The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical fiction about the Salem witch trials in the late 1600’s. John Proctor plays the protagonist and throughout the storyline his masculinity decreases due to Abigail Williams.Throughout the play it's clear the female characters have more power than the men in the Theocratic society of Salem. The girls are put in court after being caught in the woods for witchcraft. They exploit their feminine traits and manipulate the men in charge of the court.Reverend Parris is a male figure who is sought to be the most feminine in the story. Parris just is worrying about his reputation in the town and down plays his role as a man to take control. By the end of the story John Proctor is hanged and the town is …show more content…
I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face!nAnd is is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as i have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud-God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, burn together!” (Miller 111) Here it is seen that John completely lost his rationality and thought the only thing that is left to do is save Elizabeth and not himself. What lead up to this was Elizabeth’s complete control of the court. John could not speak out against her because she held to much power in the court and judges would not listen to John. It is even harder for the court to have John as a credible man because when he confesses his affair to the court his own wife Elizabeth denies it to attempt not to soil John’s reputation. This is very ironic because during the whole play and before it he does not whisper a word about the affair to the community to keep his name pure. When he finally does confess Elizabeth also try to keep John’s …show more content…
Mary is a Proctor’s loyal servant that took the place of Abigail. It should come to a surprise that she turns against her master.”My name, he wants my name. “I’ll murder you.” he says,”if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court,” he says!”(Miller 110) Mary Warren’s false words to turn the court against John clearly shows the pinnacle of him having no power. Being the reputable farmer in the community to pleading out that he works with the devil shows Proctor’s character transform in a negative way. John Proctor is under complete control of Abigail. Her power that she has in the court all was from the affair with her and John Proctor. It is almost as if he has no other choices to make but the ones he took in the story. This is because he is forced to in his situation. Abigail Williams has her dominance and power over John Proctor in this one scene alone in the story. At the end of the play when John is taken away, he shows his last piece of power and masculinity when he rips his signature for his
The Roles of Females The Crucible is based on a community who believes in God and, believes a teenager should not cause any harm and follow directions. In The Crucible the teenagers had a huge role in the Salem Witch trails. Teenagers can be the blame when it comes to all the stuff that happened in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The main girl to blame in the trail is Abigail. She told all the girls to lie, and if they didn’t she would stab them.
The Crucible Arthur Miller purposefully stereotypes the women in the Crucible to make a statement concerning the treatment of women in modern society. Miller is making the statement that most women is modern society are viewed as having many negative characteristics, just because of their gender. In the Crucible, Miller primarily used Elizabeth Proctor, Mary Warren, and Abigail Williams to show how negative stereotypes are used against women in modern society. Women are often portrayed as being cold and cruel if they don’t fit the picture of a happy housewife, and that’s how Elizabeth Proctor was depicted.
The Evolution of Elizabeth Proctor Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a compelling look at the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Elizabeth Proctor began as doubtful of her husband, John Proctor, but ends up having faith in him in the end. She still believed her husband was still in love with Abigail but Proctor soon proved his love for Elizabeth throughout the play. Elizabeth evolves from a woman who doubts her husband, but then evolves into a woman who risks her life to save her husband. Elizabeth continues to question her husband's faith causing an argument between the two.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.
He was given the choice to either confess to being apart of witchcraft and be spared or not confess and get hanged. He is allowed to talk this over with his wife and at first they decide it would be better to confess even though they know he didn’t do anything! At this point in the play John realizes that it is not the right thing to do. He says “ How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul now give me your name.”
In The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, he writes about a story of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is about a group of young girls who control the village with the fake pretense of having seen the devil and who he has worked with John Proctor and Reverend Parris are two characters within the play who both have similar experiences to each other. The story teaches us that different actions lead to different circumstances. Reverend Parris is the uncle of abigail, one of the girls in the wood who chanted.
The Crucible - Conflict Analysis John Proctor Internal: John Proctor’s most eminent internal conflict is over the sin he has committed, adultery. Proctor cheated on his wife with Abigail Williams, and this makes Proctor feel incredibly guilty because in the town, he is “respected and even feared” (19). He tried very hard, and succeeded, with keeping this moral crime to himself. He still walked about Salem as if he was “an untroubled soul,” (21) however, avoiding the sin again would be a difficult task. Abigail flirts with him, in attempt to have him for one last night, and it’s obvious Proctor has an arduous time pushing her away.
After continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.
(I.465-472). Seeing Abigail cry, it suggests that Abigail’s affair with John Proctor has influenced her behavior in jealousy and lust as she strives for nothing more than her love for John Proctor. By only being heartbroken, Abigail is not to be fully blamed for the hysteria within the town as her actions are only based on desperate attempts to win John Proctor over, and no intentional harm whatsoever. However, on the other hand, Abigail cannot be excused with outside forces making her the way she is due to the fact that she has clearly had a choice in most of her decisions and actions throughout the witchcraft crisis. When Mary Warren, another girl involved in the forest incident, enters the court, she explains to Danforth, the judge, that the girls are lying and are only pretending to see spirits.
Power and influence in society have a huge impact on the way things happen and affects perception. A prime example is the power that presidents and prime ministers have. Given this power they can effectively influence and persuade others. Power and influence is often associated with gender, conflict and roles and relationships. The importance of the power and influence can be thoroughly examined using texts that demonstrate ideas presented as truths.
The Deep Roots of Sexism: Preconceived Sin and Weakness In the Christian bible, when the first woman commits the first sin she creates an enduring image of her gender; she is drawn away from god and purity, to evil and sin. The book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller both deal with not only sin in Puritan times, but the ignominy stemming from women’s wrongdoings. The Scarlet Letter follows Hester Prynne, a woman who, after committing adultery is forced to wear a scarlet A to punish her for her sins. The Crucible is about the Witch Trials in Salem, which are brought on by the beautiful, manipulative and jealous Abigail.
“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.
John Proctor’s words towards Elizabeth signal irritation and annoyance. John Proctor, the main character of The Crucible, has an affair with a much younger girl, Abigail Williams, breaking his wife, Elizabeth’s trust in him. Her suspicion of him rises when he tells her he was in a room alone with Abigail. Elizabeth’s growing mistrust begins to aggravate John, which is revealed when he says, “I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (489). Elizabeth is doubtful after learning about John’s affair with Abigail and her lack of trust in her husband begins to anger him.
One of the main elements that eventually build up to the main plot in the play is power. Many of the characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible have a strong desire for power. The Salem witch trials empowered several characters in the play who were previously marginalized in Salem society. It gave them the chance to misuse it leading to horrible suffering and even deaths of some innocent people in the town. Some of these characters are Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris.
When people think of the play, “The Crucible”, they usually picture the witch trials and women being hanged, but Arthur Miller depicts the witch trials in a completely new light. He shows through a story that the witch trials were much more than just people calling others witches. There was deceit, pain, greed, and more. Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. We witness the lives of people she impacts, what happens to them, and how many times she lies to get her way.