The Crucible: Characters
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller that was first produced in 1953,
is based on the true story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Miller wrote the
play to parallel the situations in the mid-twentieth century of Alger Hiss,
Owen Latimore, Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, and Senator McCarthy, if only
suggestively. (Warshow 116) Some characters in the play have specific agendas
carried out by their accusations, and the fact that the play is based on
historical truth makes it even more intriguing.
The characters in this play are simple, common people. The accused are
charged and convicted of a crime that is impossible to prove. The following
witchcraft hysteria takes place in one of ...
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wonder
how the judges and the townspeople could let such a charade continue.
The leading character of the play is John Proctor, a man who often
serves as the only voice of reason in the play. He had an affair with Abigail
Williams, who later charges his wife with witchcraft. Proctor is seemingly the
only person who can see through the children's accusations. The reader sees him
as one of the more "modern" figures in the trials because he is hardheaded,
skeptical, and a voice of common sense. He thinks the girls can be cured of
their "spells" with a good whipping. (Warshow 114) At the end of the play,
Proctor has to make a choice. He can either confess to a crime he is innocent
of to save himself from execution, or die proclaiming his innocence. He ends up
choosing death because a false confession would mean implicating other accused
people, including Rebecca Nurse. (Rovere 2632) Proctor feels she is good and
pure, unlike his adulterous self, and does not want to tarnish ...
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Osburn is later
accused of witchcraft. Ann Putnam's husband also influences her. (Rovere 2632)
Thomas Putman had nominated his wife's brother-in-law, James Bayley, to
be the minister of Salem. He was qualified and the people voted him in, but a
faction stopped his acceptance. Thomas Putnam felt superior to most people in
the village, and was angry that they rejected his choice for minister. He was
also involved in a land dispute with Francis Nurse, whose wife Rebecca is
accused of witchcraft. This is detailed in the movie Three Sovereigns for Sarah,
which shows basically the same story as the play. Many people died because of
Thomas Putnam's land hunger. The Putnams, driven by ...
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The Crucible: Characters. (2005, May 2). Retrieved November 30, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Crucible-Characters/26274
"The Crucible: Characters." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 2 May. 2005. Web. 30 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Crucible-Characters/26274>
"The Crucible: Characters." Essayworld.com. May 2, 2005. Accessed November 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Crucible-Characters/26274.
"The Crucible: Characters." Essayworld.com. May 2, 2005. Accessed November 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Crucible-Characters/26274.
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