Although lying seems unimportant, it can be much more powerful than one might think. Arthur Miller’s tragic play The Crucible recites the story of the Salem Witch trials of 1692, in which the false accusations of a few young girls resulted in over 20 casualties. Many different characters, including Parris, Abigail, and John Proctor, hide the truth to preserve their reputations. Despite their diverse social statuses and positions, they each have something to hide. They constantly omit or deny things in their testimonies to save their names. Even though they were all unsuccessful in the end, Parris, Abigail, and Proctor all use lies to evade consequences for as long as they can. Reverend Parris demonstrates his reverence for his reputation early into the play and attempts to control the spread of his secret to protect his good name. …show more content…
I will not have it said my name is soiled,” (1.10). In order to defend herself from her uncle’s suspicion, Abigail responds in a heavily guarded manner. Reputation is so important to her that she convinces herself and others that she is without fault. When Mary Warren decides to reveal the truth, Abigail threatens her; says “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (1.13) Abigail is so worried for her reputation that she threatens to kill her friends. Finally, care for her reputation causes Abigail to flee Salem. She is pushed into stealing from her uncle to escape the misgivings the villagers have against her. For Abigail Williams, having a good name is a necessary part of existence that takes precedence over truth, her friends, and her
The witch trials allowed for those whose reputation was lowly to elevate to a position of power and authority. Abigail Williams is the character who takes advantage of this. She is consumed with having a good reputation because for her to rise to a position of power she must be someone who has a pure name. When Parris questions about her dismissal from the Proctor household she is enraged and insists that she did nothing wrong. “My Name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!” (Miller 13). Therefore, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of damaging her reputation. Abigail is cautious about her reputation because if rumors are going around that her name is soiled, surely people would not believe
Parris knew of Abigail's infidelity with John Proctor but denied it in court, “ Your Honor, this is all a -” (Pg 1309) He was interrupted but it is obvious in the setting of his words that he meant to say that this was all a lie. Parris lied because he knew that if his niece were caught whoring around then his good name would be soiled forever. During the Court hearing Parris says, “Your Excellency, this is a trick to blind the court!” (Pg 1306)
The Crucible is a play that shows honor, religious, and integrity in the town and how it can affect the people and the village in many ways during the Puritan times. It focuses on the fact of the Salem Witch Trials and the behavior that can result from dark eagerness. The Crucible was inspired by the McCarthyism hearings of the 1950’s. The main character, Abigail Williams, shows how she can do anything so she can get what she wants but ends up leading to different things that she didn't expect to happen in the end. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, he shows that fear can lead to hysteria that causes a disagreement to the community that uses Abuse of Power to show how things don't always turn out how it expects to turn out, manipulating others, and
Reputation is a social phenomenon for individuals in every society. Every one of us cares how we are viewed at some point, and everyone else provides that view. Reputation has transformed largely over the centuries, and we can see a large theme of it in Puritan-based literature such as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In the Puritan lifestyle, reputation was among the utmost importance to citizens. Keeping a good name through correct moral conduct was a very critical social aspect for Puritans. In The Crucible there is a strong theme of the importance of reputation which directly applies to John Proctor, Abigail, and Reverend Parris.
One theme in this story is that many people will lie to protect themselves from the negative consequences. This can be seen in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. In The Crucible, many people suffered from the same faith, since they wouldn’t confess to the lies that was being told on them.
In society, we are blind to the lies that are taking place around us every day. Small lies, big lies, lies right in front of our face, and we are oblivious to almost all of it. This is shown really well in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Throughout the play, which takes place during the witch trials that took place in Salem, lies make up a big portion of the plot. Some of these types of lies that are used are described very well in Stephanie Ericsson’s essay The Ways We Lie. These variations of lies amplify the outrage created, through McCarthyism, and the Salem Witch trials that take place in the play The Crucible.
God damns all liars, In arthur Miller’s play The Crucible Many Characters lie to save their name, to get property, to get rid of a bad neighbor or to even steal someone’s spouse. Millers characters Prove that sins like Pride, deceit and envy lead to unfortunate consequences.
Within Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, Abigail told lies about who was guilty of witchery. Whereas, Elizabeth Proctor told the lie to the court that her husband did not have an affair. Another difference between lies and white lies is one of intention. Lies are spoken with the purposes of self-benefit and or, in a malicious case, to hurt another person. Abigail told the lies to protect herself and harm those whom she disliked. In contrast, white lies serve to defend someone else and or to ease social pressures. Elizabeth Proctor lied to protect her husband’s reputation.
Abigail Williams did not want to stop the witch trials because if they found out she was lying about most of the things she said she would have been hanged. Blaming other people, getting them killed because of her ignorance. She only was loyal to the girls. One wrong move for abigail then her life would have been over with. Abigail was full of herself in the play she was selfish, ignorant, and a back-stabbing liar, it was her way or no way she did not let nothing stop her from getting rid of who was in the way.She even told lies on Tituba, but she had the courage and was brave enough to stand up and confess about it only because she was a slave and she thought they were going to kill her. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the author of the book put everything in play because Abigail Uses the town’s fear and Witchcraft to her own advantages. She stole Reverend Parris money and lied about it and, acts the whole shouting and screaming in court and puts the town in fear. Being so vindictive as she is, she scares herself at times because she’s afraid if anyone would find out about her lien about the witchcraft.
In society, we are blind to lies that are taking place around us everyday. Small lies, big lies, lies right in front of our face, and we are oblivious to almost all of it. This is shown really well in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Throughout the play, which takes place during the witch trials that took place in Salem, lies make up a big portion of the plot. Some of these types of lies that are used are described very well in Stephanie Ericsson’s essay The Ways We Lie. These variations of lies amplify the outrage created, through McCarthyism, and the Salem Witch trials that take place in the play The Crucible.
The phrase “honesty is the best policy,” applies to Arthur Miller’s history-based drama, The Crucible, in a variety of ways. The accusations throughout the story build on lie after lie after lie from those trying to protect their own name, thus putting the whole town in a state of confusion and chaos. Nobody in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts knows whom to trust anymore, after all of the false allegations made. There are three characters in particular in the story that, if they had told the truth from the commencement, the town would have been in a state of peace rather than mayhem. If Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Elizabeth Proctor had been honest, many innocent lives could have been spared and Salem would not be in such
An unknown speaker once said, “A real man will be honest no matter how painful the truth is. A coward hides behind his lies and deceit.” This quote relates to characters in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, such as John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Giles Corey. Each person took action and stood up for what was right. Faced with tough decisions, many characters throughout the play are severely tested by others in their surroundings because of the ways they lie, the ways they make false accusations, and the ways that they ultimately die for a cause.
People lie all the time such as in the Crucible lying is a very common practice throughout the play as can be seen through the characters of John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Proctor. The Crucible containing many lies throughout the play, intertwining with each other some leading to the death of John Proctor. During the 1950s with McCarthyismm and Joe McCarthy rising to power falsely accusing others of being communists, during the second red scare. Lies that lead to catastrophes as seen in the Crucible; being the cause of people’s deaths and overall run amuck and get out of control.
People are often told that lying is the wrong thing to do; it is evil, inhumane, and overall terrible. Despite this fact, lying has been shown to hand people multiple benefits. These benefits can be anything from getting out of doing house chores to looking cool in front of classmates. Because of this, many people use this form of deception to remove themselves from unwanted problems in the community. The Crucible, a play written Arthur Miller, portrays a disrupted society where people are accused of witchcraft for any abnormal activity. The accused witches are either forced to “confess” to their involvement with witchcraft or be executed in the gallows. The characters in the play display to the readers that lying provides protection towards people in different ways.
Life’s journey is difficult for many, and at times the only way to endure its struggles is to lie. During Puritan times there was a persecution directed toward many innocent people. Known for brutal executions, the Salem Witch trials, this period in history represents the most frowned upon time in that people found themselves searching for ways out of mistakes and how to cast blame on others. This makes lying common to save reputations and lives. In The Crucible, significant characters go to extreme lengths to protect their reputations by lying.