The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a finely nuanced play about the Salem witch trials, and crowd hysteria. The main characters include John Proctor, an upstanding man in the community; Abigail Williams, a prime witness and accuser of witches; Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife and an accused witch; and many more characters. These characters are mentioned outside of the play itself, in the Act 2, Scene 2. Arthur Miller had originally annexed this scene, and reading The Crucible with and without it changes certain ramifications of the play’s message, thus The Crucible is best without this scene.
John Proctor had had an affair with Abigail, and the guilt and shame was eating him away as he confessed in court, “Proctor: I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name… My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!” (Miller 111). The admittance of his sin with Abigail in the courthouse was …show more content…
And from that night no woman dare call me wicked… I used to weep for my sins when the wind lifted up my skirts; and blushed for shame… then you burned my ignorance away,” (Miller 150). Abigail has a past reputation as a loose girl, and yet she later denies in the court any such thing, her lies only serving the purpose, as John says in Act 3, “She [Abigail] thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave… it is a whore’s revenge,”(Miller 110). Earlier, Abigail talks of ridding the town of hypocrisy with God’s blessing; she is able to erase her own hypocrisy about her lust for John Proctor.
Without Act 2, Scene 2, John seems a righteous man, fighting against a wicked, lewd girl. In Act 2, Scene 2, John is seen by the audience as a man twisted by morality and lingering feelings. Thus the annexation of this scene lends credence to historical accuracy and focuses on the hysteria of the times versus the intimate drama of ex-lovers
John Proctor had had an affair with Abigail, and the guilt and shame was eating him away as he confessed in court, “Proctor: I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name… My wife is innocent, except she knew a whore when she saw one!” (Miller 111). The admittance of his sin with Abigail in the courthouse was …show more content…
And from that night no woman dare call me wicked… I used to weep for my sins when the wind lifted up my skirts; and blushed for shame… then you burned my ignorance away,” (Miller 150). Abigail has a past reputation as a loose girl, and yet she later denies in the court any such thing, her lies only serving the purpose, as John says in Act 3, “She [Abigail] thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave… it is a whore’s revenge,”(Miller 110). Earlier, Abigail talks of ridding the town of hypocrisy with God’s blessing; she is able to erase her own hypocrisy about her lust for John Proctor.
Without Act 2, Scene 2, John seems a righteous man, fighting against a wicked, lewd girl. In Act 2, Scene 2, John is seen by the audience as a man twisted by morality and lingering feelings. Thus the annexation of this scene lends credence to historical accuracy and focuses on the hysteria of the times versus the intimate drama of ex-lovers