The Crucible

The Crucible

1. He have his goodness now - ELizabeth talking about John Proctor, use of personal pronoun “he” to refer to John. Use of old english used to immerse the reader more into the mind of not only Elizabeth but the whole town. Saying that John can rest in peace while keeping his name.

2. “Your name in the town - it is white is it not?” - parris to Abigail. Exemplifies the puritan influence in the town through the use of symbolism of the coulour white and linking it to purity. Relates to the important role of reputation in the town’s govermental system, as what the people of you relates to your ability to rule over them, which Parris fears which would if Abigail isn’t pure.

3. His justice would freeze beer - Arthur Miller uses a colorful figure of speech to express John Proctor's belief that his wife Elizabeth's practice of justice is cold and harsh; lacking mercy and forgiveness. Just like the court’s ruling during the witch trials.Shows the audience that John, although is a voice of reason in the play, is in fact a complex character as he’s not pure, but not dark either. Exemplifies how his relationship with ELizabeth is taking a turn for the worse.

4. “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! “ - John Proctor, Act II. During John Proctor’s monologue when John Hale came to his house to tell them that Elizabeth’s name was mentioned in court. He points out the problem with the witch trials that it is the girls who are running the court and the trials and can manipulate everyone’s beliefs by mentioning a name in court making the whole town believe that the person mentioned was in fact a witch, even though they’re innocent. This just snowballs the hysteria initially created at the start of the trials. Arthur Miller exemplifies this through the use of imagery and metaphor, they emphasize the girl’s involvement in the witch trials saying that they are the ones truly deciding who gets to live and die just with the point of a finger, and that Hawthorne are basically figureheads in the story.

5. “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside? . . . .This is the highest court of the supreme government of this province, do you know it?” - Hawthorne to John Act 3. Exemplifies that courts corruption of its own mind, they are being blinded by their own pride and faith in god. Hawthorne says an ironic statement in saying that John is telling them to set aside what the court should believe in, but that is kind of what the court has been doing since the beginning of the trials as they have ignored obvious evidence and just clear logical reason in order to truly assert their short-lived authority in the town of Salem. Arthur Miller does this through the use of ellipsis which emphasizes the tension of the current situation and also shows Hawthorne’s hatred towards John as he’s the only one willing to rebel against the court at this point into the trials, which eventually gets him killed by the court.

6. Production techniques analysed

   • Act 1: page 25 ABIGAIL[with hushed trepidation] - exemplifies Abigail's fear of being found out for witch
   • Act 2: page 58 MARRY WARREN [terrified, but coming erect, striving for her authority] - MW doesn't have her power in Proctor's household compared to trials.
   • Act 3 page 85 PARRIS[trembling with anger] - Parris losing his power over time.