Few experiences are as helpful for us to understand ourselves and our world as reading a great work of literature. When we read about interesting characters, we learn how to recognize the faults that affect us all. In Arthur Miller's play, the Crucible ,an examination of the characters teachers us about the dangers of hypocrisy, peer pressure, and personal, weakness. The hypocrisy of the characters in this play shows that they only care about the selves, and not about what they preach. For example, early in the play, there is a scene where Parris taking to Abigail about seeing girls dancing in the forest, and his worried about losing his job if people of the village find out. Parris tells Abigail "But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest…
THE CRUCIBLE BY ARTHUR MILLER CAST (in order of appearance) |Reverend Parris |Fred Stewart | |Betty Parris |Janet Alexander | |Tituba |Jacqueline Andre | |Abigail Williams |Madeleine Sherwood | |Susanna Walcott |Barbara Stanton | |Mrs. Ann Putnam |Jane Hoffman | |Thomas Putnam |Raymond Bramley | |Mercy Lewis |Dorothy Joliffe | |Mary Warren |Jennie Egan | |John Proctor |Arthur Kennedy | |Rebecca Nurse |Jean Adair | |Giles Corey |Joseph Sweeney | |Reverend John Hale |E.G. Marshall | |Elizabeth Proctor |Beatrice Straight | |Francis Nurse |Graham Velsey | |Ezekiel Cheever |Don McHenry | |Marshal Herrick |George Mitchell | |Judge Hathorne…
In the 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the main protagonist, John Proctor allows the audience to create an emotion of sympathy towards him. In the play John Proctor is the husband of Elizabeth Proctor, he is a farmer, and a father of three boys. He was also accused of witchcraft like many individuals who lived in the town of Salem. Proctor did not attend church, because of Reverend Parris. Parris is the minister of Salem, who preaches about wealth, “…and for twenty week he preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them”. (Act Two, pg. 69) John had no importance for wealth, but rather of God, it was one of the reasons he stopped attending church. The other was to avoid Abigail Williams. John committed adultery with Abigail,…
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play that takes place during a time period of the witch trials. The entire community is in pandemonium and certain characters are also fighting internal conflicts. Miller uses three characters that shows this internal battle : Abigail Williams, John Proctor who must weigh the importance of his family against his reputation and the Putnams.…
Describe the personality of Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God to his side. He was a widower with no interest in children, or talent in them. He never conceived that they were anything but thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak. He is described to have cut a “villainous path, and there is very little good to be said for him.” Describe the life in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Salem was a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics who were shipping out products of slowly increasing quantity and value to the European world. Salem’s creed forbade anything resembling a theater or “vain enjoyment.” The town was very centered around the idea of prayer. Hard work kept the town’s morals from spoiling, for the people were forced to fight the land like heroes for every grain of corn, and no man had very much time for fooling around. Personal privacy was taken quite lightly in Salem, for the people believed that it was their duty to mind people’s business. How did the men who settled Salem differ from those who settled in Virginia? The people and church of Salem found it necessary to deny any other sect its freedom (their fathers had been persecuted in England) lest their New Jerusalem be defiled and corrupted by wrong ways and deceitful ideas. They believed that they held the candle that would light the world. They were dedicated folk and they had to be to survive the life they had chosen or been born into in this country. People of Jamestown in Virginia were the complete opposite. The Englishmen who landed there were motivated mainly by a hunt for profit. They had thought to pick off the wealth of the new country and then return rich to England. They were individualists and tried to kill off the…
I think the movie, The Crucible, reflects what I’ve learned about the Puritans. I honestly think that the Puritans were very hypocritical. The movie and the literature both show how hypocritical the Puritans actually were. Puritans were extremely strict and very religious also. There was no separation in church and state, therefore the people didn’t really stand a chance in court if the church shunned them.…
Arthur Miller’s book The Crucible, expressed both sad and interesting tales of the times most considered outrageous. Not only were the witch hunts unpredictable and non-valid but anybody could be accused of practicing witchcraft- even the preachers and children. Unfortunately, this was the same situation that occurred with the Red Scare that occurred after World War II. No matter what age, race or religious view one had, everyone was considered a suspect. Even those who would never dare to think or act any different from the majority were put on the stand- which almost always ended tragically. Arthur Miller uses the History in his book to show how ignorance and faulty power holders can lead to even the most respectful and well known people to go down in flames.…
It has been said many times that if people don't learn from their mistakes they are doomed to repeat them, such is the case throughout history. There are many different examples of this, but one example is the blatant similarities between the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts and the era of McCarthyism. When considering the nature of these events, it is hard to believe that they could have actually happened, not would only once, but twice. If one would take the time to compare these events he or she will be able to see numerous similarities between them. In The Crucible Miller relates an analogy of the witch trials in Salem to the investigation of communists by Joseph McCarthy. There are many similarities between these two events in history.…
Quote 1: "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. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby."…
Arthur Miller in the novel, “The crucible”, analyze obliquely the relation between The Salem witch hunt with The McCarthyism. Miller supports his analogy by emphasizing the characteristics that relate the witch hunt with the McCarthyism. The author’s purpose is to express his philosophical assumptions about the misjudgment, chaos and hysteria, that is reappearing throw the history in different faces and political assumptions of the McCarthyism in order to arouse people from their blind obstinacy for what was really happening. The author writes in a formal tone to of course all socialists, historians, and people with vulnerability to suffer this kind of event.…
Having a good reputation is a goal that every human being wants accomplished during his or her life, but only to a certain extent. Having a reputation, the basic theme of this book, has a great amount of importance in The Crucible. This theme plays a tremendous role in what the basis of this book is. Arthur miller developed this theme throughout the book by accumulating characters with this quality. There are many characters in this book, but the ones that convey these qualities are, Reverend Parris, Abigail along with John Proctor. Miller uses Parris, in the first act, to demonstrate the theme of having great reputation and integrity.…
In the article "Witch-Hunting, Thwarted Desire, and Girl Power: Arthur Miller's The Crucible by Karen Bovard, Bovard talks how people fight to gain power in the hysteria of the witch trials. Abigail Williams leads the girls into accusing people and turns people against each other. Mary Warren tires to stand up and tell the truth but fails. Male ministers and judges fight for power. Proctor and Abigail have an affair that starts the turning of friends against friends by the towns’ people accusing others of being witches. Bovard says that it is interesting that no young men have interest in Abigail, except a married one. Proctor and Abigail’s relationship could be seen as harassment because Abigail worked for the Proctors in their home as a maid. Proctor’s wife Elizabeth knows about Abigail’s desire for Proctor before the affair even starts. She knows that Abigail want to replace her, in her home and bed. Another desire is of Ann Putnam who has lost 7 children during childbirth and she starts to accuse her neighbors of witchcraft. She accuses Rebecca Nurse, who has had many children and grandchildren and out of jealousy Ann accuses Rebecca. When girls are found dancing they are thought to be posed by the devil and then they fall ill and everyone thinks it was the devil and witchcraft. Bovard also makes the comparison about how slaves in Barbados and the town misfits are accused of witchcraft because they are easy to accuse and easy to bring down. And they accused people by what they were. More women with accused and race were also an issue.…
In the 1950’s people were imprisoned for being accused as communists. Many lost their jobs and family. Many were afraid to stand up for themselves, therefore people just accused them even if they were innocent. How would innocent people feel if they were used as everyone’s scapegoat? Imagine if they had to accuse other people of witchcraft just to save there job, and social status. Senator McCarthy had accused various amounts of people, of communism. Even the people from the Government that have a higher power would not stand up to him. There were only a few people that would stand up to Senator McCarthy. A definition, a theme, and how the theme affected my daily life are important in understanding The Crucible.…
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a caliginous time in American history. The moral superiority that engulfs the town in a time of great despair and deep divide accurately sums up the atmosphere of that period of injustice that will forever stain the town of Salem, Massachusetts. This is the subject matter for the play entitled “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller in 1953. According to the Teacher Vision “The play was adapted for film once, by Jean-Paul Sartre as the 1958 film Les Sorcières de Salem and by Arthur Miller himself as the 1996 film The Crucible, the latter with a cast including Paul Scofield, Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. Miller's adaptation earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay based on Previously Produced Material, his only nomination. The play was adapted by composer Robert Ward into an opera, The Crucible, which was first performed in 1961 and received the Pulitzer Prize”. (“The Crucible” Teacher Vision; Family Education Network, 2001-2012. web. Nov 23, 2012. http://www.teachervision.fen.com/historical-fiction/literature-guide/3498.html)…
I. In 21st century American society people protect their own, love and also act in such…