wants to be with John. She even accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft to get rid of her, so she could be with him. According to the text “Why-! The girl is murder! She must be ripped out of this world!” Page 76 Act Two. This quote shows that Elizabeth knows that Abigail wants to get rid of her. Elizabeth changes by how she treats John throughout the play. At the beginning she is cold towards John because of his affair with Abigail. Towards the end when he finally confesses that he committed lechery; she treats him better by loving and caring more for him. At the end she just wants John to be free with in his decision with the confession. According to the text “I am not your judge, I cannot be. Do as you will, do as you will.” Page 138 Act. This quote proves Elizabeth cannot be the judge of John in this decision, but it is his will.
Neatby, H. Blair. "King, William Lyon Mackenzie." Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Last modified 2005. Accessed September 25, 2013. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/king_william_lyon_mackenzie_17E.html.
Her only fault was that she was insecure and found it hard to forgive John for the affair with Abigail. Towards the end of the play she confesses to John, “I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me!” It could be believed that she felt this way because John didn’t show her passion as he did Abigail. If John would have taught Elizabeth in the ways of passion and the excitement of wanting maybe he would not have had the affair with Abigail. Elizabeth could have filled his every desire if he would have taken the time to explore the nuances of love, lust and passion with his wife. John could not get his needs fulfilled while Elizabeth was sick, thus with Abigail taking over the responsibilities in the household she was able to snare John with her beauty and
When we are first introduced to John Proctor, we learn of his affair with Abigail Williams, Abigail's involvement in the accusations of witchcraft, and of John's desire to do what is honorable. Because of John's desire to do what is honorable, he ends the affair with Abigail and begins to attempt to repair his broken marriage. Abigail's jealously of Elizabeth and desire to be John's wife leads to Elizabeth's name being mentioned in court. Abigail's mention of Elizabeth's name in court reveals her attempt to get rid of Elizabeth for she knows Elizabeth will claim innocence and be hung if she does. When word reaches the Proctors, about Abigail's mentioning of Elizabeth's name in court, John concludes that Abigail's motive is to kill Elizabeth. Knowing this information, John is faced with his first difficult decision, save his reputation, keep his affair a secret, and let the accusations continue, or ruin his reputation, tell of his affair, and end the girls' accusations. Not wanting to ruin his good name, John decides to hold his tongue and because of this the trials continue and more accusations are made, some of which lead to his wife's and his friends arrest for witchcraft and bewitchment.
In the mid nineteenth century America was going through an age of reform. The person who would be the center of these reforms would be the women in society. Women soon realized that in order to make sure that all the reforms went through they would need more power and influence in society. The oppression and discrimination the women felt in this era launched the women into create the women’s right movement. The women fought so zealously for their rights it would be impossible for them not to achieve their goals. The sacrifices, suffering, and criticism that the women activist made would be so that the future generations would benefit the future generations.
Having a near death experience is life changing and can change your perspective on life by 180 degrees. A near death experience (NDE) defined by the International Association of Near Death studies Inc, or IANDS Inc is a profound psychological event that may occur to a person close to death.(). One day you could be preoccupied with all the work and stress building up that you do not realize that you need to slow down and take a breath until that breath is gone. There are some people who experience “death” and are fortunate enough to be brought back to life. NDEs transforms people into a whole new person psychologically and physiologically and although it seems it is for the better it usually backfires and affect them in harmful and negative ways.
When the play sets in action, John has had a past affair with his servant, Abigail Williams. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, is very forgiving of his sin, but John has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else, in fear of ruining his good name and reputation. The affair between John and Abigail causes the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. After the affair, Abigail becomes horribly jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor realizes there is only one way to stop all the witch hysteria in Salem, and that would be to admit to adultery which is considered a sin. . Also in the beginning R...
John Proctor is both flawed and honorable. After having an affair with Abigail. His wife has been unable to forgive him for this, and their marriage is unhappy, John has the guilt from his past affair weighing down on his shoulders, he apologizes for the mistake but it is shown that the guilt is still there “I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!” this shows that the guilt is crushing him that he has been trying to apologized for his wrong doings but hasn’t been forgiven he needs his wife to forget about the pass and move on he will do anything to show his wife he is devoted to her. John Proctor knows what he will do knowing that now his wife is charged with witchcraft he must go to the court and prove to them that this is all a hoax and this his wife is not involved in witchcraft and that Abigail is making this all up. John makes a ...