Act 3 John Proctor the crucible theme essay his own reputation in Act 3 after realizing it's the only way he can discredit Abigail. Abigail, on the other hand, faces an uphill battle towards more power over her situation. Goody Good, an old beggar woman, is one of the first to be named a witch, the crucible theme essay. Interruptions and Delayed Explanations in Act III of The Crucible Words 3 Pages. Reverend Parris has fallen from his position of authority as a result of the outcomes of the trials. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality.
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Book Guides. The Crucible remains a staple of high school English because it is rich in themes that are consistently relevant to human beings regardless of time period. But these themes aren't always easy to explain or dissect in the context of the play, and they can be even harder to develop into essays. Read on for an overview of what a theme is, a list of important themes in The Crucible with specific act-by-act details, and a summary of how to use this information in your essays and other assignments. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of how The Crucible themes are expressed, let's do a quick overview of what themes are and why they matter.
A theme is a central topic that is addressed by a work of literature. Themes can be expressed in many different ways. In the case of a play like The Cruciblethemes are revealed mainly through the dialogue of the characters, the crucible theme essay. They're also revealed though events in the plot. Themes tell us what the purpose of the work is. What is the writer attempting to convey to the viewer? The Crucible 's themes have lent the play artistic longevity because they're more or less universal to the human experience across time. If you hope to write an awesome essay on The Crucibleyou should have extensive knowledge of its themes.
If you can show that you understand the crucible theme essay themes of a work of literature, you've clearly mastered the material on a deeper level. In the next few sections, I'll take a look at a group of broad themes in The Crucibleincluding irony, hysteria, reputation, and power. First off, what is irony? Many people are under the impression that irony is just when something happens that you don't expect or that you really hoped wouldn't the crucible theme essay. In reality, true irony only happens when a situation is the exact opposite of what you would expect. 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.
Well, it's not. Sure, you don't expect or want rain, but it's not the polar opposite of getting married. A real example of irony would be if two married guests got into a fight about going to your wedding that ended in their divorce. The ruthlessness with which the suspected witches are treated is aimed at purifying Salem, but it achieves the the crucible theme essay outcome. The town slips further and further into chaos and paranoia until it reaches a point of total devastation. The court's attempts to preserve Puritan morality by arresting and executing accused witches ironically lead to the removal of the most virtuous people from society. These people are the only ones who refuse to throw out false accusations or lie about involvement in witchcraft, so they find themselves condemned this is the fate of Rebecca Nurse.
This means that much of the population that remains is comprised of the power-hungry, the selfish, and the cowardly. There are several ironies in Act 1 that center around Abigail Williams, the crucible theme essay. 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. Hale also makes some unintentionally ironic statements in Act 1 when he begins his investigation. Hale is convinced that a scientific inquiry based only on facts and reality can be conducted to detect a supernatural presence. This is ironic because searching for "the Devil's marks" as the potential cause of an ailment is inherently superstitious.
The whole purpose of a trial is to hear both sides of the story before a verdict is reached. 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. When Hale asks him to recite his commandments, the only one he forgets is adultery. The fact that he forgets only this commandment shows that he is trying extremely hard to repress his guilt. This is irony of the same type that I discussed in the overview of this theme.
Salem is under attack from the hysteria that is encouraged by the same people who seek to keep imaginary supernatural demons at bay. In Act 3, Hale continues to make ironic statements about the existence of concrete proof for the accusations of witchcraft. 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. John tells the judge to summon Elizabeth to back him up because he knows she always tells the truth. This well-intentioned mistake seals both of their fates. This attitude comes from a man who has shown no remorse for condemning people to death throughout the play. He has sentenced people to death based on lies about their dealings in black magic, and he has accepted other false confessions from those who would rather lie than be executed.
Here are a few questions related to this theme that you can use to test your grasp of irony and its significance as a theme in The Crucible :. Hale wrongly assumes that his academic mindset will save him from jumping to the wrong conclusions in the witchcraft the crucible theme essay. Ironically, he is the first to demand a confession from Tituba based on Abigail's dramatic but false testimony. The thematic significance of hysteria builds quickly as accusations of witchcraft proliferate throughout Salem. The power of collective hysteria ultimately becomes insurmountable because it grows larger than the influence of the few rational voices in the community. The seeds are planted in Act 1, when Abigail is questioned about her activities in the woods and ends up accusing Tituba of witchcraft to avoid punishment.
Armed with the the crucible theme essay proof of these coerced confessions, the court officials aggressively persecute anyone who is accused. Hysteria blinds the people of Salem to reason as they become convinced that there is a grand Satanic plot brewing in town, and they must not hesitate to condemn anyone who could be involved. This is a lesson in how fear can twist perceptions of reality even for those who consider themselves reasonable under normal circumstances. Even before Abigail makes accusations, rumors of witchcraft have morphed into accepted truths in the minds of the more superstitious the crucible theme essay of the community.
Ann Putnam jumps at any opportunity to blame supernatural forces for the deaths of her children. Rational explanations are ground up by the drama of the rumor mill, and people see only what they want to see whatever keeps them in the good graces of society and makes them feel the best about themselves in situations that don't appear to have easy explanations. Parris is extremely dismayed by this revelation because of the damage it will do to his reputation. This vicious cycle continues to claim the lives of more and more people as the play progresses. By Act 2, there are nearly 40 people in jail accused of witchcraft. Many people confess when threatened with execution, the crucible theme essay, and this only heightens the paranoid atmosphere.
The authorities ignore any inconvenient logical objections to the proceedings because they, too, are swept up in the madness. The hysterical atmosphere and the dramatic performances of some of the accusers cause people to believe they have seen genuine proof of witchcraft. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. 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 the crucible theme essay the doubt. No one even considers Mary's statement about sticking the needle in herself, the crucible theme essay.
In this environment, whoever yells the loudest seems to get the most credibility. The depths of the hysteria that has gripped Salem are revealed in Act 3 when John finally confronts the court. The court refuses to challenge anyone who claims to have been afflicted. When the petition testifying to the good character of the accused women is presented, the reaction from Danforth, the crucible theme essay, Hathorne, and Parris is to arrest the people who signed it rather than considering that this might indicate that the women are innocent. Nowhere is there any consideration of ulterior motives. The power of mass hysteria is further revealed when Mary is unable to faint outside of a charged courtroom environment. She believed she had seen spirits earlier because she was caught up in the delusions of those around her.
Abigail distracts the judges from any rational investigation in this act by playing into this hysteria, the crucible theme essay. Will you confess yourself with him? Danforth insists that John must know more about the Devil's dealings than he has revealed. Though Rebecca Nurse's involvement has already the crucible theme essay 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. Here are a few questions about hysteria to consider now that you've read a summary of how this theme was expressed throughout the plot of the play:. Even though there is significant reason to believe Abigail is lying about Elizabeth's familiar spirit stabbing her, the frenzied investigators ignore testimony that challenges their chosen witchy narrative.
Concern for reputation is a theme the crucible theme essay looms large over most of the events in The Crucible. Though actions are often motivated by fear and desires for power and revenge, they are also propped up by underlying worries about how a loss of reputation will negatively affect characters' lives. Once there have been enough convictions, the the crucible theme essay of the judges also become factors. 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.
The importance placed on reputation helps perpetuate hysteria because it leads the crucible theme essay inaction, inflexibility, and, in many cases, active sabotage of the reputations of others for selfish purposes. The overall message is that when a person's actions are driven by desires to preserve favorable public opinion rather than do the morally right thing, there can be extremely dire consequences. Reverend Parris' concerns about his reputation are immediately evident in Act 1. Parris is very quick to position himself on the side of the accusers as soon as Abigail throws the first punch, and he immediately threatens violence on Tituba if the crucible theme essay doesn't confess pg. He appears to have no governing system of morality, the crucible theme essay.
His only goal is to get on the good side of the community as a whole, even in the midst of this bout of collective hysteria. Abigail also shows concern for her reputation. She is enraged when Parris questions her suspicious dismissal from the Proctor household. Abigail insists that she did nothing to deserve it and tries to put all the blame on Elizabeth Proctor. She says, "My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar! In this act, we learn more details about the accused that paint a clearer picture of the influence of reputation and social standing on the patterns of accusations.
Goody Good, an old beggar woman, is one of the first to be named a witch. Rebecca Nurse, a woman whose character was previously thought to be unimpeachable, is accused and arrested, the crucible theme essay. This is taken as evidence that things are the crucible theme essay getting out of control "if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing's left to stop the whole green world from burning.
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The play deliberately uses differences to show us as the audience that there are clear contrasts between Abigail and Elizabeth. John Proctor is sent to jail because he is accused of witchcraft. He is so mad that everyone is so blind to what the girls are doing and that the judges are letting them control the fate and destruction of so many lives. He is also deemed as practicin the Devil and his followers and now he finally sees that there are not any. He fears that if Salem sees such respectable people like John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse hung that they will revolt. s a whore and she has a motive to kill his wife.
In the first scene of the whole play they show that they are witches with their powers by creating the weather and predicting the future. They speak about Macbeth and there plans to meet with him. This is what many people rent groups of characters. Having taken the evidence into account I think the witches did play a big part in the murder of king Duncan, as they were the ones who introduced the ideas to Macbeth in the first place. There is no definite evidence, however, that he was possessed by these witches, so we cannot know whether they had this power over him or not. The accused are charged and convicted of a crime that is impossible to prove. The following witchcraft hysteria takes place in one of America's wholesome, theocratic towns, which makes the miscarriage of justice such a mystery even today.
The reasons the villains select the people they do for condemnation are both simple and clear. All of the accusers have ulterior motives, such as revenge, greed, and covering up their own behavior. Many of the accusers have meddled in witchcraft themselves, and are therefore doubly to be distrusted. Home Page The Crucible Theme Essay. The Crucible Theme Essay Better Essays. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. All great works provide a way to reach in and grab the audience through the reoccurring themes like, greed, jealousy, reputation and hypocrisy.
The play was based off of the witch trials that happened in Salem in the year of Some of the characters were actual characters involved in the witch trials. Miller wrote The Crucible because he wanted to turn the The Salem Witch Trials into …show more content… One that many people realized was the reoccurring theme of greed and power lead to the destruction of others. This theme is shown throughout many other pieces of literature like The tale of Sleepy Hollow, Macbeth and many other works of literature. The theme of greed can be shown in The Crucible through the character of Mr. And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for his land! His wife has been accused of witchcraft because she was reading suspicious books.
Giles Corey is defending others in the jail and telling the courts that Mr. Putnam is a land greedy man that is killing off his neighbors for their land. Putnam was Mr. Migrant Workers and the Working Poor, Book Review Example. Need a professionally written Custom Essay? Right now, you can get a professionally written essay in any discipline with a. We're now sending you a link to download your e-book, please check your e-mail. Thank you! You can receive the notifications now. It's pleasure to stay in touch!
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Get a Free E-Book! Pages: 8 Words: Essay. This Essay was written by one of our professional writers. Need a custom Essay written for you? HIRE A WRITER! Works Cited Miller, Arthur. The Crucible Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Classics, Stuck with your Essay? Get in touch with one of our experts for instant help! Messenger Live chat. Tags: Classic English Literature MLA Undergraduate. Ethical Analysis of Eastern Promises, Essay Example Essay. Migrant Workers and the Working Poor, Book Review Example Book Review.
Get instant essay writing help! It's a Free, No-Obligation Inquiry! Your Email. Describe and give examples of research questions for which external validity is a primary concern. Describe and give [ Pages: 5 Words: Essay. View full sample. His only goal is to get on the good side of the community as a whole, even in the midst of this bout of collective hysteria. Abigail also shows concern for her reputation. She is enraged when Parris questions her suspicious dismissal from the Proctor household. Abigail insists that she did nothing to deserve it and tries to put all the blame on Elizabeth Proctor. She says, "My name is good in the village!
I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar! In this act, we learn more details about the accused that paint a clearer picture of the influence of reputation and social standing on the patterns of accusations. Goody Good, an old beggar woman, is one of the first to be named a witch. Rebecca Nurse, a woman whose character was previously thought to be unimpeachable, is accused and arrested. This is taken as evidence that things are really getting out of control "if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing's left to stop the whole green world from burning. People in power continue to believe the accusers out of fear for their own safety, taking the hysteria to a point where no one is above condemnation. At the end this act, John Proctor delivers a short monologue anticipating the imminent loss of the disguises of propriety worn by himself and other members of the Salem community.
The faces that people present to the public are designed to garner respect in the community, but the witch trials have thrown this system into disarray. In a way, John welcomes the loss of his reputation because he feels so guilty about the disconnect between how he is perceived by others and the sins he has committed. John Proctor sabotages his own reputation in Act 3 after realizing it's the only way he can discredit Abigail. This is a decision with dire consequences in a town where reputation is so important, a fact that contributes to the misunderstanding that follows. She continues to act under the assumption that his reputation is of the utmost importance to him, and she does not reveal the affair.
This lie essentially condemns both of them. Danforth also acts out of concern for his reputations here. He references the many sentencing decisions he has already made in the trials of the accused. This fact could destroy his credibility , so he is biased towards continuing to trust Abigail. Danforth has extensive pride in his intelligence and perceptiveness. This makes him particularly averse to accepting that he's been fooled by a teenage girl. 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. Parris begs Danforth to postpone their hangings because he fears for his life if the executions proceed as planned. In the final events of Act 4, John Proctor has a tough choice to make between losing his dignity and losing his life.
The price he has to pay in reputation to save his own life is ultimately too high. I have given you my soul; leave me my name! Here are a few discussion questions to consider after you've read my summary of how the theme of reputation motivates characters and plot developments in The Crucible :. If you're an old beggar woman who sometimes takes shelter in this creepy shack, you better believe these jerks are gonna turn on you as soon as anyone says the word "witch. The desire to preserve and gain power pervades The Crucible as the witch trials lead to dramatic changes in which characters hold the greatest control over the course of events.
Where before she was just an orphaned teenager, now, in the midst of the trials, she becomes the main witness to the inner workings of a Satanic plot. The main pillars of traditional power are represented by the law and the church. These two institutions fuse together in The Crucible to actively encourage accusers and discourage rational explanations of events. The girls are essentially given permission by authority figures to continue their act because they are made to feel special and important for their participation. The people in charge are so eager to hold onto their power that if anyone disagrees with them in the way the trials are conducted, it is taken as a personal affront and challenge to their authority.
Danforth, Hathorne, and Parris become even more rigid in their views when they feel they are under attack. As mentioned in the overview, religion holds significant power over the people of Salem. Reverend Parris is in a position of power as the town's spiritual leader, but he is insecure about his authority. He believes there is a group of people in town determined to remove him from this position, and he will say and do whatever it takes to retain control. This causes problems down the line as Parris allows his paranoia about losing his position to translate into enthusiasm for the witch hunt. Abigail, on the other hand, faces an uphill battle towards more power over her situation. She is clearly outspoken and dominant, but her initial position in society is one of very little influence and authority.
Abigail accuses Tituba first because Tituba is the one person below her on the ladder of power, so she makes an easy scapegoat. If Tituba was permitted to explain what really happened, the ensuing tragedy might have been prevented. No one will listen to Tituba until she agrees to confirm the version of events that the people in traditional positions of authority have already decided is true, a pattern which continues throughout the play. By Act 2, there have been notable changes in the power structure in Salem as a result of the ongoing trials.
This new power is exciting and very dangerous because it encourages the girls to make additional accusations in order to preserve their value in the eyes of the court. Abigail, in particular, has quickly risen from a nobody to one of the most influential people in Salem. No one thinks a teenage orphan girl is capable of such extensive deception or delusion , so she is consistently trusted. She openly threatens Danforth for even entertaining Mary and John's accusations of fraud against her. Though Danforth is the most powerful official figure in court, Abigail manipulates him easily with her performance as a victim of witchcraft.
He's already accepted her testimony as evidence, so he is happy for any excuse to believe her over John and Mary. John finally comes to the realization that Mary's truthful testimony cannot compete with the hysteria that has taken hold of the court. The petition he presents to Danforth is used as a weapon against the signers rather than a proof of the innocence of Elizabeth, Martha, and Rebecca. Abigail's version of events is held to be true even after John confesses to their affair in a final effort to discredit her. Logic has no power to combat paranoia and superstition even when the claims of the girls are clearly fraudulent. John Proctor surrenders his agency at the end of Act 3 in despair at the determination of the court to pursue the accusations of witchcraft and ignore all evidence of their falsehood.
By Act 4, many of the power structures that were firmly in place earlier in the play have disintegrated. Reverend Parris has fallen from his position of authority as a result of the outcomes of the trials. In Act 1 he jumped on board with the hysteria to preserve his power, but he ended up losing what little authority he had in the first place and, according to Miller's afterward, was voted out of office soon after the end of the play. The prisoners have lost all faith in earthly authority figures and look towards the judgment of God. The only power they have left is in refusing to confess and preserving their integrity.
I n steadfastly refusing to confess, Rebecca Nurse holds onto a great deal of power. The judges cannot force her to commit herself to a lie, and her martyrdom severely damages their legitimacy and favor amongst the townspeople. Here are some discussion questions to consider after reading about the thematic role of the concepts of power and authority in the events of the play:. Mary Warren when she comes back from Salem in Act 2. These are themes that could be considered subsets of the topics detailed in the previous sections, but there's also room to discuss them as topics in their own right.
I'll give a short summary of how each plays a role in the events of The Crucible. The theme of guilt is one that is deeply relevant to John Proctor's character development throughout the play. John feels incredibly ashamed of his affair with Abigail, so he tries to bury it and pretend it never happened. His guilt leads to great tension in interactions with Elizabeth because he projects his feelings onto her, accusing her of being judgmental and dwelling on his mistakes. In reality, he is constantly judging himself, and this leads to outbursts of anger against others who remind him of what he did he already feels guilty enough! Hale also contends with his guilt in act 4 for his role in condemning the accused witches , who he now believes are innocent.
There's a message here about the choices we have in dealing with guilt. John attempts to crush his guilt instead of facing it, which only ends up making it an even more destructive factor in his life. Hale tries to combat his guilt by persuading the prisoners to confess, refusing to accept that the damage has already been done. Both Hale and Proctor don't want to live with the consequences of their mistakes, so they try to ignore or undo their past actions. Miller's portrayal of women in The Crucible is a much-discussed topic. The attitudes towards women in the s, when the play was written, are evident in the roles they're given. The most substantial female character is Abigail, who is portrayed as a devious and highly sexualized young woman.
She is cast as a villain. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, we have Rebecca Nurse. She is a sensible, saintly old woman who chooses to martyr herself rather than lie and confess to witchcraft. The other two main female characters, Elizabeth and Mary Warren, are somewhat bland. Elizabeth is defined by her relationship to John, and Mary is pushed around by other characters mostly men throughout the play. The Crucible presents a view of women that essentially reduces them to caricatures of human beings that are defined by their roles as mothers, wives, and servants to men. Abigail, the one character who breaks from this mold slightly, is portrayed extremely unsympathetically despite the fact that the power dynamic between her and John makes him far more culpable in their illicit relationship.
Deception is a major driving force in The Crucible. This includes not only accusatory lies about the involvement of others in witchcraft but also the lies that people consistently tell about their own virtuousness and purity in such a repressive society. The turmoil in Salem is propelled forward by desires for revenge and power that have been simmering beneath the town's placid exterior. There is a culture of keeping up appearances already in place, which makes it natural for people to lie about witnessing their neighbors partaking in Satanic rituals when the opportunity arises especially if it means insulating themselves from similar accusations and even achieving personal gain.
The Crucible provides an example of how convenient lies can build on one another to create a universally accepted truth even in the absence of any real evidence. Even before the witch trials, the people of Salem are doing lots of little magic tricks to make all their unholy thoughts and actions disappear. It's one thing to understand the major themes in The Crucible , and it's another thing completely to write about them yourself. Essay prompts will ask about these themes in a variety of different ways.
Some will be very direct. An example would be something like:.
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