The Crucible quotes (theme: reputation) – Flashcards

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Explain how reputation links heavily with the Crucible's story as a theme.
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Reputation is important in theocratic Salem, where public and private moralities are one and the same. Focused on maintaining public reputation, the townsfolk of Salem must fear that the sins of their friends and associates will taint their names. Various characters base their actions on the desire to protect their respective reputations. As the play begins, Parris fears that Abigail's increasingly questionable actions, and the hints of witchcraft surrounding his daughter's coma, will threaten his reputation and force him from the pulpit. Meanwhile, the protagonist, John Proctor, also seeks to keep his good name from being tarnished. Early in the play, he has a chance to put a stop to the girls' accusations, but his desire to preserve his reputation keeps him from testifying against Abigail. At the end of the play, however, Proctor's desire to keep his good name leads him to make the heroic choice not to make a false confession and to go to his death without signing his name to an untrue statement. "I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" he cries to Danforth in Act IV. By refusing to relinquish his name, he redeems himself for his earlier failure and dies with integrity.
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Reputation of Proctor
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"A man will not cast away his good name" "I have given you my soul; leave me my name" "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint" "I have rung the doom of my good name" "These people have great weight in society"
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Reputation of Danforth
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"I think you must be a wise judge to be what you are" "He damned the court and ripped your warrant" "I'll have no effrontery here" "I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime"
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Reputation of Parris
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"I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-nerved people to me" "Speak nothing of unnatural causes" "There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning" "My enemies will, and they will ruin me with it" "You cannot hang his sort. There is a dagger for me"
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"I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me..."Parris to Abigail
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After seeing the girls dancing in the forest, Parris recognises the possibility that the witchcraft being practiced has originated in his own household, and he worries about the possible danger to his reputation if the townsfolk learn that his daughter and niece could be consorting with the devil.
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"Your name in the town - is entirely white, is it not?" Parris to Abigail
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The townspeople may already have heard rumors that Abigail is not a proper girl, if Elizabeth Proctor has been talking about her in the town. However, she assures her reputation is pure and good. She is seen as a sweet, innocent, young girl. There is no tarnish/embarrassment to her.
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"I pray you, leap not to witchcraft. I know that you - you least of all, Thomas would ever wish so disastrous a charge laid upon me. We cannot leap to witchcraft They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house." Parris to Thomas/Mr Putnam
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Parris is telling the Putnams not to assume witchcraft. It could ruin his reputation. This is ironic because he would easily convict any other person in the town.
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"Where is my wood?...I am not used to this poverty; I left a thrifty business in the Barbados to serve the Lord. I do not fathom it, why I am persecuted here?...I have often wondered if the devil be in it somewhere; I cannot understand you people otherwise." Parris to Giles and Proctor
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Parris is greedy and self-centered. He thinks everyone is against his every word; arguing against him all the time. On his high horse, he believes he deserves more, given his social standings and "intellectual superiority."
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"It's strange how I knew you, but I suppose you look as such a good soul should." Hale to Rebecca
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Reputation is important, travels a long way. Upon arrival, Hale notes the good things he's heard about Rebecca's good deeds in Beverly. Rebecca is a respectable woman of society.
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"A person is either with this court of he must be counted against it, there be no road between." Danforth to Francis.
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Francis and Proctor give Dansforth a list of 91 people signing they vouch for Rebecca and Martha's goodness. Parris and Danforth, however, take this act as undermining the court. He tells Cheever to draw up warrants for every one of the names.
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"She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might have, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat." Proctor to Danforth (the court and everyone there) regarding Abigail
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He reveals his lechery. He says Abigail is after his wife. Proctor sets aside his reputation & giid bane; sacrifice for the greater good. He admits his sins by calling Abigail a wh0re.
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"Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence." (pg. 1163) Proctor to Danforth
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He is protecting his name/reputation. If the signed confession is made public, he won't be worth his children. Danforth wants the one confession to make everyone look bad and condemn all of Proctor's friends (AKA justify the hangings/deaths. How can Proctor live with lies? He sold his soul, all he has left is his name.
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"My name is good...I will not have it said my name is soiled" Abigail to Rev. Parris Act 1
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Paranoia, jealousy, power, reputation, repression
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"...you clutched my back and sweated like a stallion..." Abigail to John P Act 1
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Lust, guilt, reputation, repression
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"But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again..." John to Abigail Act 1
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Lust, guilt, reputation, vengeance
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"You cannot command Mr Parris, We vote by name in this society, not by acreage." John P to Rev P and Putnam Act 1
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Greed, Abuse of Power, Jealousy, paranoia, reputation
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Let Rebecca go like a saint, for me it is a fraud. John Proctor
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respect and reputation
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Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang. John Proctor
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respect and reputation
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He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it away from him! Elizabeth Proctor
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respect and reputation
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Essays
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http://adamcap.com/schoolwork/the-crucible-essay-on-the-theme-of-having-a-good-name/ https://www.scribd.com/doc/2901960/Crucible-Essay-Explore-the-importance-of-reputation
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