There are many human frailties found throughout the play. One of the biggest in my opinion was selfishness. Abigail is the most selfish of all. She wants John all to herself and she does everything in her power to bring about Elizabeth's destruction. When she is accused of witchcraft, she immediately pushes the blame on someone else to save herself. Tituba and many others follow her selfish lead in pushing the blame elsewhere. The only character who appears to not share this trait is John Proctor. Although he could have saved his own life, he refuses to lie about seeing any of his fellow prisoners with the devil.
John's human frailty of the past was his lust. Although he feels his mistake and regrets it deeply, I believe he still cares a little bit for Abigail in the beginning of the play. Ironically, when he is asked to list the ten commandments, the one he forgets is the one about adultery.
I agree. It is difficult to find a character in the play that is not at least a little selfish. John Proctor is the best example of a character who tries their best to put others before himself, but Elizabeth does her best to do the same. Through most of the play, she seems to be the victim of everything that is going on. She knows that Abigail accused her of witchcraft just so she could have John all to herself. However, when the judge asks Elizabeth why she dismissed Abigail from their house, she refused to admit that John had committed adultery with her. Even though her lie ends up hurting her husband, she says it to spare his name. This action reflects greatly on Elizabeth's character.
I believe that the biggest frailty evident in 'The Crucible' was greed, and no other character displayed this greed as flawlessly as Thomas Putnam. Putnam, one of the wealthiest and most powerful citizens in Salem, used the trials to his advantage by accusing his neighbors and then claiming their land as his own. Another character who displayed greed is Abigail. Because of her disdain for the Proctor family, she used her terrifying power over the court to condemn both Elizabeth and John.
I agree both with the accusation that Thomas Putnam is the greediest man in the play and also that Abigail controls a large portions of the towns greed. I also believe that Abigail's greed is progressive. Origionally, Abigail's greed is that of the heart when she desires to have John Proctor. Towards the end of the play when Abigail realizes there is no way she can win and get John she decides to literally take the money and run which completes Abigail's tranformation from greed of the heart to material greed.
In the Crucible, every character shows some sort of human frailty. Everyone besides the Proctor's show selfishness and greed. Selfishness and greed fuel the trials and gave the trials the power to destroy lives. A character that showed major selfishness is Abigail. Her frailty is shown by her decision to harm other people in order to try and get John Proctor back. She is willing to destroy the lives of innocent people and start a frenzy just so she could try and take Elizabeth Proctor's place. John Proctor's frailty comes from his affair with Abigail. Even though it happened in the past, and John then lives amiably, his frailty is what starts the problem.
I disagree with your opinion that John Proctor did not show signs of selfishness. While he may have sacrificed himself for his wife at the end of the play, through out the rest of it he refuses to own up to his act of adultery in defense of his name. Besides that, we also have to acknowledge the fact that he slept with Abigale in the first place. John Proctor may be a good man in the end, but he was far from completely selfless.
I agree with DisplayName that John Proctor shows signs of selfishness. John waited until the last possible moment to attempt to help his wife because he was afraid to damage his reputation. While this may not be a selfish as some acts other characters committed he still left his wife, supposedly the woman he loved, hung out to dry in the trials until it was nearly to late.
I believe that the human frailty that caused the most issues throughout "The Crucible" was manipulation. I do believe that in some twisted way manipulation can be seen as a strength instead of a frailty, but it must be remebered that in Puritan society one of the key goals to finding a life with God is to live a life of good works and moderation. Abigail is inarguably guilty of using manipulation in several accounts to make circumstances favorable for her. She uses manipulation to force the other girls to join her ridiculous scheme, and she uses manipulate to force her hand with John Proctor.
It can easily be seen that Abigail Williams has fallen prey to a nearly endless pit of human frailties, almost all of which feed of the others. Abigail's selfish, jealous and vindictive nature cause problems within the entire town while putting lives in danger. While I believe that Abigail's greedy nature drives her manipulation, the entire fallout of the community can be blammed on her actions.
I completely agree that manipulation played a major role in the play. In addition to Abigail, I think that Reverend Hale is guilty of this frailty. In the beginning, he seems to want the witch trials to occur so that he can demonstrate his intelligence and power. He manipulates the people of Salem into thinking that he is all-knowing when it comes to witchcraft and is their only hope of extinguishing it from their village.
In my opinion, selfishness, manipulation, and doubt were the most common fralities shown in "The Crucible." Thomas Putnam was the main representative of selfishness through the way that he would accuse his fellow neighbors of witchcraft and then take their land for his own. Manipulation was displayed most by Abigail and Reverend Parris. Abigail manipulated everyone into thinking that she was being bewitched whenever placed in front of a defendant accused of witchcraft. Parris also had a hand in manipulation whenever he tried to manipulate the judge to not accept the testimonies from Giles Corey or John Proctor about their wives. The court officials were subjective to doubt in their decisions when Proctor came forth with Mary Warren and her testimony of lying about who was a witch or not. Together all of these characters helped bring about the destruction of their society.
There are many human frailties found throughout the play. One of the biggest in my opinion was selfishness. Abigail is the most selfish of all. She wants John all to herself and she does everything in her power to bring about Elizabeth's destruction. When she is accused of witchcraft, she immediately pushes the blame on someone else to save herself. Tituba and many others follow her selfish lead in pushing the blame elsewhere. The only character who appears to not share this trait is John Proctor. Although he could have saved his own life, he refuses to lie about seeing any of his fellow prisoners with the devil.
ReplyDeleteJohn's human frailty of the past was his lust. Although he feels his mistake and regrets it deeply, I believe he still cares a little bit for Abigail in the beginning of the play. Ironically, when he is asked to list the ten commandments, the one he forgets is the one about adultery.
I agree. It is difficult to find a character in the play that is not at least a little selfish. John Proctor is the best example of a character who tries their best to put others before himself, but Elizabeth does her best to do the same. Through most of the play, she seems to be the victim of everything that is going on. She knows that Abigail accused her of witchcraft just so she could have John all to herself. However, when the judge asks Elizabeth why she dismissed Abigail from their house, she refused to admit that John had committed adultery with her. Even though her lie ends up hurting her husband, she says it to spare his name. This action reflects greatly on Elizabeth's character.
DeleteI believe that the biggest frailty evident in 'The Crucible' was greed, and no other character displayed this greed as flawlessly as Thomas Putnam. Putnam, one of the wealthiest and most powerful citizens in Salem, used the trials to his advantage by accusing his neighbors and then claiming their land as his own. Another character who displayed greed is Abigail. Because of her disdain for the Proctor family, she used her terrifying power over the court to condemn both Elizabeth and John.
ReplyDeleteI agree both with the accusation that Thomas Putnam is the greediest man in the play and also that Abigail controls a large portions of the towns greed. I also believe that Abigail's greed is progressive. Origionally, Abigail's greed is that of the heart when she desires to have John Proctor. Towards the end of the play when Abigail realizes there is no way she can win and get John she decides to literally take the money and run which completes Abigail's tranformation from greed of the heart to material greed.
DeleteIn the Crucible, every character shows some sort of human frailty. Everyone besides the Proctor's show selfishness and greed. Selfishness and greed fuel the trials and gave the trials the power to destroy lives. A character that showed major selfishness is Abigail. Her frailty is shown by her decision to harm other people in order to try and get John Proctor back. She is willing to destroy the lives of innocent people and start a frenzy just so she could try and take Elizabeth Proctor's place. John Proctor's frailty comes from his affair with Abigail. Even though it happened in the past, and John then lives amiably, his frailty is what starts the problem.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your opinion that John Proctor did not show signs of selfishness. While he may have sacrificed himself for his wife at the end of the play, through out the rest of it he refuses to own up to his act of adultery in defense of his name. Besides that, we also have to acknowledge the fact that he slept with Abigale in the first place. John Proctor may be a good man in the end, but he was far from completely selfless.
DeleteI agree with DisplayName that John Proctor shows signs of selfishness. John waited until the last possible moment to attempt to help his wife because he was afraid to damage his reputation. While this may not be a selfish as some acts other characters committed he still left his wife, supposedly the woman he loved, hung out to dry in the trials until it was nearly to late.
DeleteI believe that the human frailty that caused the most issues throughout "The Crucible" was manipulation. I do believe that in some twisted way manipulation can be seen as a strength instead of a frailty, but it must be remebered that in Puritan society one of the key goals to finding a life with God is to live a life of good works and moderation. Abigail is inarguably guilty of using manipulation in several accounts to make circumstances favorable for her. She uses manipulation to force the other girls to join her ridiculous scheme, and she uses manipulate to force her hand with John Proctor.
ReplyDeleteIt can easily be seen that Abigail Williams has fallen prey to a nearly endless pit of human frailties, almost all of which feed of the others. Abigail's selfish, jealous and vindictive nature cause problems within the entire town while putting lives in danger. While I believe that Abigail's greedy nature drives her manipulation, the entire fallout of the community can be blammed on her actions.
I completely agree that manipulation played a major role in the play. In addition to Abigail, I think that Reverend Hale is guilty of this frailty. In the beginning, he seems to want the witch trials to occur so that he can demonstrate his intelligence and power. He manipulates the people of Salem into thinking that he is all-knowing when it comes to witchcraft and is their only hope of extinguishing it from their village.
DeleteIn my opinion, selfishness, manipulation, and doubt were the most common fralities shown in "The Crucible." Thomas Putnam was the main representative of selfishness through the way that he would accuse his fellow neighbors of witchcraft and then take their land for his own. Manipulation was displayed most by Abigail and Reverend Parris. Abigail manipulated everyone into thinking that she was being bewitched whenever placed in front of a defendant accused of witchcraft. Parris also had a hand in manipulation whenever he tried to manipulate the judge to not accept the testimonies from Giles Corey or John Proctor about their wives. The court officials were subjective to doubt in their decisions when Proctor came forth with Mary Warren and her testimony of lying about who was a witch or not. Together all of these characters helped bring about the destruction of their society.
ReplyDelete