Is John Proctor a good man?
Is John Proctor a good man? John proctor shows himself to be a very powerful and charismatic person right from are first meeting with the character at the end of act 1 when he enters Parris's house to join the girls. Proctor, in his first appearance, is presented as a quick-witted, sharp-tongued man with a strong independent streak. These traits would seem to make him a good person to question the motives of those who cry witchcraft. However, his guilt over his affair with Abigail makes his position problematic because he is guilty of the very hypocrisy that he despises in others. Abigail, meanwhile, is clearly not over their affair. She accuses Proctor of "putting knowledge" in her heart. In one sense, Abigail accuses him of destroying her innocence by taking her virginity. In another sense, she also accuses him of showing her the extent to which hypocrisy governs social relations in Salem. This could then go on to show that it was proctor that destroys her views of Salem and turns Abigail against the town of Salem. This proved very dangerous as her hate of Salem fuelled her vengeance against the town, which she enforces in the court. This could indirectly link proctor to the doing that he so detests in the ending scenes of the play. This scene also tells us that he has had an affair with Abigail, which is adultery as he has a wife. This is a very serious crime at this time
Can 'Death of a Salesman' be Described as a Tragedy?
Can Death of a Salesman be Described as a Tragedy? Aristotle first defined a tragedy in literature as a story where the main character is a hero - a very brilliant person - except that he has one major flaw which leads to his downfall, namely, death. Shakespeare then expanded on this and produced his world famous tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet. In all of these plays, the main character is a person of high social standing and exceptionally talented, however each has a very serious flaw as well. For example, Romeo is of Italian nobility and is very efficient with a sword and dagger - but he is a fool for love and falls in love with Juliet as soon as he sees her, despite already being in love with Rosaline beforehand. That is the flaw which eventually leads to his demise. This definition has over time become the benchmark for a tragedy. Arthur Miller was an immigrant to the USA and can be seen as the opposite of Willy. Willy, however, is a proud born and bred American and holds to heart the very fundamentals of the American Dream - a very capitalistic ethos. Miller, on the other hand, had communist beliefs which eventually landed him in trouble with the government. Both Death of a Salesman and another of Miller's plays, All My Sons both have the foundations of the American Dream and also both secretly criticize the capitalistic belief. In Death of a
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
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
A View From The Bridge Essay
A View from the Bridge - How does Arthur Miller show tension escalating during Act 1? Tensions exist in families because of arguments and disagreements occurring between parents and their children especially teenagers, about boyfriends and the way they dress, which refers back to Eddie and Catherine Carbone's disagreement in the first scene when Eddie comments on Catharine's skirt. 'A View from the Bridge' was set in the 1950s in an Italian American neighbourhood under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The area, which the Carbone family lived in, was called 'Red Hook'. It is a poor place where crime, gangsters and the Mafia had been well known in recent history. Tension in the Carbone household is present right from the beginning of the play and the narrator, lawyer and family friend Alfieri warns the audience of a tragic ending in his opening speech. Alfieri also gives us some background information on the Carbone family and it sets a mood to the start of the scene. Alfieri introduces the play, narrates the story in flashback, focussing on key scenes, and then closes the play. Arthur Miller himself says, " I wanted to write a play that had the cleanliness... the clear line of some of the Greek tragedies." Meaning that the audience would be confronted with a situation and that the audience would be told in the beginning what the ending was. The question was not what was
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 Crucible is a study of power and manipulation." Select any two or three characters and show how they illustrate the abuse of power.
"The Crucible is a study of power and manipulation." Select any two or three characters and show how they illustrate the abuse of power. In this essay, I am going to write bout three characters that either manipulate people or are manipulated themselves. The characters I am going to focus on are Abigail, Mary Warren and Judge Danforth. From time to time I might mention John and Elizabeth Proctor as they also become manipulated at one point, mainly by Abigail. As a character, Abigail was created to demonstrate power and manipulation tithing the play. It is possible to argue that for a short period of time, Abigail acts as God as she has the power to make anyone believe her lies, leading to the deaths of innocent people. Abigail became intoxicated by the power and interest people gave to her. Abigail believed she could achieve what she wanted to get herself out of trouble with her new found power. She manipulates other characters in numerous ways which includes physical, sexual, witchcraft types and emotional. During the court scene in Act 3, Danforth says, "What is it child?" Abigail replies by looking about in the air and clasping her arms around her, as though cold, "I- I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come." Clasping her arms around herself is seen as an interpretive action made by Abigail. The stage directions then tell us that her eyes fall on Mary Warren as if to
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
Who was to blame for the death of John Proctor?
Who was to blame for the death of John Proctor? There are many characters in "The Crucible" that are partly to blame for the death of John Proctor. Many of the audience could even interpret each one of the characters in the play, as partly responsible by one or several of their actions. However, a few key characters could be seen as the sole causes for Proctors death. Firstly I will discuss how Mary Warren is to blame for the death of John Proctor. Many aspects of Mary's character contribute to the reasons behind her actions and therefore why she is partly responsible. Mary Warren is not an intelligent character and this can be seen by the fact that she saw the accusations of witchcraft as "only a sport" page 86. This could be interpreted as a naivety for not realizing the sometimes fatal consequences of her actions. Some may also see elements of cowardice within Mary's character, a passage which demonstrates this is on page 95 of the play, "Don't touch me!" when Mary is about to re-confirm all the accused's innocence yet suddenly changes her mind after seeing the threat of her own accusation by Abigail, who claims to see Mary in the form of a bird. This cowardice then guides me onto the main reason why Mary Warren is responsible for Proctor's death. "Don't touch me" page 95 leads onto Mary's accusation of John Proctor to take away the pressure on her for being an apparent
Discuss the role and importance of the first "flashback" scene in Death of a Salesman.
Discuss the role and importance of the first "flashback" scene in Death of a Salesman. This scene is the first in the play which gives us any real insight into the past of Willy, the protagonist of the play. Its purpose is to show the audience of some of where Willy went wrong; we see some of his mistakes through his memories of his own past. We see the way that he treated his sons, and how this relates to what they are like now; we witness the difference between what the impression of himself he gives and the failure he really feels; we discover his affair with the woman, why he had it, and the terrible guilt that overhangs him because of it. This then explains some of the tension and unhappiness that we have seen so far in the play. This, though, only takes us so far; we do not learn the full story, of why he and his son do not now share the bond we see in the flashback scene, and of why he becomes so depressed. He does not want to see the truth - he is not ready to realise where he went wrong. The scene gets more and more dramatic as it gets on. At first, it shows us an idyllic, happy time; Willy is apparently a fantastic success, who is idolized by two loving sons. The eldest son, Biff, is popular with the others at school and with girls, a great sportsman, and generally "well liked". They all live in a beautiful house, surrounded by fields. But we then find about Biff
