A. investor who ousted the original leader of the Virginia Company and instituted colonial reforms…
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor, our main character tore up a piece of paper called a confession. The confession would have saved his life but sell out his innocent friends, Instead he chose to die with them. This act is believable because Proctor had a good name in Salem before he admitted to Lechery in the court. Proctor threw away his sense of goodness when he had sexual relations with Abigail Williams. The guilt he was feeling was literally eating at him, he felt he was going to Hell.…
Whom is this so called “infamous” Tituba? Tituba is a woman born into Arawak Indian heritage and was captured and enslaved as a young child and was accuse of being a witch as well as making treaties with the Devil. Tituba was innocently accused by a group of young white girls for being involved and engaged with witchcraft and wizardry. Tituba was pressured immensely and later was forced upon her will to confess of being a witch. Tituba’s confessions of being a witch lead to a mass investigation across Salem, Massachusetts. These investigations cause great havoc and pandemonium through out the Puritan society. However, Tituba’s confessions were all lies for she is angelic and as kind-hearted as one could be. In Elaine G. Breslaw’s Tituba: Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies, Tituba, described by Breslaw, has four compatible labels, however, the two labels that best inform us of the importance of Tituba as a historical figure is: American Indian and an outsider.…
The times of the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts were tough and cruel. Arthur Miller makes this very clear in his play based on true events, "The Crucible" (1952). Though Miller fictionalized many things in his play, it was indeed based on true events. There have been many documentaries, stories, films, and reports written about the Salem witch trials, some of them support the thought that the Devil was truly loose in Salem Village. Mr. Miller's play seems to support the more logical side of the events; The Puritans were greedy, and did anything to gain land and possessions - which means accusing their foes of witchcraft, and basically condemning the foe to death with pride, or a life cursed with accusation of witchcraft.…
The accusations started to make the Puritans think that witches were around after carrying on this belief with them from Europe which caused the magistrates to take these matters seriously. Tituba was first in the Puritan girls accusations, Tituba eventually admitted to being a witch claiming that devil forced her to do so and said that evil was looming over Salem. Two other women who were alleged as witches denied any wrongdoing but because of Tituba's testimony, the view of the people changed. Many were condemned, mainly starting with those who were looked down upon by the townspeople but later more respected people were put on trial. Most "witches" were found guilty of witchcraft and were subsequently put to death. The irony of this situation…
He becomes selfless and sacrifices his reputation and his life to save everyone else in the court by the end of the Crucible. John Proctor said "You will not judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail. And I will think on it. Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your own husband anymore. I have forget Abigail" (pg. 918.) In the beginning of the book, he knew he was going to hurt his neighbors from hiding what he did with Abigail, but he was so afraid about the citizens of Salem find out about his affair. John was afraid to tell the judges about his affair with Abigail because Abigail is going to ruin his reputation by charge lechery. John proctor said " I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another." (Pg. 968.) John Proctor tried to speak his own sins, confess he saw the witches to survive, and ask forgiveness for Elizabeth because it will save the others. John Proctor signed a written confession that will be hung on the courthouse door. He knew that will ruin his name and reputation in the society, but he sacrificed himself to save people who are in the prison.…
Deceit is arguably the fundamental provocation of the The Crucible. Abigail was able to manipulate to the entire town into believing that John Proctor was involved in witchcraft. Now this raises the question of why. It was likely a combination of factors that were prerequisites that enabled them to be deceived. The most likely motive would have to be the severity of the accusation, in addition to the social stature of the accuser. With such a grievous accusation, few would question the motive for dishonesty of something so horrendous.…
Tituba was accused of being a witch by Abigail and after Parris said, “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba,” she confessed, “Oh many times he bid me kill you, Mr. Parris!”(Miller 14, 16). Parris forced Tituba to confess that she was a witch and also forced her to tell him names of other “witches” in Salem by threatening to take her life if she didn’t. She renounced the Devil and took in God to make everyone believe she was not a witch anymore. Tituba’s confession is a perfect example of the universal truth mentioned before; she caved in to Parris’ authority over her so she could remain a part of their world and not be killed. People have been wrongly accused many times. In some cases they are taken to court, where there is evidence presented that could lead to the conviction of an innocent person; that person may get a better deal if they plead guilty to something they did not do. In many cases throughout the years including those of Larry Bostic, Marcellius Bradford, and Eugene Henton, people have pled guilty to crimes they did not commit. Bostic pled guilty because he was threatened with a life sentence if he did not take the plea. Bradford pled guilty in order to receive a sentence of 12 years opposed to pleading not guilty and receiving a life sentence in jail. Henton served a very short sentence but it was undeserved. He pled guilty in order to get an eighteen-month sentence and was later proved innocent through DNA testing. All of these sentences were served due to the fact that these men were forced to give in to the authorities so they would not be isolated from the world any longer than…
The citizens of Salem spread many preposterous lies and rumors out of fear and even for their own personal gain. Naturally, blaming someone else for wrongdoing is an immediate and instinctive reaction. For example, the fear of getting in trouble can drive one to put the blame on someone else in order to avoid the consequences. The characters in The Crucible rely on blame to get out of hard situations, motivated by this aspect of fear. Towards the very beginning of the novel, Betty and Abigail have many suspicions surrounding them, and they need to direct the townspeople’s wrath away from themselves. Abigail claims that “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 48)! Abigail and Betty therefore avoid their initial fate. As the book progressed, the lies piled on top of each other, and soon everyone wanted in on the action. Blame turned into a use of getting back at one another. For instance, Ann Putnam claims Rebecca Nurse “murdered seven babies by sending out her spirit on them” (Miller 56). Rebecca Nurse is falsely accused, arrested and later executed. In turn, the natural inclination to blame other leads to false accusations and overall mass hysteria.…
In this story, a group of people in Salem are accused of witchcraft after Reverend Parris’ daughter is unconscious and unresponsive after a suspicious night in the woods. One of the accused, Abby Williams commits adultery with John Proctor. After Abby is accuse, she tries to shift the blame onto others including the Parris’ slave, Tituba. She also accuses John’s wife Elizabeth Proctor because she is in love with John and wants to be with him. The story ends with the trial and people are hanged for witchcraft.…
To begin with in the play “ The Crucible ” it states that Abigail Williams lied to the towns peoples and said Tituba was the one who was a witch. She also stated “ she comes to me at night in my bedroom and disturbs me” , which she knew she was lying. She would continuously lie on and to other people, just so she wouldn’t get in trouble. Abigail was such a good liar she convinced most of the town to believe that what she was saying is true. She…
"All is fair in love and war"-proverb. People will do anything for love. There is no act that is too bad or too good when going after the loved one. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem in 1692/93 where Abigail Williams is the main character who acts among an evil intent because she can't be with her "love", John Proctor. She is willing to do anything to get Elizabeth out of the way so that she can fulfil her fantasy of being John's wife. John regrets committing adultery while his wife was sick and rejects Abby. Whereas others once reproached her for her adultery, she now has the opportunity to accuse them of the worst sin of all: devil-worship. The sin is fatal. Abigail manipulates and accuses her way up to increase her credibility to get what she wants.…
Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, is full of dishonesty and pain. It’s set during the Salem witch trials, where “witches” were hanged for associating with the devil. Many people can be blinded by the truth without knowing. Some tell a convincing lie and we believe it because we sometimes have no reason to question it. In The Crucible, some characters blind to the truth are Judge Danforth, Reverend Parris, and Thomas Putnam. These people were well respected and smart, but were still blinded by the lies.…
At this time, the colonists were still dependent on Britain but were also very inexperienced in living on their own, therefore making them very nervous and susceptible to paranoia. It began with young girls suffering from attacks that caused them to scream and contort themselves. This was diagnosed as witchcraft and citizens of Puritan society began accusing one another. Hysteria spread throughout Massachusetts, with more and more people being accused and wrongly executed. By the end of the trials, those that were still in prison were pardoned and released. These trials are looked upon as a painful mistake in American History. Arthur Miller retells these events in his play, “The Crucible.” The play follows Abigail Williams and her attempts at accusing others of witchcraft out of fear of being caught herself. She eventually flees Salem, taking Parris’s money, and John Proctor falsely confesses to…
Reputations are an enormous factor of one’s life in today’s society. They can affect one’s future, past, and present. In the novel, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Reverend John Hale are the characters most concerned about their reputations. Because they are attempting to protect their prominence, each of them tend to act abnormally in the Puritan society. All of the characters tend to continuously lie about their sins. However, they do contrast when it comes to the reasoning for each of them "protecting" their reputation. In a Puritan society during the witch hunting era, protecting one's name was more important than telling the truth. If one were to confess to a witch related crime, they…