Imagine a society where the power and status you have determines your fate. The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, presents the influence of social hierarchy during the Salem Witch Trials that take place in the town. Social hierarchy plays a crucial role in shaping and affecting the events and characters of the story, by highlighting how different characters had the desire for gaining and retaining power as well as how certain powerful individuals had a great impact on the less powerful. Various characters throughout the play display a strong desire for gaining power or simply retaining the power they already held in the town. John Proctor, the leading character of The Crucible, is one of the characters who strive to maintain his power in
In Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible”, power is a central issue, and characters' increasing or decreasing possession of it moves the story considerably. The play explores how people in power can experience megalomania, and consequently fail to resolve the issues at hand. The root of the problem is the unchecked power of the Puritan leaders, who are able to use their authority to manipulate and control the beliefs and behaviors of the people. When the young girls of Salem begin to act strangely and accuse others of witchcraft, the community is thrown into chaos, and the court officials are given a platform to assert their power. The girls are able to wield their accusations as a weapon, and the officials use the opportunity to further
I believe the in the Crucible John Proctor is the most dynamic character in the Crucible. John Proctor is a father of the Proctor family, he doesn't attend church every sunday but only a few times a year and he states that his house is a holy house. John said to John Hale he helped build the church of Salem and put golden candles to light the church. The reason why he doesn’t attend church very often is because once you give people something they need later they're coming back for more becoming greedy. And he tells John Hale he still remember the ten commandments but leaves out adultery because he has cheated on his wife with another lady.
The movie, “The Crucible”, published in 1996 is a drama film that sets in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692 and tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials. The film documents a group of teenage girls, who are caught dancing in the woods conjuring love spells and are forced to lie that Satan had “conquered” them, shortly after, they begin to accuse several innocent individuals in the community of witchcraft. As the allegations spread, the community became increasingly paranoid as well as divided, additionally, many innocent people were prosecuted and put on trial. Remarkably, throughout the play Arthur Miller portrays the influence of groupthink, to demonstrate how a character can easily be influenced by society and changes one’s perspective on life.
John Proctor is a complex character. In The Crucible by Authur Miller it shows how people in a community that believed in witchcraft and have personal grudges against each other can end badly. John Proctor is not a perfect protagonist but shows that he is willing to do what is right to stop all the bewitching in Salem. John Proctor's character flaw is that he cannot forgive himself. The only thing John Proctor had left was his name.
John Proctor assumes the main part in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He was determined, genuine, and brimming with respectability. He was essentially, a man with pride. An insightful lady once said, "Do what you feel in your heart to be correct -for you'll be reprimanded at any rate. You'll be condemned on the off chance that you do, and doomed on the off chance that you don't."
Dorothy Good, the 4 year old daughter of previously accused Sarah Good, was the youngest to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. The people that obtained any sort of power during these trials had no mercy whatsoever on anyone. The accusing girls such as Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and many others displayed that as long as their high position in the village was kept to themselves, they did not care who was accused or killed. The concern of having power and authority is the factor that caused the most destruction in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.
Argumentative Essay: Power in The Crucible There are many concepts in human society that can only exist if there is a belief in them. One of the strongest of those concepts is the concept of power which can be so strong that it gets out of hand. As John Dalberg-Acton once said, “Power tends to be corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” The feeling of being powerful causes one to go off the rails and believe they are truly invinvible. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a fictionalization of the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s that also acts as an allusion to the Red Scare that happened in America during the early 1900s.
When humans are faced with a threat that imposes on their reputation they’ll step on others to keep themselves afloat. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a 1953 play based off the Salem Witch Trials. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized take on the events that transpired in Salem Massachusetts 1692. In The Crucible Arthur Miller utilizes literary techniques such as tone and POV to provide commentary on the hysteria that was the Salem Witch Trials and the true nature of humans in the face of adversity. Arthur Miller uses characterization to portray the selfish nature of reputation in John Proctor, demonstrating that such an evil perspective completely eliminates empathy for others.
Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.
Goodness and nobility is determined by an individual’s morality and their willingness to follow a virtuous path in their life. It is also determined by the ability of an individual to acknowledge their shortcomings and become more self-aware. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a good man as he showcases righteous morals and principles. This is shown, as he ends his affair with Abigail, protects his wife and his friends’ wives, and dies to preserve his integrity and honour. First, John Proctor shows his goodness, by refusing the physical advances of Abigail, who wishes to continue their love affair.
JOHN PROCTOR: TRAGIC HERO Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a greatly revered work, and it reflected the times of America in the days of McCarthyism. Perhaps the character that connected to the audience most was John Proctor, the protagonist of the play. He reflects the mistakes that we have made in our lives, and the struggle that some of have while trying to take the blindfold off of other people. He should be considered a hero because he feels guilt, and therefore tries to make up for the fact that he once had an affair.
Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
Everyone longs for success. They desire the acceptance and approval for following their moral compass, being rewarded, and being acknowledged. However, one cannot maintain success without a purposeful and achievable position of power. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the power of society is bound upon a pronounced hierarchy. Men naturally are deemed as having higher status than women in society.
Power, the ability to maintain control, command, or authority over others can often be determined by one’s reputation and his or her persuasiveness. This principle is displayed within The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, in which follows the town of Salem, Massachusetts attempting to navigate through a “Witchcraft” outbreak supposedly lead by the Devil. Within such a theocratic society such as Salem, the Devil is often associated with death, fear, and uncertainty. While his name alone is often believed to be able to influence others in to following through in certain actions. The Devil, as a key figure behind the immense “witchcraft” occurring in Salem, is crafted by Miller as the most influential “character” due to his infamous reputation and his ability to control characters’ actions.
Our countless endeavors, whether wrong or right, tend to just how much someone values their self-worth. We humans are naturally built to muse upon how others think of us, and this is the basis for our self-conscious pursuit for our reputation and identity. No where is this more apparent in The Crucible. The play, The Crucible, is a homage to many themes, as it dives into the story of The Salem Witch Trial. Preserving one’s reputation is a theme exemplified heavily in the book, as almost every character struggles with their identity, which in turn, affects their decisions.