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The Crucible: Tragedy or Not?

            
             Is The Crucible, by Arthur Miller really a tragedy? In my opinion, if people get hurt and the whole community falls apart - then it is a tragedy. For one reason or another, it can be said that the blame for this tragedy lies with the entire Salem community. Many different emotions and even specific characters are brought into the play and each one holds part of the blame "therefore bringing down the entire of the community and causing people to turn against each other and all principles they once believed in.
             John Proctor, however, stood up for his pride and principles. It is obvious that he would rather sacrifice his life in order to keep his sense of personal dignity. "I have given you my soul, leave me my name. . ."" Although John Proctor may not have been a man free from all sins, I believe that he was a man who would do anything to save the name of himself, his family and his friends. He eventually acquired a "profound respect for the human being and a devotion to his rights and destiny-. .
             Maybe Proctor's strong will to protest caused the whole tragedy to continue on for a longer period of time. Maybe if he hadn't engaged in adultery, he wouldn't have had such a guilty conscience that he felt he had to go and stand before the court for his wife. Maybe he stood up for her to prove that he still loved her and in hopes of regaining some of her trust back. It just depends on what angle you look at it from.
             Even though the blame for this tragedy lies on the shoulders of the entire community of Salem, I do believe that Abigail and the girls initiated the tragedy with all their talk about spirits and the devil during the opening act. Then, they deny everything in the courthouse, even after Mary Warren confessed that the whole story was a lie. In the end she manipulated Danforth and the court and convinced them that they were only involved with witchcraft because of Mary Warren.


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1. The Crucible

... obsession of suppressing and forgetting this flaw. Unfortunately, this flaw does not go away inside the hero's head and he is thus left throughout the first part of the tragedy in anxiety and despair. In The Crucible, John Proctor is a well-respected farmer of Salem, Massachusetts. His affair with Abigail Williams, which is unknown to the rest of the town, leaves him with a stone of guilt to carry. Proctor ... needs to decide which is more important to him; his reputation in Salem or his own image of ... holding him out from confessing his sin, as he claims that "I have made a bell of ...

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2. Crucible

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3. Arthur Miller, The Crucible and the McCarthy Trials

... the actions of the United States government during the McCarthy Trials and the actions of man during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 in "Why I Wrote the Crucible." By observing the practices of witchcraft in "The Crucible ... the Salem Witch Trial and The Red Scare lost their supporters, so without the support of the people, the accusers were powerless and lost control, and the loss of power led to the down fall of the Salem Witch Trials and The Red Scare. During the McCarthy era, in the ... twentieth century, people thought others were communists, and they accused them for communism. Com...

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4. The Crucible

... way. A number of characters come together to form a performance of entertainment. A play can be filled with tragedy, comedy, drama, or even can be a musical. The type play The Crucible is, is a tragedy. Crucible can be defined as a trial, or a situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces. In the beginning of the book a group of girls are caught by Reverend Parris dancing around a fire. Abigail one of ... hates it. He is caring, up tight, anxious, and a motivated person. He wants people to confess and also to testify against ea...

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6. The Crucible and McCarthyism

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7. The Destruction Of Old Salem Due To The Witch Trials

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9. The Crucible analysis

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