Skip to main content

In which act of Arthur Miller's The Crucible does Reverend Parris care about his name?

I probably could make the argument that Reverend Parris cares about his name and his name's reputation throughout the entire play.  But if I had to pick one act that shows Parris very worried about his name and reputation, I would pick Act One.  


There is a sequence early on in Act One where Parris and Abigail Williams are discussing what is wrong with Betty.  Abigail tells Parris that the girls were dancing and...

I probably could make the argument that Reverend Parris cares about his name and his name's reputation throughout the entire play.  But if I had to pick one act that shows Parris very worried about his name and reputation, I would pick Act One.  


There is a sequence early on in Act One where Parris and Abigail Williams are discussing what is wrong with Betty.  Abigail tells Parris that the girls were dancing and nothing more.  Parris isn't convinced though, and really starts grilling Abigail about witchcraft and conjuring spirits.  


The reason that Parris is questioning Abigail so strongly is that he knows that there are people in Salem that don't want him to be minister anymore.  



Parris: There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit. Do you understand that?



Parris is worried that his enemies will use the girls' forest activity against him.  It might work, too, since Betty was there, and she is his daughter.  Plus, Abigail was there, and she is his niece.  The family association would blacken his name.  



Parris: Now then, in the midst of such disruption, my own household is discovered to be the very center of some obscene practice. . . Now tell me true, Abigail. And I pray you feel the weight of truth upon you, for now my ministry's at stake. . . Abigail, I have sought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more