One path to higher standing and greater control would be in becoming John Proctors wife. Rebecca Nurse is a pure soul, who always took care of other people's children. Elizabeth is a victim of cruel irony in this Act when she is summoned to testify on the reasons why she dismissed Abigail from her household. MPP friends writing about life, love, and everything else in between together. She is clearly outspoken and dominant, but her initial position in society is one of very little influence and authority. Why is Cheever both astonished and afraid when he finds the poppet with the needle in it? What is the writer attempting to convey to the viewer? However, this runs up against Danforths desire to preserve his reputation as a strong judge. He is completely oblivious to the fact that the victims might be lying. Create your account, 7 chapters | I highly recommend you use this site! He is appalled by Elizabeths lack of emotion when he asks her to help the court get a confession out of her husband (pg. Abigail's version of events is held to be true even after John confesses to their affair in a final effort to discredit her. The evidence used in the Salem Witch Trials further demonstrates the hypocrisy in the Puritan times. As he says,How may I live without my name? In reality. Once the accusations begin, Parris initiates an ironic thought process that persists throughout The Crucible: You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba! (pg. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. People were put to death because their neighbors suspected them of committing a crime, but murder is a sin in the Puritan religion. The classic example of an incorrect use of irony is in Alanis Morisette's song "Ironic" when she says that "rain on your wedding day" is an example of irony. Concern for reputation is a theme that looms large over most of the events in. In telling people they must confess to their crimes or be hanged, the officials show that they have already decided the person is guilty no matter what evidence is provided in their defense. Upon arriving in the court Mary Warren says, I cannot lie no more. Explore examples of hypocrisy in the play, including the hypocrisy in land disputes, sin, and the characters of Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, and the children. He refers to Johns refusal to confess as a calamity, looking past his own involvement in the larger calamity of the conviction that led John to this point. Thomas Putnam claims to be a holy, church-going man, yet his priority in life is to acquire land. A constant theme through out the play is your personal reputation, maintaining a good name. He is somewhat responsible for all of the witch trials; if he wouldn't of committed adultery with Abigail, she wouldn't have gone on her rampage of blaming people. By Act 2, there are nearly 40 people in jail accused of witchcraft. He says, I would to God it were not so, Excellency, but these people have great weight yet in the town (pg. The town slips further and further into chaos and paranoia until it reaches a point of total devastation. "She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris's house tonight, and without word nor warnin' she falls to the floor. Reverend Parris' concerns about his reputation are immediately evident in Act 1. Proctors good reputation is almost a burden for him at this point because he knows that he doesnt deserve it. In a way,John welcomes the loss of his reputation because he feels so guilty about the disconnect between howhe is perceived by others and the sins he has committed. Flaws in Human Reasoning Create a Tragic Figure One tragedy is a result of numerous conflicts and wrongdoings. It helped me pass my exam and the test questions are very similar to the practice quizzes on Study.com. The idea that a witch's familiar spirit is capable of stabbing people is too scary for the superstitious and now hysterical people of Salem to give Elizabeth the benefit of the doubt. Ask questions; get answers. He chooses to die instead of providing a false confession because he doesnt think life will be worth living after he is so disgraced. The play is about human weakness, hypocrisy, and vindictiveness. A man of conscience is one who is aware of his moral and ethical beliefs and judgments and one who will prefer right over wrong. He shows the hypocrisy of the Puritans by showing their belief system and how they have not acted in accordance with those beliefs. Can a work of art bring about change in the world? They are extremely biased towards believing they have made the correct sentencing decisions in court thus far, so they are reluctant to accept new evidence that may prove them wrong. In one of the most well-known quotes in the play, John Proctor angrily insists that the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom (pg. By Act 4, many of the power structures that were firmly in place earlier in the play have disintegrated. One of humanity's biggest flaws is that people would do anything to help themselves. The power of mass hysteria is further revealed when Mary is unable to faint outside of a charged courtroom environment. The accused people of Salem are all innocent and have nothing to do with neither witchcraft nor convening with the devil. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions. This is interesting because the children are the ones that the rest of the village relies upon to condemn people to death. 41). He chooses to die instead of providing a false confession because he doesnt think life will be worth living after he is so disgraced. It's here that we see the hypocrisy of the situation. A theme is a central topic that is addressed by a work of literature. The dark, witchcraft-filled production follows a series of deaf characters who are narrated in English, rather than the other way around. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment. This act also sees the irony of Hale discussing the powers of the dark that are attacking Salem (pg. An error occurred trying to load this video. Because, the people of Salem will find out about the affair, this would weaken his reputation. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. Though the Puritans believed that children were not to be taken seriously, they are later convinced by the court officials that the children are the authorities on witchcraft. Miller addresses a similar hysteria throughout his play. How are characters behaviors affected by concern for their reputations? Though Rebecca Nurse's involvement has already been corroborated by other confessors, Danforth demands to hear it from John to confirm that John is fully committed to renouncing his supposed ties to Satan. Each new false confession is thrown onto the pile of evidence of a grand Satanic plot, and as the pile grows larger, the hysteria surrounding it is fed generously. builds quickly as accusations of witchcraft proliferate throughout Salem. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play based upon events that occurred in Salem circa 1690s. Though hysteria overpowered the reputations of the accused in the past two acts, in act 4 the sticking power of their original reputations becomes apparent. 130). Danforth is convinced that there is a moving plot to topple Christ in the country! and anyone who doubts the decisions of the court is potentially involved. The desire to preserve and gain power pervadesThe Crucible as the witch trials lead to dramatic changes in which characters hold the greatest control over the course of events. We saw that Arthur Miller used the Puritans in The Crucible to explore the themes, or main ideas of a text, in order to make the statement that society can be hypocritical and that we should question intentions. Choose a single character and discuss how this person embodies one of the themes. Recall that hypocrisy is when someone's actions don't match up with the professed values. This leads to Marys hysterical accusation of Proctor after she finds herself targeted by the other girls and about to be consumed by the hysteria herself if she doesnt contribute to it. As much as I loved Bernie Sanders, he made millions of dollars while preaching for democratic. The town, already primed with rumors of black magic, is quickly willing to accept that the first few women who are accused are involved in black magic because theyre beggars and slaves. The judges cannot force her to commit herself to a lie, and her martyrdom severely damages their legitimacy and favor amongst the townspeople. -Hypocrisy is the state of falsely claiming to possess virtuous characteristics that one lacks. By Act 2, there are nearly 40 people in jail accused of witchcraft. Reverend Hale enters as a specialist from Boston who has seen the effects that witchcraft has had on others. Rebecca Nurse's accusation further demonstrates the hypocrisy in the play. By Act 4, many of the power structures that were firmly in place earlier in the play have disintegrated. It is used to draw away from a person's counterargument through addressing something unrelated. Parris is extremely dismayed by this revelation because of the damage it will do to his reputation. Combining this notion with the one he declared earlier displays the hypocritical nature of Danforth when put in this hysterical. She puts on a fake front to get what she wants, ultimately creating a persona thats even worse than that of the hypocrites she criticizes. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist. Arthur Miller speaks of Reverend Parris, stating: ''until this strange crisis he, like the rest of Salem, never conceived that the children were anything but thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak.''. This immaculate proof that has led him to sign numerous death warrants is nothing but the fabrications of teenage girls and other townspeople seeking petty revenge. Abigail accuses Tituba first because Tituba is the one person below her on the ladder of power, so she makes an easy scapegoat. The two characters that could have ended the mass hysteria are Abigail Williams and Deputy Governor Danforth. The Crucible is set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In her conversation with John, Abigail claims that he helped her realize all the lies she was told by two-faced people in Salem who only publicly adhere to the conventions of respectable society (pg. The evolution of his character is due to vairous . Danforth insists that John must know more about the Devil's dealings than he has revealed. In the play there was a character by the name of John Proctor; Proctor was a family man that made a huge mistake. They so fear the devilish consequences of challenging the accusers that theyre willing to take them at their word and ignore any defenses the accused have to offer. Tituba is conscious that she is in danger, she is also very frightened because her slave sense has warned her that, as always, trouble in this house eventually lands on her back (Miller, pg. Both flaws led him to delay telling the truth about Abigail's fraudulent claims and their previous relationship, thus dooming himself and many others to death or imprisonment. The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Interestingly, she was the first woman put to death in the trials. How to use hypocrisy in a sentence. An example of hypocrisy is when Mary defends Elizabeth in court, but then gives her a poppet which lands Elizabeth in jail for owning a tool of witchcraft. Abigails presence is always rife with irony in. What makes Danforth so unwilling to consider that the girls could be pretending? Though the play is fictional, the characters are named after real people who lived in Salem during that time. When he starts to realize he continues to avoid people from getting mad at him for putting innocent people in jail and killing them. dominique swain child, dance move where you hold your ankle and head,
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