During the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, a total of nineteen people were put to death under the belief that those accused were working with the devil; that they were witches. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a play that delves into the past and the reasoning behind those executions. A number of different causes come to mind when attempting to explain the executions of the nineteen innocent people but what makes itself the most prevalent within the piece is the matter of names and the weight people place upon them. Self-worth and morality or their lack of, weave themselves from start to finish throughout Miller’s work, ultimately building up to the executions. To summarize, the symbolism of names and their reputations
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Throughout the play, Abigail, time after time, is in pursuit to ruin Elizabeth Proctor’s reputation in order to gain her husband’s love. To illustrate, in Act II, Abigail Williams argues with John Proctor, “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!” Without a judge of moral character, Abigail still allows the fact that Proctor loves his wife to shape her decisions. This causes her to act hastily and lie about witchcraft present in Salem in attempt to damage Elizabeth’s name. In Act I, Abigail is accused of practicing witchcraft in the woods, and in order to save her own, she blames Tituba, their servant from Barbados, and destroys her reputation. For instance, Abigail declares, “Don't lie! (To Hale:) She comes to me while I sleep; she's always making me dream corruptions!” while innocent Tituba pleads for her life. Precedent to that is Abigail’s initial lie in the play, in which leads to the undoing of Salem. To shed light on this, Williams states in Act I that, Shut it! Now shut it! [...] Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it [...] I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” By revealing that Abigail danced in the woods and while hiding this truth, shows that she is indeed clever and is willing to do what she wants to do at the expense of others. There are a number of examples within The Crucible such as her need to ruin the reputations of people around her, that
Throughout the play, Abigail, time after time, is in pursuit to ruin Elizabeth Proctor’s reputation in order to gain her husband’s love. To illustrate, in Act II, Abigail Williams argues with John Proctor, “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!” Without a judge of moral character, Abigail still allows the fact that Proctor loves his wife to shape her decisions. This causes her to act hastily and lie about witchcraft present in Salem in attempt to damage Elizabeth’s name. In Act I, Abigail is accused of practicing witchcraft in the woods, and in order to save her own, she blames Tituba, their servant from Barbados, and destroys her reputation. For instance, Abigail declares, “Don't lie! (To Hale:) She comes to me while I sleep; she's always making me dream corruptions!” while innocent Tituba pleads for her life. Precedent to that is Abigail’s initial lie in the play, in which leads to the undoing of Salem. To shed light on this, Williams states in Act I that, Shut it! Now shut it! [...] Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it [...] I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” By revealing that Abigail danced in the woods and while hiding this truth, shows that she is indeed clever and is willing to do what she wants to do at the expense of others. There are a number of examples within The Crucible such as her need to ruin the reputations of people around her, that