The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an intriguing work because of its attributes of being a tragedy. Miller’s story, about the Salem Witch Trials shows the mayhem and ridiculousness of the Trials. The play follows Abigail Williams on her journey of getting revenge on people while saving herself by accusing others of practicing witchcraft or working with the devil, causing horrible actions to occur. Williams ends up getting her way in the end, and revenge is sought at the cost of many people’s lives. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is a work of tragedy because the play features many important attributes of an archetypal tragedy, which include, fate, a tragic-hero, which in this case is John Proctor and a martyr, Giles Corey, and a significant loss
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Generally, he or she is an outcast from society and comes off as a “bad guy” initially. In The Crucible, John Proctor takes the role as tragic hero. One major characteristic of the tragic hero is his or her tragic flaw. In the play, Proctor’s tragic flaw is his lust or love for Abigail. This sparked from the affair they had while Williams worked for him. The other characteristic he contains that further proves his role, is that he is an outcast to the Salem society. Miller advises the reader of this when he says, “He need not have been a partisan of any faction in the town” (20). This shows his characteristics that are parallel with the ones of the archetypal tragic hero. He was just a normal, average citizen, that was an outcast to society. His other characteristics, such as “steady mannered” and a mysterious also show parallels with a tragic hero. These characteristics that make him the tragic hero he is are important because they all lead to many of the decisions and behaviors that occur throughout the …show more content…
The major loss of innocence in The Crucible is shown in Reverand Hale. Initially, Hale is brought to town by Parris to “ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for,” (33). This means that he was brought to town because of his expertise of erasing witchcraft. In the beginning of the play, Hale is this big witchcraft enthusiast and is all for the trials. But, as the play progresses, he experiences a loss of innocence based on the events that occur, and has a complete change of heart. After all the trials and events that took place, he became sick and tired of all the witchcraft shenanigans, causing many innocent deaths. This is seen easiest when Proctor is about to sign off his name. One way he shows this is by siding with Proctor, and not Danforth, who he normally sided with throughout the play. He shows this by saying, “Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign, let him sign it” (141). This is significant because it shows that Hale is sick and tired of all the games and all the trials. The church and puritanism, something he had a passion for became a hatred for him because of his trials. His loss of innocence that happens to him is in his views of witchcraft. This is seen in who he sides with from start to finish and how it changes as the play progresses. Another loss of innocence that occurs
Generally, he or she is an outcast from society and comes off as a “bad guy” initially. In The Crucible, John Proctor takes the role as tragic hero. One major characteristic of the tragic hero is his or her tragic flaw. In the play, Proctor’s tragic flaw is his lust or love for Abigail. This sparked from the affair they had while Williams worked for him. The other characteristic he contains that further proves his role, is that he is an outcast to the Salem society. Miller advises the reader of this when he says, “He need not have been a partisan of any faction in the town” (20). This shows his characteristics that are parallel with the ones of the archetypal tragic hero. He was just a normal, average citizen, that was an outcast to society. His other characteristics, such as “steady mannered” and a mysterious also show parallels with a tragic hero. These characteristics that make him the tragic hero he is are important because they all lead to many of the decisions and behaviors that occur throughout the …show more content…
The major loss of innocence in The Crucible is shown in Reverand Hale. Initially, Hale is brought to town by Parris to “ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for,” (33). This means that he was brought to town because of his expertise of erasing witchcraft. In the beginning of the play, Hale is this big witchcraft enthusiast and is all for the trials. But, as the play progresses, he experiences a loss of innocence based on the events that occur, and has a complete change of heart. After all the trials and events that took place, he became sick and tired of all the witchcraft shenanigans, causing many innocent deaths. This is seen easiest when Proctor is about to sign off his name. One way he shows this is by siding with Proctor, and not Danforth, who he normally sided with throughout the play. He shows this by saying, “Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign, let him sign it” (141). This is significant because it shows that Hale is sick and tired of all the games and all the trials. The church and puritanism, something he had a passion for became a hatred for him because of his trials. His loss of innocence that happens to him is in his views of witchcraft. This is seen in who he sides with from start to finish and how it changes as the play progresses. Another loss of innocence that occurs