Throughout The Crucible the visual effects of the play indicate a lot about the character's personality

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GCSE Literature Coursework: 20th Century Drama.

‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4?

In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story. Each act tells the audience more about the characters and gives insight into what others think of them. John’s character is slowly revealed to the audience as the play develops. It is one of Millers devices, which means that Proctor’s character is slowly developed and the audience slowly become more aware of his different sides leading to this climatic moment in Act 4.

The play begins with a group of girls practicing witchcraft in the woods. The next morning several of the younger girls fall seriously ill, some are unable to wake. It is then that suspicions about witchcraft begin. It is in Act 1 that the audience first meets John Proctor. He comes across as a young, respected and confident man who is happy to speak his mind. Early on we discover that in fact John had recently had an affair with Abigail Williams, one of the teenage girls, who had before been a servant in his house. Abigail appears to still have feelings for John, although the feeling doesn’t appear to be mutual. John says ‘No, no Abby. That’s done with… Put it out your mind, Abby…Abby I never give you hope to wait for me.’ This shows John’s regret in having had an affair, he wants Abby to forget it, as he wishes to, he thinks that the affair needs to be forgotten about, nothing more will happen and they should just move on. Soon after this John refers to Abby as ‘Child.’ This is again showing his regret in having had an affair with her and shows that he thinks of Abby as nothing more than a child. The audience can see from this that John is not all perfect and good, he does make mistakes, but he still recognises them, will not do the same again and is prepared to move on.

When talk of witchcraft sweeps the village, John shows his views on the case clearly, nurse Rebecca says that it is just ‘children being children’ and that they are acting for attention, John quickly agrees saying ‘Aye, that’s the truth of it Rebecca.’ John doesn’t seem to think much about witchcraft and is willing to speak against it and not jump to conclusions, until any solid evidence is found. To some people this would show a negative side to John’s character, he is unwilling to accept what is obviously the truth and is prepared to ‘pretend’ that nothing is wrong. Others would see this as a positive side to John; he does not quickly jump to conclusions and is not very judgemental, he will only believe when he has proof.

The village of Salem is based mainly around the Church. Everyone is expected to go to church, whether they want to or not. In the first act we learn a lot about John Proctors attitudes towards the Church and the Rvd Parris. The attitudes he shows can be quite contradictive, for example, to Putnam John says ‘You cannot command Mr.Parris’ this shows that John respects the Rvd’s position and doesn’t like others to abuse it, however, John then goes on to say, after being accused by Parris of not going to church, ‘There be many others who stay away from the Church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.’ This demonstrates John’s negative feelings towards Rvd Parris and the way in which he preaches. This shows Johns honesty. He is not ashamed to say what he believes, and what many others may be thinking. It demonstrates his goodness and honesty, which both contradict the statement.

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Arthur Miller uses many different types of dramatic irony throughout the play. In this first act John says ‘Can you speak one minute without we land in hell again? I am sick of hell.’ This is ironic, as the audience will see as the play unfolds, Proctor will become more acquainted with the devil and the decisions he has to make will lead him towards heaven or hell.

Throughout the first act the audience has learnt that John regrets having had an affair with Abigail Williams, and just wants to move on. He is opposed to any ...

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