The Crucible (Play)

The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a play that takes place

in the sixteen nineties during the famous but tragic witch trials. The

entire community is in pandemonium yet certain characters are also

fighting internal conflicts of their own. Miller uses three characters

who manifest this internal battle ever so clearly. Such as Mary Warren

who whole personality turns upside down, John Proctor who contemplates

between the importance of his family and his own name and Reverend

Hale who battles with himself wether to carry out his job requirements

or do what he knows is right.

Mary Warren is a girl who is forced with this inner turmoil

throughout this play. At the outset of the play she is perceived to be

a very shy girl who will never speak her mind as shown when Proctor

sends her home and she responds with " I'm just going home" (21). As

the play continues and as she is influenced by Abigail, Mary begins to

break this self induced mold and does what she wants. Mary Warren,

along with many other girls gets caught up in the hype of getting all

the attention and exercising power via initiating and adamantly

continuing these "witch trials". Finally John Proctor, the

rationalist, shows that when people like Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth

Proctor who are the saintliest of people are accused of being witches,

something must be wrong. Mary Warren has a difficult decision to make.

She has realized that her whole way of life has been based on

injustice. However, how can she extricate herself from Abigail and her

friends, not to mention her new feelings of confidence. Mary

decides to speak out against Abigail and the others for their false

accusations and said that she " tried to kill me numerous times"(57).

Yet as she does this heroic act of overcoming her old reality, Abigail

pretends that Mary is also a witch using the poppets against her(73).

Mary is now faced with yet another grueling internal conflict: to do

what she knows is right and probably die for it, or to return to her

old ways. Mary succumbs to Abigails "hypnosis " and accuses John

Proctor of forcing her to lie. Clearly the battle which Mary faced

from the very beginning was enormous.

John Proctor a farmer and village commoner similarly is faced

with an inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no

intentions of joining in the witch trials unless hi pregnant wife were

to also get involved. After his wife got involved and eventually was

set free due to the fact that she was pregnant feels that he can't

accept this. Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he

believes at first he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this

sin blooming over him every waking moment . John later says to

Elizabeth that " My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man.

Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long

before"(136) and rather confess then die for something he flat out

didn't do. However, as John confesses, he can not allow Danforth to

make it officially documented. As Danforth asks him why John answers

with a cry " because it is my name. Because