Explore the factors leading up to the death of John Proctor and comment on the way these issues are presented in the play.
EXPLORE THE FACTORS LEADING UP TO THE DEATH OF JOHN PROCTOR AND COMMENT ON THE WAY THESE ISSUES ARE PRESENTED IN THE PLAY The first opening scene is of some girls in the woods using magical rites to get the man of their dreams. The girls are mentioning the names of men they want and throwing what looks like herbs into a cauldron one girl gives a chicken to a black girl called Tituba who is at the side of the cauldron, and at this point she looks like the leader in these magical rites. The girls all shout at Tituba to make a spell to make the boys fall in love with them. One girl asks Abigail who she likes and another replies 'John Proctor' and then Abigail whispers something to Tituba who doesn't seem to like what is being asked of her. Abigail then grabs the chicken from Tituba and throws it on the floor and then puts the blood of the chicken on her mouth. The girls are suddenly alerted to a man spying on them he even sees one of the girls naked they become hysterical and the next day we find that two of the younger girls have gone into a trance-like state probably because they were frightened of the consequences of their actions. The watcher's daughter Betty Parriss was one of the girls in a trance. The watcher was none other than Reverend Samuel Parriss who is also the uncle of Abigail Williams. Reverend Parriss is terrified by what he has seen. He is quite
How does the structure of, A View From The Bridge help us understand the tragedy of Eddie Carbone?
How does the structure of, A View From The Bridge help us understand the tragedy of Eddie Carbone? Arthur Miller in recent years has become one of the world's most important and influential playwrights. The plays he produces give a deep understanding of how the characters think. Especially when they find themselves in awkward or bad situations, such as, misplaced love. The play, which this essay is going to investigate, is 'A View From The Bridge'. This is one of many which Miller has written. However it is very different. Miller had set himself a task, to write a Modern Greek tragedy. Greek tragedies feature around a hero who has a fatal flaw, which leads to his or her death. Throughout 'A View From The Bridge' there are several elements that resemble Greek drama. Eddie is the tragic, mad character who is helpless in the face of his own terrible fate. Alfieri acts as the chorus in the play. He provides commentary on the action of the drama. Eddie Carbone is an epic character; he makes bold moves and does things that are completely out of the ordinary. It is evident from the beginning of 'A View From The Bridge' that it will end in a tragedy. Alfieri is a lawyer in his fifties who works for the Sicilian community in Brooklyn. He opens the play with a concise but full account of what life used to be like and is like in that particular community. The audience knows from
“The Crucible is still performed all over the world because its theme is universal.” Consider why miller wrote the play and discuss why it is still successful piece of drama
"The Crucible is still performed all over the world because its theme is universal." Consider why miller wrote the play and discuss why it is still successful piece of drama Arthur Miller was born in 1915 and wrote one of the most successful historical plays, "The Crucible". "The Crucible" was written in 1953 America. Fear of communism s scoured the country and the McCarthy witch-hunts and trials began. It was all about self-preservation, so why write a play knowing the danger you were putting yourself in? McCarthy began widespread research into finding people with any capitalist thoughts or even the slightest sympathy. Anyone who was thought to be in anyway capitalist would be brought to caught and persecuted until the 'truth' was found. Before the play was written, Miller was not suspected to be a communist. Despite this, those who were in the public eye were closely watched due to their ability to affect the thoughts and ideas of public. I think that seeing the witch hunts from a distance, as Miller did, rather than being directly involved, Miller saw what was going on without having a blurred point of view as others did who were being directly faced with this problem. As Miller saw what was happening, he realised that he himself could not take any direct action, or speak out against these witch-hunts. He did, however, realise that he could make other
A View from the Bridge' is a well structured play with a simple shape.
'A View from the Bridge' is a well structured play with a simple shape. It consists of two Acts but within these there are a number of easily defined divisions which are controlled by the lawyer, Alfieri. He is essential to the structure of the play. He opens and closes the play which allows Alfieri in his role as chorus, commentator and at other times we see him as Arthur Millers mouthpiece moving the action quickly onwards explaining and interpreting the action for the audience. The structure of the play is very important to the content of the performance. The story is set out in two very definite acts which is important to the audience and their understanding of the play. The events of Act I are mirrored in Act II, although in a more serious manner. For instance, the recital of 'Paper Doll' by Rodolfo early in Act I has significance later on, being the record to which the 'couple' dance to (in direct defiance of Eddie.) The end of Act I prepares the audience for the important events that will take place later on. The closing scene in Act I is set in the living room, to add to the feeling that this is a domestic situation. It also adds plausibility to the scene: the setting making it seem more believable and realistic. This scene is paralleled in Act II as Marco is over him but this time mentally not physically (holding the chair over Eddie) which creates tension and
How does Miller use the development of characters and their interaction with others to build tension in the second half of Act 3, culminating in Proctor denouncing God?
"The Crucible" Coursework. How does Miller use the development of characters and their interaction with others to build tension in the second half of Act 3, culminating in Proctor denouncing God? Arthur Asher Miller, October 17, 1915 - February 10, 2005; An American playwright and essayist who became a renowned figure and came to the forefront of American literature within American literary circles. Miller was not born in to a highly-educated family, his father being illiterate, yet Miller always had a passion and interest in writing this was evident as he went on to study journalism at the University of Michigan. Having studied journalism and worked for the student newspaper began to develop a more politically and socially aware mentality and attitude within society. During his time studying journalism, Miller wrote his first major literary piece "No Villain". Miller was also mentored and assisted in his literature by Professor Kenneth Rowe who directed Millers early work. Miller later switched his major to English and won the Avery Hopwood Award for "No Villain". Miller subsequently had many major plays published such as "All My Sons", "Death of a Salesman", and "The Crucible". "The Crucible" was particularly controversial, as it was published in 1953 during the McCarthy era and was directly inspired by and related to this hysteric period. The McCarthy era in America
Take one of the characters in the play ‘A VIEW FROM A BRIDGE’, describe their personality throughout the play and say how the role could be played in a performance.
IRC 002 Richard Smith King Edward Queen Mary School Lytham Type: Modern Drama Preparation: We read the play ' A VIEW FROM A BRIDGE', we watched the video of the play and then discussed the roles of the characters. We also did a hot seating exercise. Task: Take one of the characters in the play 'A VIEW FROM A BRIDGE', describe their personality throughout the play and say how the role could be played in a performance. Introduction I am writing about a character from the play a view from a bridge. The character's name is Eddie Carbone. Eddie is an Italian/American who lives in a place called Red Hook. Red Hook is the 'gullet of New York'. Eddie is a longshoreman that works on the docks from Brooklyn Bridge to the breakwater where the sea begins. Eddie is 'forty', 'husky', and 'slightly overweight'. Eddie In The Play (ACT 1) At the start of the play Eddie is coming in from his day of work and he goes to his chair after hanging his cap and jacket. Catherine (his niece) rushes to say hello. The way that he hangs up his cap and jacket, 'Eddie is pleased and therefore shy about it'; Eddie's first actions in the play towards Catherine quite clearly shows that he is fond of her. Eddie does not say hello to anyone, just asks 'where you going all dressed up?' He runs his hands over her skirt. This is not what a normal uncle or parent
Write about Miller's presentation of Eddie Carbone in "A View from the Bridge" and consider the version of masculinity that he presents in contrast with the other men in the play and how he deals with his life in America.
"Eddie is doing the best for his family: he is attempting to install positive values and support Catherine in her life. He is merely misunderstood" Write about Miller's presentation of Eddie Carbone in "A View from the Bridge" and consider the version of masculinity that he presents in contrast with the other men in the play and how he deals with his life in America. How are the audience meant to react to him. The above quotation about Eddie Carbone is true to an extent, but then one could argue that it isn't true. To determine that the quotation is true, we need to look at the character of Eddie Carbone, to see whether he is doing the best for his family, rather than for himself. It is also necessary to examine whether he is attempting to install values and support Catherine for her future life or is he just doing what he does for his own personal self. After examining Eddie's character, it will become clearer to us what Eddie's motives are. It is essential to see how Eddie behaves in different situations and depending on how people act towards him and whether they provoke him to behave in the manner that he does. One of the main themes in `A View from the Bridge' is Eddie's masculinity. It is clearly seen that Eddie's masculinity is very important to him. He has many expectations of how a man should behave, it seems that if any men behave
The Crucible Act 3
The Crucible Act 3 Examine the dramatic devices by which Miller sustains our interest during the long trial scene Arthur Miller manages to capture and hold the audience in the long scene using a variety of techniques which keep us at the edge of our seats waiting for the next burst of excitement or conflict in the trial. Some of these techniques include the noise in the courtroom, the order in which people speak, the tone of their voice and even silences in the scene. What is interesting in the scene is how some of the character's true personalities stand out and how some of the characters develop through the scene. Miller also manages to make us become attached to some characters because of the noble and good deeds they do while he also makes some characters seem less appealing because of the acts they do in the scene. From the beginning the judges are clearly a well educated and experienced bunch as they easily manage to turn around one of Martha Corey's statements against her. Martha Corey: "I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is." Judge Hawthorne: "How do you know, then, that you are not a witch?" Then in the middle of the hearing for Martha Corey, Giles Corey, her husband, comes storming in to the courtroom exclaiming that he has evidence for the court. This easily manages to capture our attention as Giles interrupts the ever so confident and powerful
How does Arthur Miller use Eddie Carbone to create dramatic tension for the audience?
How does Arthur Miller use Eddie Carbone to create dramatic tension for the audience? Greek playwrights such as Sophocles invented the genre of tragedy. However, the person we most associate with tragedy is Greek philosopher and writer Aristotle. His definition of a typical tragedy influenced writers ever since. Aristotle's base for a tragedy was that there would be a tragic hero who was usually a person of high social status and would lead a normal life until a crisis would reveal a fatal weakness in his character. Aristotle termed this the tragic flaw or harmatia. The hero would think everything would turn out well but he would suffer a reversal of fortune, which would usually lead to his death. This would be called reversal or peripeteia. A View from the Bridge tracks the downfall of Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman from Brooklyn who 'ratted' his wife's cousins to the Immigration Bureau, in order to break up the engagement between one of them, Rodolpho and his niece Catherine. In the play A View from the Bridge Eddie Carbone is the tragic protagonist. Arthur Miller saw this play as a modern Greek tragedy "in which a central character is led by fate towards a destiny that cannot be escaped". Eddie is this central character and allows his heart to rule his head: blinded by his obsession for Catherine and his dislike of Rodolpho, he betrays and dishonours himself and in an
How Does MillerUse the Climax of Act 1 To Create Tension for the Audience and Present the KeyThemes of the Play?
How Does Miller Use the Climax of Act 1 To Create Tension for the Audience and Present the Key Themes of the Play? Miller uses the climax of act 1 to create tension for the audience through the acting and the situation the characters are in, and to present the key themes of the play to the audience. Firstly, he uses dramatic irony to give the audience an insight into how the story is going to end, which creates frustration and tension for them, as although they can see how the story is developing, the characters can't, this ties in with the theme of a Greek tragedy where there is a predestined conclusion. He uses the fact that in the 1950's and especially in dockside and urban households, masculinity and being the 'man of the house' was a huge part of family life. He combines this with Eddies desire to control and obsession with authority, to put the audience on a knife-edge, as to when one of the characters will lose control and lash out. Miller also expands on the situation of relationships in the play, both within the family, and outside. This ties in with Eddie's apparently incestuous feelings for Catherine, and this creates suspense and tension throughout the audience, as they don't know what is going to happen about it. Stage Directions, play a large part of 'A View From The Bridge', as they give it the final touches which create tension for both the characters and the
