“The Crucible”: How Do Act 1 and Act 2 Develop the Various Characters in the Play? Essay Example

scandal on his reputation as seen in Parris’ reply to Putnam “Thomas, Thomas, I pray you, leap not to witchcraft…they will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house. Through this, Miller aims to give the readers an insight to the mass hysteria of the period – during the 17th and early 18th centuries, thousands were executed as witches.

Furthermore, Miller portrays Parris as a suspicious character with a strong sense of paranoia. . While he is questioning Abigail, he clearly mentions that members of the community will make use of a moral transgression and ruin him “I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it”.

Parris’s anxiety about the insecurity of his office reveals the extent to which conflicts divide the Salem community - not even those individuals who society believes are invested with God’s will can control the whim of the populace. Yet, it is Parris’ economic greed that has brought the citizens’ resentment towards him. As a pastor, Miller mentions, his primary concern is personal aggrandizement - he strives for monetary compensation, including the deed to the preacher's house and expensive candlesticks. Through this, Miller explores the theme of human greed.

Parris’ niece, Abigail Williams, represents the individualism in the Puritan society. From the start of the play, the readers become aware of Abigail’s creativity as she is an effective convincer. While defending her reputation, she questions Parris “Do you begrudge my bed, uncle? ”, using emotional outburst as a tool to persuade her uncle. Yet, Miller also shows this 17 year old as authoritative as she tells the other girls to simply “tell

them we danced”.

However, Abigail’s tainted image due to her rumored affair with Proctor is used as a context by Miller to indicate to the readers that she will do anything to preserve her reputation, like her uncle. As part of that anything, she becomes physically violent slapping Betty “Shut it! Now shut it! ”. Additionally, she also threatens Mary Warren “I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down. ” Thus, Miller emphasizes the theme of ‘ignorance vs wisdom’ through this character as Abigail completely ignores the possibility of not telling the truth of their deeds last night – 20 hanged.

However, Abigail’s character completely changes in front of John Proctor. She becomes flirtatious and tempting “I’d almost forgot how strong you are”. Through her desperation “Give me a word John. A soft word”, Miller indicates to the audience their past. is Throughout the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations never seem more complex than simple jealousy and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. Despite this, her quick-wittedness and smartness is reflected in her questions to Proctor “You come five mile to see a silly girl fly? . Her intelligence, which is supposed to be a strength, becomes her weakness at the end of the play.

When she is on the brink of getting caught due to her actions in the woods, she skillfully manages to shift the blame on Tituba and other second-class citizens. To gain sympathy for her cause, Abigail makes the use of examples of her dilemma “She makes me drink blood”, “She makes me laugh at prayer” and “she’s always making me dream corruptions”.

Miller thus says that her truths are

told with wrong intention. However, Abigail intends to do so as reflected in Act 2 when she frames Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft, revealing her malicious character. The author tells us that the social order has changed: young girls who never had a voice are blaming older, more respected women. As Abigail is the play’s antagonist, John Proctor is the play’s protagonist. Proctor is a an honest, upright and blunt-spoken man with one secret flaw – his affair with Abigail.

Proctor, in his first appearance, is presented as a quick-witted, sharp-tongued man with a strong independent streak as he directly asks Abigail “What’s this mischief here? ”. But, even when Abigail tells him the truth, he does not step in as he does not want to attract attention. Thus, Miller points out that Proctor has accepted his guilt. Miller portrays Proctor as a straight-forward Salemite as Proctor clearly indicates his resentment towards Parris’ authority by giving several reasons like “You hardly ever mention God anymore” and his economic greed.

So, Miller shows Proctor as the moral centre of the play, who is conflicted with himself. Further, this middle aged farmer compounds the tension between him and Parris by hinting that Parris’s fire and brimstone sermons further the minister’s individual interests by encouraging people to obey him, lest they risk going to hell. Nonetheless, through Proctor’s accusations, the author is also able to emphasize the theme of ‘human cruelty in the name of human righteousness’.

In the second act, Proctor is seen to be struggling to gain his wife’s trust and love “I mean to you please you, Elizabeth. ” Miller thus portrays Proctor as a tragic hero, who confronts

his weakness and gains strength because Proctor tries to refrain from his lust for Abigail as he tells her in Act 1 “I will cut off my hand before I will ever reach for you again”. Nonetheless, Miller says a powerful character is someone who struggles with his flaws and rises above it. Proctor’s character portrays both the black and white, but Miller says that it is the grey area which reflects development.

In an attempt to prove his upright character, Proctor recites the Ten Commandments. In forgetting to name adultery, however, just as he “forgot” it during his affair with Abigail, Miller not only exposes the deficiency of Proctor’s Christian morality but also suggests the possibility that his entire household has succumbed to the evil influence of the devil and witchcraft.

At the end of the second act, John Proctor becomes the voice of sanity in Salem as justice falls apart and “common vengeance writes the law”. Miller puts logic in Proctor’s character as he questions the authorities “Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? ”. After his wife is arrested, John Proctor’s role in the trials changes to a more active one though he is still hesitant because of his adultery. Thus, Miller tells the readers that public image is so important that everything else becomes subsidiary to it.

To the readers, Elizabeth Proctor is a righteous and moral woman. She is shown as a good woman who is trying to understand her husband’s sin and see morality in his action. Though she struggles to forgive her husband, she does try to please him by making

a rabbit for dinner “I took great care of it. ” However, she is a curious wife, though it is justified. When Proctor returns from Salem, she asks him “What keeps you so late? ”, demanding an explanation. This demand could have been triggered by her suspicion or even care for her husband.

Thus, Miller indicates that Elizabeth’s good qualities are also her bad ones.  Yet, Miller also portrays her as a weak character, physically and emotionally, who “couldn’t stop her” servant, Mary Warren, from going to Salem. So, Miller attempts to indicate that Elizabeth does not have power over anybody, neither her husband nor her servant. Arthur Miller has introduced his major characters in the first two acts to bring out the themes of his play.

As the reputation of some characters like Parris detoriates as the play progresses, the reputation of Proctor grows. At the end, Miller seals the fate of many characters: Proctor dies a noble death, Parris and Abigail are left humiliated and Elizabeth becomes a widow.