The Test Of Salem Essay, Research Paper

The Tests of Salem

The Crucible is a play, which brings attention to many timeless issues. The nature of good and evil, power and its corruption, honor and integrity and irony are all brought up in Arthur Miller s The Crucible. Irony what doe sit men? Irony means incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs. In The Crucible there are three different aspects of irony. Irony is present through many scenes of the play and it is very important to the outcome of the story. Three types of irony that are in the play is man vs. man, man vs. society and man vs. man.

The first aspect of irony in the story is when Elizabeth Proctor lies to the court to save her husband but instead gets him in more trouble and helps Abigail. Proctor tells the court that his wife has never lid before but when thy call for her she says something with the intention of helping him but ironically she make his situation worse. In her life, sir, she have never lied. There re them cannot sing, and them that cannot weep my wife cannot lie. I have paid much to learn it, sir (Miller 111) In the quote Proctor is telling the court that some people cannot sing and some are to strong to weep and his wife will not lie. Another example of irony that can be used in the situation is that the husband thinks his wife will never lie and to prove she will never lie he admits that he has committed adultery which his wife already knows about and the court puts his wife to a test. The court asks his wife if her husband has the affair and instead of the wife saying yes she says no, thinking it will save her husband. To your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever commits adultery and she is saying no. By these couple of scenes in the story it shows how irony can change the outcome of the story.

Another example of irony in the story is when Abigail is trying to kill Proctor s wife by accusing her of witchcraft but instead gets Proctor killed. Abigail is in love with John Proctor in the story and the whole point of Abigail being in the woods is to make a love potion so John will fall in love with her again. Abigail is trying to hurt John. I do, sir. I believe she means to murder (104) John Proctor is telling the court that h thinks Abigail is intentionally trying to kill these people. She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! (24) Proctor is wondering why the court is listening to Abigail when she is a bad and evil person. At the end of the story Abigail ends up getting John Proctor killed because of her foolish and evil ways.

Irony plays and important part of the story when Reverend Hale comes to Salem o try to get rid of the devil but instead of helping the town he causes more pain then healing. Reverend Hale tries to help the town but instead accuses innocent people and starts the Salem witch trials. Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own. I came into this village like a brides groom to his beloved, bearing gift of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought and what I touched with my bright confidence, it dies (132) Hale is saying that who ever he tries to help in the town that person ends up being accused of witchcraft. Hale tries to help John Proctor but instead of helping him find out what s going on in Salem, John and his wife end up being accused of witchcraft and John is hung for it. In the play irony is very critical to plot and the mood changes of the story.

Irony in the story is very important it adds the twists and the excitement to the story. It takes the characters of the stories and puts each of them to tests and it shows how the character actually thinks in different situations and what the character does. In this story there were several examples of irony if there was no irony in the story the story would not have turned out the way it did.