Towards the end of Act II he starts to have some suspicion on what is going on because now Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft. During the middle and end of Act III when John Proctor is testifying and Abigail is doing her hallucination. Hale begins to join John, Giles, and Francis against the court. He sees the truth on why the trials are happening and he tries to help them out. “I beg you, stop now before another is condemned!
As Proctor own feelings of disgust overcome him, his confession to the affair with Abigail brings him forward to the court where Danforth's ultimatum, "you are either with the court or you will be courted, there is no in between" conveys the juxtaposing value the town of Salem holds, you conform or become exiled. Proctors false confession sees him feel hollow and unfulfilled as he resigns himself to his own death, "it is my name! i cannot have another in my life! Leave my
The duke finds Pompey being led off to prison by the constable, Elbow. When Lucio arrives on the scene, Pompey appeals to him to take his part, but that gentleman merely condemns him further, refusing even to go bail for him. Elbow leads Pompey away, and Lucio launches into an attack on the duke's own virtue. The duke challenges him to repeat his remarks to the duke's face when he has returned. Lucio leaves, uttering still more damning remarks.
One of the themes in “The Minister's Black Veil”, readers is likely to recognize the reaction of the townspeople to change, especially when a change is associated with their religion or religious figures. This is clearly not an accepting community and it is worth thinking critically about the way the whole community comes together to shun him. The veil makes the Reverend look dark and gloomy and instantly, even before one day is through the people in town are witnessing supernatural events. It seems there is something to be said about the group mentality of Puritans and their quick tendencies toward superstition. Elizabeth is the only exception
The narrator of the story is visitng her family friends in the rural countryside of Nova Scotia. Upon arrival, she is uncomfortable. Garnet is a young man who is perceived as a laidback character. As the story progresses, Garnet begins to spend more time with the narrator, and eventually opens up to her. Inside, Garnet has feelings towards the narrator, and he carves her name into the wood with a “border of stars around it / and a line underneath.” (Paragraph 19) By carving the stars and a line underneath, Garnet explains how he has “met the one”; he Garnet’s sisters originally view her as someone who is a stranger.
The Puritans in The Scarlet Letter ironically condemn Hester by hypocritically reacting to her sin and by foolishly praising the preacher who actually committed adultery with her. Once the puritans realize Hester was pregnant, they began to condemn her and give her harsh consequences. All together they banished her from the town and tried to take her daughter away from her. These consequences were given hypocritically since the majority of the town participated in witchcraft. The town, in order to justify it's sin, acted like they actually held standards by harshly attacking Hester's sin.
When the witch trials begin, Reverend Hale questions John and asks him to recite the Ten Commandments and misses one Commandment (ironically, the Commandment regarding adultery), and thus begins Proctor’s quest to prove himself not to be of the devil. Later on in the play, Proctor makes a false confession to save his life, however, he tears it up stating “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another name in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!” (Miller 143). The previous quote is important to Proctor’s crucible because it proves that he has failed his quest and has given in rather than continuing to try and prove he is not an associate of the
Being a slave and of lower social status, Tituba was accused by Abigail in order to avoid any punishment or responsibility. With all attention drawn on her, Tituba was frightened into making false accusations. The fear Abigail and the girls had that they would be punished for their mischief forced them to act rashly in order to be saved. Soon after, they realized naming people who supposedly “came with the Devil” would save them from punishment so they shouted “I saw Goody Hawkins….Goody Bibber….Goody Good with the Devil!” Thus proving that in the heat
A radical religion called Puritanism was vitally important to the people of Salem, and they were extraordinarily paranoid of the Devil. Two characters in the book The Crucible demonstrate how Puritanism affected the society. Judge Danforth is an example of religious ignorance and ends up being the person who condemns everyone, suspecting they are all witches. On the other hand, John Proctor is a level headed farmer who watches as his friends and their wives are accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death, that is, until his own wife is accused. Using these foil characters, Arthur Miller exemplifies the difference between people who are weak minded and cowardly versus people who are strong-minded and brave.
An easy accusation of one’s name could tarnish their reputation and ruin their career. This happens to many citizens in Salem when they are charged with the involvement of witchcraft and do not wish to confess to such an outrageous allegation in honor of their good name. The Crucible is a perfect depiction in how intolerance and paranoia of the supernatural can tear a community apart. The devil and sorcery is used as a scapegoat to cover up ones personal mistakes and bad coincidences. If there is something wrong with the plants or the animals keep dying, it must be the work of black magic.