In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the lack of truth propels the hysteria surrounding the Salem witch trials. The initial conflict arises when Abigail Williams makes accusations against the people of Salem, Massachusetts. However, the lies told by the accused incriminate them further. The consequences that the characters face as a result of their deception, attests to Miller’s belief that lies, regardless of the intention, do not warrant justification. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller suggests that choosing…
Words 1093 - Pages 5
From one perspective, a crucible is a vessel in which metals or other substances are put in scorching heat to melt. In a more literary take, a crucible defined as a “severe test or trial.” As one explores the character’s situations and conflicts, it is clear that this meaning corresponds perfectly with the conflict of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Many of the townspeople face horrendous charges of witchcraft with a very real potential death sentence hanging in the air like a black cloud. On…
Words 470 - Pages 2
John Proctor and His Motives in The Crucible Proctor was predestined to die. It was inevitable. Reading through The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one might see how this is true. The Crucible is formatted as a play, but the emotional aspects are described well enough to be a novel. As hero of this novel, Proctor must overcome his obstacles, and defeat the villain. The only way for these things to happen while Proctor is in jail is for him to die without confessing. To find this element, a reader truly…
Words 2043 - Pages 9
American playwright, essayist, and figure in twentieth-century American theatre, wrote The Crucible during the height of the Cold War and Red Scare in the twentieth century about the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. With people all around him calling out “Communist!” Accordingly, Miller felt he could relate to the people involved in the witch trials calling out “Witch!”. The definition of a crucible according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is composed of three parts, a pot in which metals…
Words 451 - Pages 2
In Arthur Miller's drama The Crucible takes place in Salem Massachusetts 1692. In this story there were many strict laws which the Puritans lived by, the children were to be seen and not heard. Any whisper of witchcraft sent you to the rope, or worse. A group of girls cried that they were conjured by the Devil, and began to accuse innocent people that they too were with the Devil, and additionally caused many hangings to take place. In suspicion, the girls happened to accuse people of whom their…
Words 1053 - Pages 5
John Proctor from The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a strong character, not just in the play itself, but throughout all of literacy. Choices he makes set his character apart as honest and good, while on the contrary, he himself views himself as horrible and sinful. John Proctor’s traits, characteristics, and his evolution as a character is what makes him so complex and interesting. Towards the end of the play Proctor makes a choice that reveals if what the world believes about him is true, or if how…
Words 580 - Pages 3
Crucible Tragic Hero Essay In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Miller tells a story about long ago in a town by the name of Salem. In this town there were many cases of people being accused of being witches. There was a man who stood up for himself and his wife which ended up with him being jailed, his name was, John Proctor. He is considered to be a “tragic hero” to some. I think he is a tragic hero because he contains all of the attributes a tragic hero must contain. He is a protagonist…
Words 513 - Pages 3
John Proctor is an important character in The Crucible and is the husband of Elizabeth Proctor: one of the many women accused of witchcraft. During the story he repeatedly expressed his hatred of Abigail Williams and the corrupt court of Salem. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is an honorable, loving, and selfless man which leads him to be accused of witchcraft, and later hanged. First off, while John Proctor challenges the theocracy of Salem; he is still a extremely honorable man…
Words 685 - Pages 3
In the Crucible, people were hanged for having their own beliefs. In the Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, there were sermons that told people other beliefs against God is a sin, and they would be sent to hell. Religion played a part in The Crucible , because many of peoples faith were questioned whether or not a person knew the bible. In the Salem witch trials if a person were to be caught doing something that is not of God they were considered a witch. For example, wh…
Words 550 - Pages 3
Reputation Rip-Off? A concealed theme of reputation is exposed in “The Crucible”, writes Gemma Galovic A symbol of “The Crucible” The preservation of one’s reputation in today’s modern world immensely contributes to the struggle for identifying one’s true being. In “The Crucible”, Miller explores what transpires when people allow others to be the judge of their conscience, which has been stressed in Hytner’s film adaptation. The events take place in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, which is a Puritan…
Words 1136 - Pages 5