Character Changes In The Crucible

The play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is about the Salem witch trials of 1692 witch resulted in the death of nineteen innocent people. The plot begins in a small Puritan community in Salem, Massachusetts when Abigail Williams and several other young girls were caught in the woods dancing around a fire by her uncle Reverend Parris. His appearance shocked some of the girls into silence. The strange behavior of the girls resulted in many of the townspeople to turn to witchcraft as the cause of their behavior.

The Salem witch trials in Massachusetts during the late 17th centuries was a time period where people were hunted since they were accused of witchcraft. A famous novel named The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, who was able to portray the events of the Salem witch trials. He explained to us that characters have hidden motives for their actions rather than anything having to do with witchcraft. The men and women in Salem like Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris, and John Proctor are stained puritans that are consumed by their greed, envy, and lust. Abigail Williams, a seventeen year old, is accused of witchcraft after being caught in the forest naked while attempting some devilish ritual.

I am not that man. My honesty is broke elizabeth; I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before”. The statement from John is saying how he knows he’s not a good man for having his affair and he takes blame for this starting, and now he gives his life for it. Also, I blame Elizabeth, if she would have just spoken the truth in court then Abigail's entire scheme would have been gone.

In the spring of 1692 in the town of Salem Massachusetts more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 were hung for being convicted of witchcraft. In the story, the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Miller writes about the historical event with many twists and different dialogue. He creates an affair and different outcomes of the people in the story but keeps the names the same in the story. There are different occassions where Miller tampers with the real story of the trials; there was never an affair between John Proctor and Abigail Williams, and Abigail and Betty were not the only girls to accuse others of witchcraft. These small changes are very important parts of the story but are meaningless to the actual history of the Salem Witch

Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before” (Miller 1352). He is ultimately giving up his confession even though he knows it is not the right thing to do. A previous break to Proctor’s Christianity beliefs is when he commits adultery; however, instead of standing up for himself he gives into the court’s desire. When John Proctor confesses, his actions prove a huge weakness John Proctor has. However, his actions of confessing result in a strength.

John Proctor’s dilemma in this novel is a very heavy one. His affair with Abigail has a huge psychological effect on him. The town of Salem’s heavy catholic influence plays a huge part in everybody in the town’s judgement. This makes Proctor think his sin is really bad and that god hates him. this makes him feel like he can’t forgive himself.

Proctor’s guilt is present when he, attempts to pay for his sins by giving his wife materialistic objects, hesitates to obey his wife's suggestion to accuse Abigail of false bewitchment, and breaks out in anger for not wanting to be judged any longer. The romantic relationship between the Proctor’s is undoubtedly extinguished, but even casual engagement cannot exist without tension since everything John Proctor says to Elizabeth is a symbol of repentance. He offers Elizabeth the possession of a cow and expresses “with a grin” that all he

The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.

Only be sure for I know it now: whatever you will do, it is a good man does it… To which she then tells him then she apologizes to him for not being a good wife “…I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery” (1114). Showing she blames herself for her husband’s lechery, this then causes John to have the want of living, causing him to confess. This shows the strength and forgiveness Elizabeth has give john having her evolve from a doubtful wife to a woman who risks her she has taken for her

This shows that John is a merciful being and desires forgiveness from his wife and God, therefore demonstrating traits of a good man. Furthermore, John has a heated argument with his wife, due to his encounter with Abigail, alone. Although, he thinks his wife will doubt him, she states on the contrary, “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John - only somewhat bewildered” (55).

In the Crucible, many of the characters go through changes because of the intensity of the situation. But there is only one character that I think changed the most, and that is John Proctor who is the protagonist of the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I think that John Procotor changes the most in the Crucible because he is in every act and mostly in every scene, and throughtout  the play I see more drama (Dynamic Character) in him than any other character in the Crucible and I will go through and tell you how John Proctor changes in the Crucible.     In the beginning of the play (Acts 1 and 2), we focus on John Proctor and we know that he is a good puritan citizen, a hard-working farmer and who is a husband and father.

Throughout the play The Crucible, there are several transformations among characters. One strong transformation is that of Reverend Hale. Hale epitomizes a very dynamic character. Throughout all of the drama in Salem, Hale changes drastically from a man with intentions to free the world from the clutches of satan to a person who realizes the Salem witch trials were all based on lies and tomfoolery.

Reverend Hale is the character that changes the most in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible because his feelings on witchcraft turns from full belief to unbelievable doubt, his thoughts on Proctor changes from thinking that he is evil to thinking that he is a good and honest man, and he switches from doing God’s work to doing the Devil’s. Reverend Hale makes a huge change on his claim of witchcraft. In the beginning of the play when Reverend is called to the town of Salem to see if the reason why Betty and Ruth are unconscious is due to witchcraft he brings with him many books. When Reverend Parris sees this he makes a comment that Hale responds to him explaining his expectations. This shows that Reverend Hale is focused on one thing, finding

Substantially, the chaos that have occurred in the book were associated with fear of changes into the society provoking such paranoid action. Our society doesn’t always accept changes well, at first due to the ethical conflict between the changes being practiced in society and our beliefs. Somehow, people tend to have fear of the unknown, which is natural. This is believed to be the reason why the people of Salem or people in generally can not accept changes easily. During the change of time; the Puritans could not accept because it was opposite of their beliefs and they were just trying to find something to blame or accuse.

Any conversion between the two either lacks depth and passion or is an argument pertaining to the lack of trust. However, when the novel ends, the relationship between Elizabeth and John is restored and the love the two feel for one another is emphasized. Whenever the two would discuss John’s infidelity, John would be the only one at fault. By the end of the play, Elizabeth takes equal responsibility for the incident, claiming “Suspicion kissed you when I did; I never knew how I should say my love. It were a cold house I kept” (Miller 1228).