Pride and Its Consequences
“Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts—not to hurt others.”― George Eliot. When you think about pride, you think of something that will benefit yourself or others. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible this is not always the case. There are many instances where pride is a very negative trait Not all of the pride shown throughout The Crucible will benefit those who have it. John Proctor, the court and Judge Danforth, and Reverend Parris all have pride, but they don’t realize how their pride can and will negatively affect others around them, especially if they don’t think about their actions and the effects of them.
During the whole play we hear John Proctor say that his wife has never told a lie in her life. We also hear many times about John’s affair with Abigail, which Elizabeth knows about. John is a well liked person by the town of Salem, and he takes great pride in
…show more content…
During Act 1 his daughter Betty is acting very strangely and many suspect that it is witchcraft. But Reverend Parris, being the stubborn and prideful person that he is, refuses to admit this saying “No. No, there be no unnatural cause here.”(Miller 833). The only reason that he says this instead of accepting this and getting help for his daughter is that he has so much pride in his work and reputation. If he was really concerned for his daughter, he would’ve agreed with everybody else and had somebody come look at Betty much sooner than he did. Of course we know that Betty was just sleeping and she was faking the whole time but Parris did not know this. Instead, he was too concerned about what people would think of him. Because as the town Reverend he can't have witchcraft in his house or his reputation would be tarnished. This shows pride in a negative way because it shows that Parris is more concerned with his pride and reputation than he is with his own
Arthur Miller argues that being fearful or damaging one's reputation is what caused people to act irrationally and against their morals, coming off as selfish and arrogant, and leading to the Salem Witch Hysteria. Through the characterization of Hale, Parris and Danforth, it is evident how excessive pride makes people unwilling to admit to their mistakes, with the fear of a reputation damage. Miller's descriptions of the frailty of arrogance, can be used as an example of how arrogance turns people against each
The father of Betty Parris, Reverend Parris is an overly protective father who is always worried. Then one day he sees his daughter and his niece Abigail and some other girls dancing with a servant named Tituba. He is now even more worried that she does have a connection with witchcraft. If so, then
He feared if the truth got out that he would lose his status, his power, his strength. To escape this feeling, rather than face the truth, he lied and went along with the story that the girls were “possessed”. Now Reverend Parris feared embarrassment, awkward of ashamed feeling. But is does not compare to the fear of your life. This led to the “confessions” that were lies.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was a man of great integrity and knew he did nothing wrong. He was given the choice to confess and lie or be hung. Being the honest and stubborn man that he was, he decided his name was more important than his life. John struggled both internally and with others while trying to fight for what he thought was right.
Reverend Parris, worried for his own job, explains to Abigail that her “punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” Even the idea of witchcraft in Reverend Parris’s house could ruin his reputation in the town and therefore risk his job. By Betty being ‘afflicted’, she is holding power over her own father and his position in the town. She knows that the longer she is asleep, the more desperate her father is going to be blame someone for the witchcraft who is not her.
(Act I. line 158-167). In the begging of the book Parris stand before his daughter’s bed and talk to Abigail what happened in the wood. At first we will think he is a good father who worried about his daughter, but then throughout his sentences we know he is just care about his position as a minister. “You people seem not to comprehend that a minister is the Lord’s man in the Parish; a minister is not to be so lightly crossed and contradicted—”(Act I. line 823-827). Parris's repeated demonstrations of exceedingly selfish behavior don't help him.
Parris is also a very selfish man who is only worried about staying minister and trying to make himself have a luxurious life style. He show how selfish he is by saying” The cause is yet unknown. I have had enough contention since i came; I want no more. ”(Miller, 174). He show himself as being selfish in this line because he doesn't worry about there being a witch in salem, he is only worried about keeping his job as minister.
Parris has a twisted view on people, life, and his community in general. He is a self-centered and absorbed man who cares only about his reputation. Throughout Act 1 he is only worried about Betty or Abigail tainting
Parris is dynamic like John, but for the majority of the story he sacrifices his integrity like his niece Abigail. Not is it until the end of the story Reverend Parris realizes what he has done was wrong. " Go to him! He rushes out the door, as though to hold back his fate. Proctor!
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
In a setting of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, religion is the direct reflection of one's social standing. Reputation is extremely important for the town, as it is your only way to get a fair hearing and respect from the people. The protectiveness of reputation is necessary in The Crucible to justify yourself when presented with fallacious arguments. In this play the importance of reputation is revealed though the uses of ethos, logos and pathos. The protectiveness of reputation is uncovered through various characters such as Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and John Proctor.
This causes a problem because Reverend Parris then spreads the lies. When Reverend Parris realizes he is spreading lies, he keeps it to himself to protect him from his enemies. Abbotson wrote, “By fixating so much on sin, the religious extremists, represented by men like Parris and Danforth, become sinful and turned from God” (1). Abbotson is saying how Reverend Parris has turned his back on God and is a sinner. Reverend Parris is brought to believe cruel and deceitful lies by his niece,
The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently.
Reverend Parris was in a position of power as the town 's spiritual leader, but he was insecure about his authority. He was willing to say and do whatever it takes to retain control. He was obsessed with maintaining his power because he wasn’t brave enough. We knew that Parris was consistently preaching hellfire before the incident of the girls practicing witchcraft in the forest. He demanded more money and acted as if he deserved more.
At the beginning of the play, John Proctor is depicted both as a proud man who kept his affair a secret from the public to protect his name, and an honorable man who built the Salem church. Before Elizabeth Proctor was accused, John Proctor tried to distance