The crucible
The crucible The trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, deteriorated the rational, and emotional stability of its citizens. This exploited the populations weakest qualities, and insecurities. The obvious breakdown in Salem's social order led to the tragedy which saw twenty innocent people hung on the accusation of witchcraft. Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, used hysteria to introduce personality flaws in vulnerable characters. A rigid social system, fear, and confusion were evident conditions that became prevalent before and during the witchtrials. These conditions only contributed to the tragedy in Salem.The isolation of the Puritan society created a rigid social system that did not allow for any variation in lifestyle. The strict society that was employed at this time had a detrimental effect on the Proctor family. John Proctor, a hard working farmer who had a bad season the year before and struggling this year was occasionally absent at Sunday service. This was due to the fact he needed to tend to his crops. Also, Proctor did not agree with the appointment of Mr. Parris as the newest minister, and therefore did not have his last child baptized. With the latest craze of witchery and swirling accusations, John Proctor was easily indicted of being a messenger for the devil by the testimony of his disillusioned servant Mary Warren, who in the past committed
The Crucible
The Crucible The Crucible is largely concerned with the abuse and misuse of power in Salem. Discuss this with references to any three characters. In this essay I intend to explore the abuse and misuse of power in Salem with references to three characters. The three characters that I will refer to are Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam and Abigail Williams. Reverend Parris is the pastor of the church in Salem. He is the father of Betty and the uncle of Abigail Williams. He believes that he is being persecuted and that the townspeople do not respect his position as a man of God. Examples to support these claims are when Parris is asking about his wood, and arguing over his salary, he then goes to say "I am not used to this poverty;..Why am I being persecuted here?" Reverend Parris also believes there is a faction and a party in the church which makes him seem very paranoid about the people around him. The towns people also do not respect him as a man of God because Proctor says "to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation" about the services that are held in Salem where Parris preaches. Many of the other towns people say that they 'quail to bring their children' because of the content of what is said during services. Parris is a materialistic and selfish person. He secures his desires in the town by preaching fire and brimstone until the people give in. An
Show how miller suggests a rising wave of hysteria though Hales interrogation methods, Tituba’s replies and the interventions of other characters.
Sam Clifft Show how miller suggests a rising wave of hysteria though Hales interrogation methods, Tituba's replies and the interventions of other characters. At the beginning we see Tituba "frightened at the coming process". From the proceeding scene with know hysteria is growing already, so Tituba tries to shift the blame "I do believe somebody else be witchin' these children". Reverend Hale asks Tituba "who" this is when Tituba answers that she doesn't know "but the devil got him numerous witches". Hale latches onto this as though it is a clue and exclaims "does he" this indicates growing tension because Tituba is now saying what Hale wants to hear, all this adding to the growing hysteria Hale begins his gentle questioning technique with Tituba he asks Tituba if she is a "good Christian woman" Tituba agrees she is Hale continues asking leading questions and trying to lead her to God. "And you love these little children?" "And you love God Tituba?" Tituba is harmonizing to these questions. As Titubais answering these questions "she is rocking on her knees, sobbing in terror". This indicates the intense moment for Tituba and reverend Hale. As Hale is gently leading Tituba into confessing with his concentrated interrogation methods in this intense and dramatic experience, he slyly slips in another question "when the devil comes to you does he ever come with another
Our Day Out
Our Day Out By Willy Russell Looking particularly at scenes 21 and 31, explain the serious message that Willy Russell tries to give us about the education and social deprivation. How does he use key characters and settings in order to do this? "Our Day Out" is a funny play but it also has some serious points. It tells us the story of a group of students who are taken on a day trip to Conwy castle in Wales. This play was written in 1977 by Willy Russell. It was set outside a school in Liverpool. With a group of students going on a school trip to Conwy castle in Wales. Mrs Kay was in charge of this trip, she is easy -going and motherly person. The headmaster then sends Mr Briggs along with them who is a much stricter teacher. They set of to Conwy castle and on they way end up going to other places as well. The café, zoo, Conwy castle and the beach. Throughout the day Mr Briggs continues to battle between himself and Mrs Kay over the behaviour of the students. They finish of the trip by going to the funfair where Mr Briggs mood changes and everyone is surprised. Mrs Kay took pictures of this day, she wasn't going to let Mr Briggs forget the day he was happy. Education in the 1970's was different from now. In 1970 students were able to leave school at the age of fifteen and find a job. Students would do there 11+ exam to go onto secondary school. There was a class for
To What Extent Does Death of a Salesman deal with modern issues such as materialism, consumerism, procrastination and alienation, in Act 1 of the play?
To What Extent Does 'Death of a Salesman' deal with modern issues such as materialism, consumerism, procrastination and alienation, in Act 1 of the play? 'Death of a Salesman' deals with many modern issues appropriate to the genre of tragedy. Materialism is an issue presented in the play as a flaw of the main character Willy Loman, who not only is far too materialistic, but places material importance on the wrong things. This is partly owing to the issue of consumerism, which has permeated his beliefs and actions. Willy Loman also procrastinates as a theme throughout the play, in various detrimental ways. The play presents Willy Loman as both the cause and casualty of alienation. All four issues are presented as societal products of the illusory American Dream and flawed American culture, and although none of them are the focus of the play, they pervade it significantly from beginning to end. Willy Loman could have attained happiness by following his dreams and doing something he was good at, like his father and brother did. Aside from being obvious that Willy is not happy or successful in his current occupation, it is expressed that Willy wishes he had gone with Ben to Alaska when he had the chance. For example, he says 'If I'd gone with him to Alaska that time, everything would've been totally different." Willy wanted to live the original concept of the 'American Dream',
The Reverend John Hale embodies the growing awareness of the illegality and immorality of the Salem witch trials.
The Reverend John Hale embodies the growing awareness of the illegality and immorality of the Salem witch trials. The crucible was a historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, which took place in the small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692. The whole play is about the abuse of power, characters were able to get revenge on neighbours whom they dislike simply by accusing them of witchcraft. The McCarthy trials, relates to the Salem witchcraft trials. During the 1950's Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This lead to many unfounded accusations that people were communists. Some people believed him because they were fearful of communism and he played on their fears. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting "witch hunts". If you opposed the Salem Witch trials you were accused of being a witch. If you opposed the McCarthy investigations you were accused of being a communist. However In the Crucible Reverend John Hale is considered to be, and considers himself, an expert on witchcraft. He is initially summoned to determine whether the devil is in Salem and enthusiastically participates in the court proceeding. As Hale enters the play, he walks in with a lot of books heavy books, "books of knowledge". He is shown to be a man who takes pride of his work and he came to Salem just to find a witch, he will not
The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials: A Witch Hunt Then and Now The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 reveal the fears people have of the unknown. In Salem Massachusetts persecution prevailed from intolerance and lack of understanding, just as it does today in many towns across this great nation. While exploring the web sites of National Geographic, The University of Virginia, and PBS, I found information from the past that links to the present. "Witch Hunts", as they were called in 1692, still exist today. The term "Witch Hunt" is not used as forcefully. Today a Witch Hunt can be disguised as slander, rumors, defamation of character, abuse, or even Christian love. The premise is still the same. Fear of the unknown, differentiating ideas or ideals, even a person's status or their point of view. These fears can lead to the persecution and intolerance that we see in the Witch Hunts and Trials of 1692 and today. In using dictionary.com to comparing the word Witch Hunt with words such as slander, and defamation I found the definitions to be very close and convey the same ideas and results. Witch Hunt - an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like usually based on slight, doubtful or irrelevant evidence. n. An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing
The Truman Show
Describe a character or individual in the text that you either admired OR disliked. Explain how verbal and / or visual features in the text were used to make you admire or dislike the character or individual. The Truman Show is a comedy-drama directed by Peter Weir and casted by Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank. In the movie, Truman discovers that he has been filmed and watched by millions of people on a television show around world since he was born. Truman has developed in a positive way throughout the movie and he is a significant character in The Truman Show. Truman is a funny and spontaneous person because he is unaware that he is being watched and captured by thousands of hidden cameras around the city. On the contrary, Christof, the producer in The Truman Show movie sets everything up especially for him and tries his best to keep Truman in his utopia, Seahaven. It is a perfect world where Truman traps in and his whole life has been manipulated by someone else. In the beginning, Truman always says "In case I don't see ya: good afternoon, good evening and good night." without doubt that he is being filmed and says it because that is who and how he is. Throughout the movie, Truman slowly develops his own awareness about his life. He starts to predict things such as "I predict in just a moment you will see a lady on a red bike followed by a man with flowers and a Volkswagen
