Identity in the Crucible
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- Category: English: Plays
- Date Submitted: 11/01/2010 07:38 PM
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Essay: Identity in “The Crucible”
It is a commonly accepted idea, that a human being never stops learning. Although this applies to knowledge of the world, it also applies to knowledge of oneself. In the span of one’s life time, a person would constantly go through changes, therefore needing to revaluate themselves. It is often in great crisis, that people learn a side of themselves that they have never known before. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is an example which features self discovery. If the characters had never revaluated themselves, the conflict never would have resolved. Through the changes in Hale’s change in judgement, John Proctor’s death, and Elizabeth‘s emotional outbreak, the Crucible proves to be a play dealing with discovering one’s identity through crisis.
Despite starting off as a naive and eager, Reverend John Hale went through a moral journey in the play, and came out a different man. Initially, he was confident and blindly oppressed by his position and sense of authority. Due to this aspect of him, he puts words into the mouth of the girls while he failed to notice this ad believed himself to be a sense of justice. Because of Hale’s enthusiasm and religious ideals, he focused mainly on his church practices and responsibility of his social position; it is not surprising that he lacked self reflection and a sense of his own person, as well as growth. Without an understanding of himself and his position, he put the innocent people in peril. It was because of this guilt that finally provided him with the need to self reflect and discover his moral conscience. By Act III, Hale can no longer dismiss his doubts and guilt, and decided to confront it. His shaking hands upon signing the death warrant of Rebecca Nurse and his challenges in court were evidences of his new discovered identity. Quote displaying this would be from court, “Your honour, I cannot think you may judge the man on such evidence.”/ “Private vengeance is working...
It is a commonly accepted idea, that a human being never stops learning. Although this applies to knowledge of the world, it also applies to knowledge of oneself. In the span of one’s life time, a person would constantly go through changes, therefore needing to revaluate themselves. It is often in great crisis, that people learn a side of themselves that they have never known before. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is an example which features self discovery. If the characters had never revaluated themselves, the conflict never would have resolved. Through the changes in Hale’s change in judgement, John Proctor’s death, and Elizabeth‘s emotional outbreak, the Crucible proves to be a play dealing with discovering one’s identity through crisis.
Despite starting off as a naive and eager, Reverend John Hale went through a moral journey in the play, and came out a different man. Initially, he was confident and blindly oppressed by his position and sense of authority. Due to this aspect of him, he puts words into the mouth of the girls while he failed to notice this ad believed himself to be a sense of justice. Because of Hale’s enthusiasm and religious ideals, he focused mainly on his church practices and responsibility of his social position; it is not surprising that he lacked self reflection and a sense of his own person, as well as growth. Without an understanding of himself and his position, he put the innocent people in peril. It was because of this guilt that finally provided him with the need to self reflect and discover his moral conscience. By Act III, Hale can no longer dismiss his doubts and guilt, and decided to confront it. His shaking hands upon signing the death warrant of Rebecca Nurse and his challenges in court were evidences of his new discovered identity. Quote displaying this would be from court, “Your honour, I cannot think you may judge the man on such evidence.”/ “Private vengeance is working...