Examples Of Foils In The Crucible '

Reverend Parris realizes the possibility of witchcraft being played out in his household, and the risk to his reputation is what mainly occupies his thoughts (Hytner The Crucible). Reverend Parris explains to Abigail that he has fought to gain his reputation among the townsfolk,and he requests that she tells him if there is any other reasoning as to why she was discharged from the Proctors service (Hytner The Crucible). Reverend Parris’s concluding reason to his curiosity was in regard to his reputation, he feared the consequences his reputation would face if Abigail’s answer was untruthful. Similar to Reverend Parris, the townsfolk feared their named would be tainted if their friends, family, or acquaintances were to commit a sin (Hytner The Crucible). A minor character, Deputy Governor Danforth, reveals his passion for reputation when he refuses to delay executions to avoid the perception of being weak (Hytner The Crucible). John Proctor is a leading figure in the play and film, and at the end of the film he displayed his intense affliction towards his reputation when he voiced “I have given you my soul; leave me my name”(Hytner The Crucible). John Proctor based his actions on his desire to leave his named untouched, he chose death in order to leave his name untainted for the village to see (Hytner The

The only way John Proctor can save himself is by falsely confessing to being involved with witchcraft; however, he does not confess. This describes another example of situational irony. Proctor decides to tell the truth and not lie to himself because he now understands the meaning of a good reputation. As critic Richard Hayes says, “The dilemma of man, fallible, subject to pride, but forced to choose between the ‘negative good’ of truth and the morality, and the ‘positive good’ of human life under any dispensation.” Proctor would rather die than live with the town believing untrue statements about him. When Proctor is asked to explain why he decides to tell the truth he replies, “Because it is my name!...How may I live without

"No, no, Abby. That's done with." And then later, " …I will cut off my

Another thing Miller illustrates, through the character of Parris, is that trying to keep a good reputation will make one focus mainly on themselves, making them less empathetic and blind to the struggles of others. Parris is not the only one guilty of this though. In a piece titled “Reputation of The Crucible” it says, “John Proctor and Parris both were very concerned that their reputation was at stake in many different instances in this play The Crucible” (Reputation of the Crucible). Our reputations, like the image of the characters John Proctor and Parris, are always at stake and it is important to be careful not to do things that will interfere with our status. Though not the only one, Parris is a major offender of letting his image and his reputation cloud his judgement and even get in the way of his duties as a father. The piece later states, “When the play first begins, Parris fears that Abigail, his niece, is convicted of being a witch because of her intolerable actions, and the witchcraft that associates with his daughter’s coma will cause much chaos and bring down his power as a Reverend in Salem. Parris feels that power and reputation is the most important thing to him as a

John Proctor and Reverend Hale are similar characters in the way they are very prideful people and start doubting the authority of others as the events unfold throughout the play. John Proctor is a very prideful character who values his reputation. He believes he is above others in the way he mocks Reverend Parris, after Parris says there is a faction against him he says “Why, then I must find it and join it” (Miller, Act I, 31). Proctor sarcastic statement shows how he believes he can mock others and show authority over Parris.

Proctor 's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically demonstrates his goodness. He also spoke up for the innocent girls that had their names branded. He willingly sacrifices his good name in order to protect his wife and others who are wrongly accused. Only through his public acknowledgment of the affair does Proctor regain his wife 's trust. At the end of the play, Proctor refuses to slander himself by allowing the court to make him make a false confession. The court told him to lie, and that if he lies that he would not be sent to the gallows. He did the right decision by telling the truth about his affair with Abigail. He honestly told the truth about the affair, and that he was not part of the witchcraft. His response further exemplifies Proctor 's integrity. But John was not guilty. He had nothing to do with witchcraft, he admitted to his own mistakes. Proctor knows that if he confesses that he will be damned himself, yet again, if he agrees to confess, he will also be free from the torment from the demon inside him and set others free too. This realization, along with Elizabeth 's forgiveness, enables Proctor to forgive himself and finally regain his good name and self-respect. As the court

Essay Topic 3: Arthur Miller uses foils to provide striking contrasts between two characters. Select at least one pair of foils and analyze specific character traits of these persona that link to major themes in the crucible.

For the majority of the play, Proctor and Parris are often in conflict, either regarding their beliefs or actions. This is best shown near the end of the play when the characters take opposing sides on the court and the witch hunt. Proctor believes that the court is a fraud, and although he is eventually sentenced to death, he states that “You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor” (Miller 144). By making this statement to the court, he is showing that he has come to terms with who he is, and can see some good in himself by doing so. This is very different from how Proctor acted early in the play, attempting to fix everything that his affair had broken in his life without success, showing how he has grown as a character and understood his mistakes in life. In contrast, the play wraps itself up by including the statement, “Not long after the fever died, Parris was voted from office, walked out on the highroad, and was never heard from again.” (Miller 146). Throughout the play, Parris would often act out of his self interests and the betterment of himself, and continued acting the same way even after he joined the court. Supporting the idea of his self-interests, the stage directions describing Parris’ dialogue at the end of

Their backgrounds were similar since they both were Puritans and well educated. However, their personality was completely different to each other. Although it is not very clear in the beginning of the play, as the story goes on, it becomes clear that they are different. The major difference between these characters is that Reverend Parris is extremely greedy and self-centered. He cares a lot about his reputation in the town rather than being a good minister. In Act 1, this is shown when he is talking to Abigail about her actions in the woods the previous night. He says, “ Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character” (Miller 11). This shows that he is worried about how this whole situation caused by Abigail might ruin his reputation. Additionally, he says, “ It must come out – my enemies will bring it out. Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do you understand that I have many enemies?” (Miller 10). This is another example that shows instead of being worried about the witchcraft itself, he is more worried about his reputation and the minister position. It is also shown that Reverend Parris is more concerned with his salary and wood than his daughter’s health when John Proctor says, “ Mr. Parris, you are the first minister ever did demand the deed to this house” (Miller 30). On the other hand, Reverend Hale is completely opposite from Reverend Parris. As Reverend Hale is introduced, it is mentioned that Hale once gave a woman he does not know “…his kindness and a few days of rest in his own house” (Miller 33). Unlike Reverend Parris, Hale is very kind that he let a woman stay at his house. In the play, he is also described as a very calm guy. When everyone was panicking about the witchcraft, he stayed calm

Furthermore, in Act II, it is revealed that John Proctor attended mass scarcely because he hated Reverend Parris so much. His materialism (as proven with the gold candlesticks) was something that greatly bothered the town of Salem. In Act IV, Reverend Parris is humbled. Having been robbed by Abigail and her friend, Mercy Lewis, he is almost penniless, and thereby modest and sorrowful. He does not talk with the same biting command as he used to.

Throughout the play, Proctor struggles with his honor as he changes from viewing it as his reputation to believing it is based on his own private moral of truth. The isolated Puritan community in which Proctor lives forces him to try and achieve a pious and perfect lifestyle, which ultimately pressures him into lying about his affair with Abigail in order to maintain a good reputation. This view changes in the courtroom, when Proctor becomes extremely frustrated with the lies and deceit that Abigail is telling the judges, Proctor screams in anger, “I beg you sir, I beg you - see her what she is… She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me; I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a

At the beginning of the play, John Proctor was an arrogant, self-absorbed man who only cared about himself and his own needs. He did all those actions without any regard towards the people who might be affected by his actions. The quote says, “Parris: There is a party in this church; there is a faction and a party. Proctor: Against you? Putnam: Against him and all authority! Proctor: Why, then I must find it and join it.” (Miller 278)This was during the time when Proctor, Parris, and the others

In the text reverend parris is a deceitful sinner. All he is worried about is himself and making his reputation stay the same.In the beginning of the story when he finds out about his niece abigail being caught in the woods doing things she shouldn’t be doing all he was worried about is his reputation and his enemies taking him down.''If you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.'' When it says this in the Crucible it shows us how he is only looking out for himself and us not worried for her well being but only his own.In the text all parris does is put witchcraft on to someone else or try to accuse someone. So maybe there is something more to it, maybe he is trying

Another conflict in the play is between Parris and John Proctor. Although it didn’t directly lead to someone being hung, John was still eventually hung. Parris holds multiple grudges against John, one of them being that John hadn’t gone to church and that his youngest son wasn’t baptized. John says the reason that he didn’t baptize his son because he didn’t like Parris. He also said the reason that he didn’t go to church was because the service was boring, sad and depressing. Although at the end, before John was hung, Parris wanted John to confess to save his life because he started to realize that Abby was lying about everything. In the end, Parris realizes that it wasn’t worth holding onto the grudge.

At the beginning, characters’ mind always made conflicts happened. First, character who think the social status is most important than everything. For example, Reverend Parris is a kind of person who think the position is most important thing, “The child is desperate! It must come out—My enemies will bring it out.”(The Crucible page 10). So, this quote is showing Parris is a selfish person, while he talk to Abigail for more detail of the dance on forest which like witchcraft, his daughter Betty still cannot weak up, but Parris did not care about her, because he think he need defend his enemies to destroy his life, this is a reason of the conflicts happened between Parris and Abigail about the truth of “witchcraft”. Next, Parris was made a conflict to John Proctor because Parris believe John is a part of a faction attempting to usurp his power. For instance, “You people seem not to comprehend that a minister is not to be so lightly crossed and contradicted—”said Parris（The Crucible page 30）. So, the main