Published in 1952, during a period of cold war tensions, which culminated in the ideological witch trials of the mcarthy era in America; The crucible by Arthure miller is set in 1692 during the witch trials in salem massachusetts. The author has used allegory to position the reader to draw parrelels betweeen the to time periods and critisize the persecution that occured in both eras. One of the main themes that Miller has used to portray this viewpoint is the representation of personal integrity. Integrity is the quality of having strong moral pronciples.This is acheived through strongly contrasted characterisation of characters such as Abigail williams and and Rebecca Nurse, aswell as the inclusion of textual features such as irony, symbolism …show more content…
This magnanimous, sensible woman refuses to follow the hysteria even to save her own life. Nurse,s charity becomes apparent in Act one when reverand John Hale comments on her reputation outside Salem. Nurse's magnanimous personality is emphasised even more in act 3 when Hale says "If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothings left to stop the whole green world from burning". This quote marks the point in the play where Hale realizes that innocent people are being accused of witchcraft. Rebecca Nurs refuses to abandon her moral code, even when facing death. this becomes evident when she says "why,it is a lie, how may I damn myself,I cannot, I cannot. Even though Nurse had the oppurtunity to falsely confess and survive, she decided to retain her integrity despite paying the ultimate sacrifice. The textual feature of Nurse,s dialogue emphasises her goodness and reason. For example,in act 4, she says "let you hear nothing, another judgement awaits us all as she and John Proctor are led to the gallows. Another textual feature used to show the idiocy of the trials is irony. It is ironic that the innocent people such as Nurse are punished, while the wicked go unpunished. The Salem witch trials can be compared to a crucible. A crucible is a pot used to melt metals and other substances. However, a crucible also symbolises a difficult test or trial. In the context of the play, …show more content…
Proctor is widely respected in the Salem community. However, he has a secret that threatens his reputation. He cheated on his wife Elizebeth Proctor with Abigail Williams. As a result, he has a strong internal conflict regarding his integrity. Proctor is a benevolent man at heart, however he has sinned according to puritan law. Proctor doubts his goodness and constantly seeks forgiveness. This is evident when he says "I cannot mount the giblet like a saint, my honesty is broke elizebeth, I am no good man. When Proctor finally has the bravery to go to court, despite the risk of exposure, he breaks down under the pressure of Abigails power and denounces god in frustration. As a result of this he is arrested. In act four, Proctor's integrity outweighs his will to live. It Proctor values his reputation, albeit in a positive way (unlike characters such as Abigail) when he says"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!". Throughout the play, the author has used a variety of textual features to represent Proctor including his own notes. In the play, Miller has used notes to help position the reader to develop viewpoints on characters. Millers commentary about Proctor says " He is a sinner, a
Proctor possesses a good name and integrity, however the moment he admits to the affair he loses his good name. Proctor feels that displaying his act of adultery in front of the
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, portrays the story about the Salem Witch Trials in the 16th century. The Salem Witch Trials were a period of time in which people were accused of Witchcraft and unholy actions. The Puritans faced an action called a crucible, which means to have a severe trial or test. This action is probably the reason why it is called The Crucible. This relates to the characters because everyone in Salem, especially Abigail Williams and the other girls in the colony.
(1294, Miller), complains Proctor as he is still unable to gain his wife’s trust. He was later tested of his truthfulness during his wife's trial; he came clean of his sins with Abigail in an attempt to prove to his wife’s innocence. Proctor’s truthfulness was morally right, however he was still punished for his actions via proving himself to be a
Proctor was reluctant to admit adultery, since it was considered a very high punishable crime. He tries to find other evidences that would keep his name clean and prove Abigail is wrong. Another example that shows that Proctor deeply cares about his reputation, is that he was able to get free if he says he had committed witchcraft and is an ally of the devil. Proctor was having trouble lying because it would ruin his good name. Then he is asked to sign the paper saying that in writing, which would hang on the church door for everyone to see, he couldn’t.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play which portraits the Salem Witch Trials in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Throughout the story the main characters participate in a name game trying to clear their names from accusations of witchcraft. In the end an innocent man takes blame for the issue that arose in the town. As a result of him coming forward, he was hung for his actions. Honesty is the most lacking factor in the character’s lives.
Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? Well that is what a group of people in Salem in 1692 experienced, however their outcomes were much worse—they ended up being hung. The Salem Witch Trials is a dark time in American history, where many innocent people were accused of witchcraft and the accusations were only based off of spectral evidence. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an allegory for the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible revolves around a group of girls, which include Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, who accused several people of witchcraft.
When he comes to the court about his affair with her, Proctor puts his own name in jeopardy; as a result, he is thrown into prison and accused of witchcraft. After rotting in prison for quite a while, John Proctor concludes that in order to save his life he must confess; however, when he goes to confess Judge Danforth declares that his confession will be made public, Proctor responds in the following manner, “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!”
Proctor is a well respected upperclassman and him sacrificing his life led to his family living a greater life. To the court with great emotion proctor states “ Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143).
Proctor even told them he is not something to be used to help them, “you will not use me” (4, 699). Proctor will not allow the town to use his name to save themselves for killing all the innocent people before him. Proctor even pleads with them, “I have given you my soul; leave me my name” (4, 730). Proctor is saying how the integrity he has is only left in his name since his soul has been sinned.
As act III progresses Mary Warren decides to turn on Proctor saying, “John Proctor you are the Devil’s man” (Miller 121) and “I will not hang with you I love God…” (Miller 121)which then causes Proctor to lash out in rage against her lies. The court marshals arrest John and place him in jail, where Arthur Miller says they have to chain him because he throws fits of rage and he then sits like “a great bird”. (Miller 151) All of those events leads up to Proctors Tragic Flaw, which is pride. Proctors pride inevitably leads to his death because he won’t give up the good name to live out his life with his wife and children.
Proctor expresses how guilty he feels from his sin and how he wants to transform into a better person and husband. Proctor in act three explains the affair to Danforth. He does this to save his wife and other convicted people. Proctor knows he can get hung from this sin, but does it anyway because he knows it was wrong and wants to help save the people, "... I beg you-see her what she is.
I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 153). This quote truly demonstrates Proctors character as a whole, as he is willing to be hung for the sake of proving his worth to the court. Specifically, Proctor knows he is truly innocent, and wants to make the courts aware of his innocence. His unwillingness to confess to witchcraft, is because of his personal beliefs regarding reputation.
A man will not will not cast away his good name. You surely know that.” Proctor castes his good name to stand up for the truth and expose Abigail as the liar that she really is. He tries to convict her of fraud so she could stop with this absurdity of accusing others of witch craft. Proctor is slowly presenting himself standing up for the truth by telling them what really is happening even if people don’t believe him.
I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(1272). These words by John Proctor exemplify his character by making, in my opinion, not a very wise decision. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor’s unwillingness can be seen as selfish because others hung before he confessed his affair with Abigail but he redeemed himself by undoing his confession and refusing to sell the court other names, which Arthur Miller used to convey a message about a crucible being put through a fire/trial and coming out in its purest form, through the character of John
In the beginning Proctor had a chance to stop the accusations of witchcraft, but decides against it in order to preserve his image. He does not want to testify against Abigail because doing this would cause his secret affair with her to become a public topic, therefore tarnishing his reputation. However, Proctor sacrifices his reputation by admitting to his affair in Act III by saying, “God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.” Although Proctor broke the rules of theocratic Salem, he proved his integrity by being honest which in some ways only adds respect to his reputation. At the end of the play, Proctor is given a choice to either lie, and damage the reputations of others in order to protect his own, or to tell the truth, and be killed.