Analysis of The Crucible Essays

Analysis of The Crucible Essays Analysis of The Crucible Paper Analysis of The Crucible Paper Matters are taken to court, and Proctor brings Mary Warren (his servant and a member of Abigails circle) to court and tells Judge Danforth that she will testify that the girls are lying. Danforth is suspicious of Proctors motives and tells him, truthfully that Elizabeth is pregnant, and will be spared for a while. When the girls are bought to court, they turn things around by accusing Mary of bewitching them. In rage, Proctor confesses his affair with Abigail. Danforth interrogates Elizabeth to test Proctors claim. Despite her honesty, she lies to protect her husband and Danforth denounced Proctor as a liar. Meanwhile, Abigail and the girls again pretend that Mary is bewitching them. As a result of this, Mary has a break down and accuses Proctor of being a witch. As the autumn arrives, we find that Abigail has run away. Reverend Hale, the expert on witchcraft, has lost faith in the court and begs the accused witches to confess in order to save their lives, but they refuse. However, Danforth has conjured a plan: he asks Elizabeth to persuade John into confessing, and she agrees to do this. Proctor agrees to confess but refuses to incriminate anyone else, and when the court insists that the confession must be made public, Proctor became resentful and retracts his statement. With that, the witch trials reach their awful conclusion, as Proctor is sent to the gallows with the others. Tragedy is a genre of drama, which stemmed from the Greeks; devised by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Tragic plays always had a tragic hero, which in The Crucible is expressed through Proctor who is in conflict with the law and social drama, contending with the conflicts facing individuals within the conventions of society. As the play is set in 1692, this drama was based upon documented historical events. Miller does this is a number of ways by the use of compressing time, composite characters and conjecture events. This is called artistic license. John Proctor himself is husband to Elizabeth Proctor. He is a good father, and loyal to his friends. He is very passionate about having justice and doing what is right for the welfare of as many people as possible. This is seen at the end of the play when he makes a difficult decision, and this reflects Millers concern with the battle between the responsibilities of self and society. The relationship between Proctor and Elizabeth is very strong. Dramatic tension is built up by Elizabeth constantly mentioning the past and how they used to be; Proctor constantly feels guilty and apologises to Elizabeth. Elizabeth is constantly suspicious of what her husband is doing. What keeps you up so late? Its almost dark (Elizabeth) This suggests that their relationship is deceptive; there is no longer trust between them. This promotes the audience to question why? And why does Elizabeth stay with him? In spite of this, John is convinced to make amends. I mean to please you Elizabeth (Proctor) At this stage, the relationship is still together, but the audience may feel sorry for him. A contrast is seen when Proctor confesses in court about having an affair with Abigail, and Elizabeth denies it without knowing he had confessed to try and protect him. This made everyone question whether the affair actually took place. In the end, when John is hung, Elizabeth forgives him. However the relationship between Proctor and Abigail is very different, being based mainly around sex, creating sexual tension in the play. I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near! (Abigail) Proctor commits adultery, and keeps secrets from Elizabeth. Abigail is not living in reality; she wants revenge, and uses the complicated relationship as a weapon. Abigail thinks that the relationship she had with Proctor was love and tries to make him believe that he is in love with her too by reminding him of the past. She becomes obsessed, and the relationship becomes complicated, and it becomes dangerous and she misjudges his morals and personality. We never touched, Abby. (Proctor) Aye, but we did. (Abigail) Aye, but we did not. (Proctor) Dramatic tension in this scene is created through the basic instinct of sex which is expressed through Abigail. She confronts Proctor about sex, and the conversation becomes very physical in its self, as she grabs him and begs him to come back to her. In reaction to this situation the audience would feel quite shocked, and would want to know whats going to happen next as a result of what she is saying and how it will affect the people of Salem if they find out. Salem is guided by Puritanism, influenced by the religious teachings of the Bible. The life of a Puritan has a dominant and constant force characters in the play are faced by the demands of their religion, which creates a lot of hysteria and witch hunts, which consequently results in trials and deaths, and the build up of tension. The characters have closed minds and abided by their religion but Proctor behaved differently making him be seen by others as the devil. When a society develops itself thinking that their way of life is the only acceptable way, there will be intolerance of all other ways of life. An example of this is Parris reaction to Bettys illness. It was seen as completely abhorrent and this triggered the condemnatory behaviour. The reaction to John and Abigails affair also reflects intolerance within the community. Intolerance is also provoked by the rules within a society, which may motivate rebellion it is inevitable in a world based on induction. This theory is meditated throughout the play through Proctor and Abigail. Abigail induces witchcraft, and Proctor fights against the court. Rebellion will build up excitement and tension in the audience as they ponder what will happen as a consequence, which in the end is death.