Consider the relationship between John Proctor and Abigail Williams and how Arthur Miller presents it to an audience.
Consider the relationship between John Proctor and Abigail Williams and how Arthur Miller presents it to an audience. Arthur Miller wrote the play "The Crucible" in 1953. He wrote the play as a response to his own experiences in the witch-hunt, which were concerned with anti-Capitalist Pro-Communist accusations. Miller himself was accused of anti-American activities. He wrote the play set in an area of Massachusetts called Salem in 1692 where some adolescent girls were dabbling in the supernatural and the jails were eventually filled with men and women accused of witchcraft and twenty people were hanged. The inhabitants of Salem were rigid in their interpretation of the Bible, believing in witches and the Devil. They believed also that the Bible instructed them that witches must be hanged. John Proctor is the central character in the play. He is the husband of a good Puritan woman, Elizabeth, and is the lover of a young girl in the town, Abigail. She was employed in John Proctor's household as a maid. When we first meet John Proctor, we are given a powerful description of him. He is described as a man in his mid-thirties, powerful of body and even tempered. We see John and Abigail in conversation together. John says, "What's this mischief here?" and Abigail replies, "Oh, she's gone silly somehow," talking of Mercy, another young girl of the town. Abigail tells
Who is blame for the death of John Proctor?
Year 10-The Crucible- Coursework Who is blame for the death of John Proctor? Who was to blame for John Proctors death? In this coursework I have looked closely at the situation John Proctor was going through and this is what I have found. Abigail Williams started off the witchery nonsense but does this mean she caused his death? A lot of people may think that if Abigail William never cried witchery upon anyone nothing would have happened, and John Proctor wouldn't have died. But, she has started it off, and nothing could have stopped it because of the way in which people thought back then, the Devil seems to play a rather large part in their society. Anything linked to abnormality is linked to the Devil. "It is a marvel. It is surely a stroke of hell upon you," Even if she was not the one who started it sooner or later, there will be people who will bring up things such as "the Devils agents" or "Devils worshipper". People will hate, there are many in history like Abigail Williams who are wicked and evil. Abigail Williams would do anything to get her way. But she was not the one who sent him to death, told him to die or she was not the one who hanged him. So was she to blame for it? She didn't do it intentionally but she is to blame for, for John Proctors death because if there wasn't her there wouldn't such things as witchery and the death of John Proctor. Marry
What techniques does Arthur Miller use to highlight the conflict between past and present in Death of a Salesman? How do these techniques also demonstrate his main themes?
What techniques does Arthur Miller use to highlight the conflict between past and present in Death of a Salesman? How do these techniques also demonstrate his main themes? Death of a Salesman is set in a time when the capitalist system is changing. It is set in the late 1940s, not long after the Wall Street crash in 1929. Willy Loman is unable to adjust to these changes and therefore, there is conflict between the past, where his dreams were achievable, and the present, where he has fallen foul of the capitalist system and is no longer any use to the firm. These conflicts are personified in Willy, and Arthur Miller uses a number of techniques to highlight this. The techniques Miller uses represent Willy's mind and they distinguish between past and present. These theatrical methods also help to demonstrate the main themes in Death of a Salesman. These theatrical methods include music, lighting, wall-lines, scenery, the use of leaves and also use of costumes. In my essay I plan to explain what each method conveys to the audience and show how Miller uses these methods effectively to highlight the conflicts. Music is used to highlight significant points and themes in the play. Also, the type of music sets the mood for a scene. It creates atmosphere and conveys to the audience the emotions of the characters. Also, silence can highlight a particular scene. The absence of music
Not only does 'Death of a Salesman' inform the audience about Arthur Miller's opinions on success, failure and dreams
'Death of a Salesman' The Inside Of His Head We have been studying 'Death of a Salesman' which was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. The play is set in America and revolves around a man in his sixties called Willy. Willy is an insecure, self-deluded travelling salesman who is struggling to come to terms with the fact that has not accomplished his lifelong dreams. The play takes place over 48 hours and we see Willy's fast decline into anxiety which eventually ends with suicide. During this essay, we will be exploring how Arthur Miller shows the audience the inside of Willy's head. The main characters in this play are Willy and Biff alongside many other supporting characters. Linda is Willy's adoring spouse; she is the epitome of a perfect American wife. Happy is Willy's younger son who is 'tall' and 'powerfully made.' He is more successful than Biff in the eyes of Willy because he shares Willy's inclination to exaggerate his success by making himself and everyone around him believe that he is the assistant buyer at his store, when, in reality, he is only 'one of the two assistants to the assistant.' Biff is Willy's oldest son who 'bears a worn air' and appears to be 'less self-assured' than Happy. He has a simple dream, he wants to 'find a girl' and not 'waste his life.' He acknowledges his failure and eventually manages to confront it; he refuses to resort to self-deception
The original title for Miller's play was 'The Inside of His Head'. How does Miller's use of set, lighting and stage direction help us to understand this idea?
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller The original title for Miller's play was 'The Inside of His Head'. How does Miller's use of set, lighting and stage direction help us to understand this idea? Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949. This date is the period after the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression and this is significant, as one of Miller's aims in writing this play was that it would be a tragedy that American workers could relate to. The central themes and issues in the play are consumerism and exploitation; Miller wanted to write a play that was critical of capitalism and that would expose the falseness of the American Dream. The original title reflects one of the underlying themes in the play - the central character's struggle to grasp the distinction between illusion and reality and the past and the present; often Willy Loman's thoughts and views do not comply with those of the majority of the remaining cast. Miller uses symbolism, set, lighting and stage direction to help us to understand what is happening inside Willy's head. One of the several symbols that give us an insight into Willy's thoughts is the athletic trophy. It is placed on a shelf in the sitting room where it can be clearly seen; this demonstrates how important it is to the family. This importance then in turn shows that winning and competition are key ideas here and that this part
How does Miller show the changes in Hale during the course of The Crucible?
How does Miller show the changes in Hale during the course of 'The Crucible'? Reverend John Hale is a respected religious scholar who arrives in Salem to give advice on the witchcraft problem. He means well but is proved to be weak. He turns against the court but is unable to halt the executions. The lengthy stage directions before first Hales entry, is one way that Miller tells us about him. He seems to believe completely in what he is doing, and he thinks he is trying to eradicate witchcraft for all of the right reasons. "His goal...goodness and its preservation". Hale sees the study of witchcraft like a science, and Millers uses medical words to back this up; "painfully", "symptoms", "diagnostic" and "procedures". I think this is because Hale feels he is almost curing people of the illness of witchcraft, however it could just be to make Hales job seem more important than it really is. The idea of Hales job being like a science is continued through "the devil is precise". This starts to make Hale almost comic, as we really see how seriously he takes witchcraft, which today in the modern world we see as false. Hale states he is going to "crush" the devil. The idea of crushing the Devil, seems to foreshadow the death of Giles Corey who was crushed to death later in the play. It gives the idea of crushing lies to get to the truth. This shows Hales certainty that he is
Joe Keller is a tragic hero, who has many qualities and one flaw.In the play 'All My Sons', Arthur Miller creates the character Joe Keller
Joe Keller is a tragic hero. Discuss. Drama originates from the plays of the Greek, in which a tragedy occurs. In these plays the tragic hero (protagonist) commits an offence. He must then find out what he has done wrong, suffer the consequences of his actions and perhaps in the end, die. The Greeks saw the death of the tragic hero as being a way to show that the gods are being fair and the moral order of the universe is restored. A tragic hero according to the Aristotelian Unities is a person who has many outstanding qualities but one tragic flaw. Joe Keller is a tragic hero, who has many qualities and one flaw. In the play 'All My Sons', Arthur Miller creates the character Joe Keller. Joe seems to be an ordinary person, though in the play he represents a man of 'class'. Joe is a very ordinary man, decent, hard-working, self-made and charitable, a man that no normal person could dislike. But, like the tragic heroes in the ancient Greek dramas, he has a flaw or weakness. This flaw causes him to act wrongly in a situation. He is then forced to accept responsibility for the mistake he made with the cylinder heads. His suicide is necessary to restore the moral order of the universe, and allow his son, Chris, to live free from guilt. Joe Keller, the chief character, is a man who loves his family above all else, and has sacrificed everything, such as his honour, in his struggle
Death Of A Salesman (Charly Passage Analysis)
Death Of A Salesman How does Miller make this scene (pages 31-34) such a dramatic and revealing moment in the play? In the scene involving pages 31- 34, Charley and Willy are playing cards, during which Willy has a flashback of his first meeting with his brother, Ben. Many characters are introduced during the course of the scene: Ben, Charley, Bernard as well as Biff, Happy and Linda. It is the second flashback that Willy has during the book and the new character of Ben, Willy's brother is introduced into the story. In order to understand how Miller makes the scene so dramatic and revealing I will be looking at the pace of the scene, the use of foreshadowing, Willy's desperation, and the relationships between the characters. The appearance of Ben in the scene triggers many interjections. When Biff and Ben are mock fighting, short exclamations are heard,' Oh, no Sir!' and 'Okay.' These quick outbursts are surprising to the audience, as they come from various characters at various times. As these cries build up, spontaneous events begin to happen. 'Suddenly [Ben} comes in, trips Biff.... the point of his umbrella poised over his eye.' As the scene so quickly switches from fun to a tense atmosphere, this makes the scene dramatic. The event is out-of-the-blue that it highlights in the instability between the characters behaviours, and the pace at which the scene is moving is
Death Of A Salesman (Linda Analysis)
Death Of A Salesman Willy calls Linda, 'My foundation and my support.' Do you think that this sums up her role in the play? Linda is a mother to Biff and Happy Loman, a wife to Willy Loman. She is always loyal and caring towards Willy even when he is rude to her. She suffers as she watches his condition deteriorate, and she is very helpless. During this essay I will be discussing Linda's behaviour and language, the way she is perceived by other characters, her relationship with Willy, the effect of the woman on Willy and Linda's relationship in order to answer this question. There are many positive aspects of Willy and Linda's' relationship, which can justify that Linda's role in the play, is to aid Willy. Whenever Willy enters the room and Linda is present she will fuss over him. At the beginning of the play, she 'takes off his shoes' and questions him repeatedly about his trip. She also takes his coat off, and offers him an aspirin to make him feel better. Linda always refers to Willy as 'darling' and 'dear' and Willy refers to her as 'pal' and 'sweetheart'. These are the only times in the play that they refer to anybody informally and playfully. This demonstrates how much they mean to each other. When Willy doubts his abilities, she encourages him saying, 'maybe you'll do better next week,' and, 'maybe you should tell him.' When he is insecure about his physical
Consider the end of Millers play A View from the Bridge. How effectively does the final scene conclude the drama?
Consider the end of Miller's play 'A View from the Bridge'. How effectively does the final scene conclude the drama? 'A View from the Bridge' provides the inevitable ending of a traditional Greek tragedy, where in this case Eddie's inability to make a concession eventually results in his deserved death; although tragic, this is necessary to conclude the story. As a lawyer, we immediately trust Alfieri to be a good judge of character as well as rational. Along side this we watch Alfieri oversee the whole play and watch it 'run it's bloody course' whilst acting as the commentator throughout the story Which leave him in some sense, acting as the bridge; seeing both the darker side (Redhook) and the somewhat innocent side (Manhattan) but he links the two together. He is the only character that predicts the outcome of Eddies and Marco's actions and, thus tries compassionately to stop them from committing further insult to one another. In Alfieri's opening monologue he uses words like 'disaster' and states that Eddie was 'unable to settle for half', which consequently, results in his 'bloody' death. The audience could also relate this story line to Vinny Bolzano's, where he was severely punished for 'snitching' on his immigrant family, which sadly resulted in him being thrown down the stairs 'head bouncin' like a coconut', this would indicate to the audience that Eddies actions
