Hi Everyone:
For our final post on the Crucible, you can either a) share your thoughts on the play as a whole and how the ending affected your experience of the play, or b) share your impressions of the film. Were scenes dramatized well? Did some scenes deviate from the play or were they faithful to the play? And what did you think of the scenes that were not in the play but were in the film? How did these scenes change your understanding of the play? This will be due the evening of Wednesday, October 30th. Thanks, Mr. Telles.
I believe that the ending did affect my experience with the play. I thought the fact that the town of Salem ended hanging John Proctor was a mistake. I know that there was a group of people hung and all them were innocent to witchcraft i thought john proctor was the most important. John had the most influence on his town because he stood up for what he believed was right instead of pointing fingers at other people to get free he told people straight up its all a joke and a lie. John Proctor was the most important because his actions had the most affect on what people thought about the witchcraft ordeal. The people of Salem didn't know much about witchcraft let alone what it even is so when the witchcraft trails came to Salem they used every chance they could to get back at their enemies. So proctor being the most important and innocent being hung so his friends and family could be safe surly had an affect on what i thought about the book because i thought that because john is fighting so hard to free his friends that at the end he would be safe as well as the others. This is why the ending to this book had a huge affect on what i thought the book would be like.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible film overall was a good way to help understand the story. Using visuals helps give another perspective of the storyline. The sets and clothing showed the setting better than using imagery with text. Along with the visuals, the way the characters spoke helped show their personality better than in the book. You can tell the character's emotions better by the tone of their voice better than by using an exclamation point instead of a period. To me, the added and removed scenes in the movie had little to no impact on the experience. I thought of the movie as another way to see the Crucible after reading the book, not to be watched alone. Reading the Crucible and watching the film was an overall beneficial experience.
ReplyDeleteThe crucible was a very interesting play, and I think Arthur Miller is a great writer. This play shows that you are never safe when around other people. Also it shows that you have to watch your back because you don’t know who you can trust. As a whole I liked Crucible and thought it was more interesting than other plays I’ve read in the past. The end of the play suprised me alot. That town of Salem was blood thirsty is what I’d say. When Danforth realized that Proctor and some other people about to get hung might be innocent he said I cannot delay these hangings and basically acknowleged he was killing innocent people. Also he did not delay the trials because of the townspeople. The town loved watching people get hanged and took it like a spectator sport. Abigail Williams was the most blood thirsty because she felt good whenever she did something evil and hated when justice was a possibility. Another thing that surprised me at the end was the final scene involving John Proctor. John Proctor was convicted of Witchcraft and was sentenced to be hung but there was a way to stay alive. His way to stay alive was to confess and he would live, this is what Hale wanted John to do. John signed the confession but took the paper and said save my name and his confession didn’t count. This expressed bravery and dignity. It was brave to stick up for what you believe and keep your bad name out for death. It showed alot of dignity to save your name saying he only have one name and to commit to death right in front of his wife.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading The Crucible a lot. It brings out the truth and personalities of characters, showing that you should trust no one. One thing in the play I did not like was the multiple characters scapegoating one another for their own good. Yes, you should stand up and defend yourself, but not in the way these characters did. It was not right, and it led to anger, sadness, and death. I think Danforth was a naive person. He denied all others who opposed Abigail and her acquaintances, because they were the victims/accusers, therefore almost "immune" to being charged of witchcraft. I believe that Danforth realized he was making a mistake when he hung John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey. I respect John Proctor for defending his beliefs and not fully confessing to a lie. Overall, I enjoyed the crucible very much, and I look forward to reading more of Arthur Miller.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I enjoyed the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I think that we read it at the perfect time of year as well, enhancing its eeriness. I really liked how there was a web of fighting among the whole city, so figuring it out was like solving a large puzzle. Also, I enjoyed how the different acts took place in different settings, leaving no room for boredom. The character of Abigail Williams kind of fascinates me because through Miller’s writing, he found a way to create a character that was so sneaky and ruthless that you literally want to reach your hands through the book and strangle her. Admittingly, in the first act I was not particularly fond of John Proctor, given the fact that he cheated on Elizabeth, and I kind of felt bad for Abigail. However, as the play progressed, my visions of these two characters swapped. In the final scene, I found myself not wanting John to die and was aggravated with him for not sparing his own life, not just for his sake but for the sake of his pregnant wife and children. I understand where he is coming from and how he does not want to soil his name, but after all that he has done to Elizabeth, I think he should be there for her. Although John Proctor’s death left me a little sad, I do not think the end of the book should have been any different because it is a perfectly horrific and tragic ending to a twisted story.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible by Arthur Miller was not the best book. However, I did like the movie more than I thought I would. The movie gave me a sense of who the characters actually were and their personalities were portrayed very well. I found it funny that Danforth and the rest of the people in the court room were so oblivious to Abigail Williams and the rest of the girls pretending to see the devil. It was so obvious that the girls were lying but no one, except John realized it. A scene in the movie that was very shocking is when the people accused of witchcraft got hung, the rest of the town watched and cheered as if they were at a football game. I found that very weird and disturbing. Another scene that was portrayed well is when Danforth brought the document to John Proctor. All he had to do was sign it and say that he was a witch, even though that was a lie. This scene showed that John is an honorable man and has integrity because he chose death over living a lie. Overall, reading and watching The Crucible was an alright experience.
ReplyDeleteThe film “The Crucible”, in my eyes, complimented the play well, and parts of the movie helped clarify some things from Arthur Miller’s writing, as well as gave a visual to the time period. Some of the characters appearance’s in the film differentiated from my perspective on them from reading the play. For example I did not see Rev. Danforth and Rebecca Nurse being as old as they were. Rev. Hale was a character that in the book didn’t really make much of an impression on me but the movie’s scenes made him out to be a wise man, and really the only man of the court that did not believe in all the nonsense. For the most part the film as a whole stayed faithful to the play and only added/ dropped a couple scenes. A part that was added to the movie was when Proctor and Abigail were in the woods and he threatened her to end what she was doing and to not speak name of his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail answered by stabbing herself with a needle blaming Proctor's wife. This was a great scene to add because it added emotion, passion, and anger to the relationship between the two. The film gave me a greater understanding on the story “The Crucible” as well as left different feelings for me towards the story as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe film adaptation of "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller absolutely improves and enhances the original text version. Several scenes in the movie were particularly influential. One in particular was the scene with Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth. In the new scene, Abigail realizes her threat from Reverend Hale. Abigail uses her only power to try to silence his suspicions. Because she cannot go after the "unspoiled soul" of a reverend, she accuses his wife. Judge Danforth had gone along with Abigail's false accusations, but this he can’t stand, so he tells her off.
ReplyDeleteThis scene really helped to develop Danforth’s stance on witchcraft, and foreshadow Abigail’s loss of power. Other scenes, including John’s confrontation with Abigail in the woods, really helped enhance the overall mood and flow of the story. I was very impressed with the way the film interpreted the book. It was very accurate and very often strayed from the original text version. And when it did, it only enhanced the story, and made it clearer for the audience.
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ReplyDeleteThe film was very good and very dramatic. I was not a big fan of the book at first, but the film made me appreciate the play a lot more. I disliked Abigail Williams in both the film and the book. She was very devious and perceptible. Williams legitimately did whatever she could to get attention, especially from John Proctor. It was frustrating to me how Abigail would not comprehend that John did not want anything to do with her any longer, so she continued to start drama in the village. The most dramatic scene to me was when John Proctor screams "Because it is my name!" stating that he would rather die with dignity than live with the guilt of him lying to protect himself. Overall, the film was excellent and I enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteOverall, my experience of the Crucible was that it was an interesting play with a good message to offer. I didn’t like the character Abigail Williams because she was cruel and was willing to do anything and put others lives at risk to get what she wanted. However, I thought she was a clever character. She used the religious and superstitious ways of others to convince them that witches were victimizing her. She played off of others’ fear of being accused and used it to her advantage. I think that this was a very important book for Arthur Miller to write at the time. When I read this play, I understood the panic and hysteria of the American people during the Red Scare. The ending of the play impacted my overall experience of the Crucible. When John Proctor was hung, the events and consequences of actions made by the characters in the crucible were clarified. This action showed that the characters’ selfish, scapegoating behavior had real consequences that they or the reader was not prepared for: one of the important and respectable members of their community died. I also think that although it was sad, it was the best possible ending to the story. This is because it sums the play up and empowered its messages of holding on to personal identity and taking responsibility. Any other ending besides John Proctor’s hanging would not have shown the importance of standing up for what you believe in and not scapegoating others to protect yourself. The ending to the Crucible cemented my understanding of the themes and cast a harrowing feeling over the entire play.
ReplyDeleteI thought that The Crucible by Arthur Miller was a very interesting play. At first, I was very confused and did not know what was going on, but once I got to know the characters and my confusion went away, I really enjoyed reading this play. The film only enhanced my opinion of the play, as it brought the characters to life, and added intensity. The scenes were dramatized very well, especially because of great acting on the parts of Abigail Williams and John Proctor. Seeing the characters and listening to them speak helped show a sense of innocence and uncertainty. The film was faithful to the play for almost everything, except for the scene where many people enter the water, and Mary Warren turns on John Proctor. In the play, that occurred in the courthouse. I thought that the scenes that were not on the play, but were in the film, were very appropriate to be included in the movie. They helped me understand more about Abigail Williams, her feelings for John, and her motives, as well as a secret hatred for Hale when she attempts to accuse Hale’s wife of witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteThe film of the play "The Crucible" really switched my view of the written play. I really didn't enjoy the written play, but the film gave a great interpretation of the play. It gave such a life to the play and it dramatized the play in a shocking way I didn't expect. Some scenes were different, though I thought they were different in a way that benefited the play and gave more emotion and explanation on some of the unanswered questions in the written play but overall, the movie stuck close to the play as it was originally written. These scenes gave me an understanding of the play as showing me the real hysteria it brought to the town of Salem and really showing me the innocent people that were accused during this time. The film was a very insightful perspective on "The Crucible".
ReplyDeleteReading the play and watching the film of, "The Crucible", written by Arthur Miller, was a great experience and taught me some valuable lessons. My thoughts on the play as a whole were changing throughout the play. After watching the film, my perspective of the play changed. The film helped me understand certain scenes better which was essential. In the film, I did not expect Parris and Rebecca Nurse to be as old as they were. In the written play, I thought both of these characters were much younger. I also had a change of perspective on the setting of the play. I thought Salem would look much different. Although the film added and dropped only a few scenes, it was pretty much the same storyline for the most part. My thoughts on the play as a whole were very amusing and entertaining. My favorite scene of the play as a whole was when Rev. Danforth asked Procter to sign the document. It really expressed the frustration that was there throughout the whole play and I thought the actor of John Procter did a great job of expressing that frustration in the film. Reading and watching "The Crucible" was a great experience and I learned a lot about what life was like during the Salem Witch Trials.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both the play and film version of The Crucible and the film enhanced my liking for it as a whole. I thought the casting in the film was very good - despite the fact that the appearances of the characters were not as I imagined, the acting made up for it. The film also helped me understand scenes that I didn't understand while reading the play, such as the bird scene. I think the scenes were put together well to create an interesting story and message that even those who have not read the play can enjoy and feel satisfied with.
ReplyDeleteI think that the added scenes with John and Abigail in the woods helped show the tense relationship between them, as well as the scene in the jail. In the play, it is shown that John and Abigail aren't on very good terms, but in the movie it is shown that John truly wants to rid himself of Abigail when she keeps trying to win him over. John throws Abigail off of him in the woods as she comes on to him, and does not want to go with Abigail to Barbados even though the only other option is being hanged.
Overall, the film version of the Crucible helped me understand the scapegoating ways of Salem's people a lot more. While watching the film I could really take in the corruption of Salem's people and how the witchcraft trials drove everyone mad. I thoroughly enjoyed the Crucible as a whole as it helped me understand different points of view and how fatal lying can really be.
I enjoyed the film version of "The Crucible" much more than the book. I enjoyed the film more for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I thought the film did a profoundly better job at dramatizing certain scenes, and showing the total chaos of the situation. For example, it seemed like there were only a few girls in Betty's room accusing people of witchcraft in scene one of the book, when, in reality, there was around twenty girls (which was extrapolated from the film.) The film also did a much better job than the book at clearly displaying the relationships between characters. In the book, it was hard to follow every character and their importance in the play, but putting a name to a face made it much easier to follow. Lastly, I liked how the film added some extra scenes such as John Proctor confronting Abigail in the woods and Abigail going to John Proctor's jail cell. These scenes added more tension to the conflict at hand, enhancing the effectiveness of the plot. All in all, the film was a key factor in me fully understanding the play "The Crucible", and I enjoyed it much more than the book.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible was overall a very good play and movie as well in my opinion. The book was very interesting to read because it’s so strange to think that even though the play is fictional based things like this did happen and it happened so close to where we live. The movie was good to watch because it helped give me a visual representation on it. I think watching it helped understand the play even further. When I was reading the play I imagined many of the characters very different and I liked being able to see Aurther Miller’s interpretation of it. Although I did like the movie I thought that it was a lot more dramatic and not as real feeling as reading the play. The play helped me understand many of the parts in the play more clearly such as the relationship between John and Abigail. In the play an extra scene of them meeting and John clearly saying he wants nothing to do with her help me completely understand their relationship. I really like John Proctors character, he was exactly how I pictured and I feel in the movie Miller did a really good job with expressing his character. The ending of the play where everyone was getting killed was gruesome but yet helped me understand how the people of Salem weren't horrible people when they cheered on at their fellow community members death but they actually believed in this stuff and legitimately thought that killing them was the right thing to do. This made it feel much more believable and not just that they wanted people to get kill for selfish reasons such as land. This showed how cruel, selfish and conniving these people at this time actually were. Ultimately both the play and the movie were very good because the play was very interesting to read and the movie just enhanced it even more.
ReplyDeleteThe film after the story of The Crucible i thought was done very well. I feel the actors and actresses chosen for the movie represented the characters of the book very well. The setting chosen to film the movie was just like the setting I visualized when reading the book. I thought the scenes were acted out nicely and resembled the scenes of the play nicely. There were a couple scenes that deviated from the play, like the bird scene. In the book the whole bird scene took place in the court room but in the movie it went from the courtroom to the water. I thought the move from the court room to the shoreline heightened the emotion of the scene but i believe Hale marching out of the court room declaring that he quit the court like he did in the book was a very important part of the story and expressed his anger better than the movie did. The scenes that were in the movie but not the book helped me understand the chemistry between Abigail and Proctor better. I was able to see how desperate Abigail was to be with John Proctor and how Proctor totally rejected her several times.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the film of the Crucible, I gained a better understanding of the setting and staging of the play. Before I watched the movie, I pictured Salem as a very stretched out area with neighbors being miles apart. The movie also helped me see how Miller was portraying the girls who were following Abigail’s lead, and it made me realize even more how ridiculous the girls looked and acted, and it really made me wonder how Danforth could’ve believed them in the first place. I was pretty confused about why the judges didn’t listen to Hale’s opinion more, and how they weren’t even considering until later that the girls could even possibly have been lying. The scene in the movie that is not in the book where Abigail accuses Hale’s wife of witchcraft shows the point where the judges realize that Abigail is either very confused or just lying to them. This scene was the most helpful scene for me in the movie, because it was not included in the book but it is very important to the story. The scenes in the Crucible were dramatized very well. I was able to connect certain scenes from the play to scenes from the movie, and watching the movie gave me a better understanding of those scenes, especially the scenes that I didn’t follow as well. One other scene in the movie that is very brief but very helpful was the scene where Abigail went from one house to another, and people who saw her either looked away or muttered under their breath about her. This scene was helpful to me because it showed me that most of the town realized that what Abigail was doing was wrong, and that she isn’t someone who they should get on a bad side with or even try to talk to because she can turn on anyone very quickly.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the film of “The Crucible” very much because it gave a clearer image as to what the characters acted, spoke, and what they looked like. The actors who portrayed the characters seemed to study the characters actions and tone very well because it related to how the characters in the book acted. For example, when John Proctor screams “God is dead!”, it gave me a clear image as to how the people were pestering him with questions of witchcraft and belief in the devil, and how he reacted violently to the questioners. The scenes that were added to the film helped, but they also deteriorated my knowledge of how the book happened chronologically. The scenes that were added, such as the courtroom scenes of the accused witches, helped me to understand how the townspeople really acted by what they saw. The added scenes were very well acted through to describe the mood of the situations in the court, though. These added scenes and several others throughout the movie were great because they were very descriptive, but they threw off my remembrance of how the story happened in the order of events. I could not tell where the transitions from the acts were because the added scenes caught my attention and confused the plot line from my knowledge. I had to say to myself several times, “Was this in the book?”. Even though the plot line of the film was slightly different than that of the film, the scenes were very well played by the actors and it helped me put a clear picture into my head about how everything happened and how everyone acted in the book.
ReplyDeleteAs Act 4 ended in the play, it had a wierd sense of relief that went with it. Relief that Abigail was gone, relief that John Proctor still had some morals, relief that the witch trials might be dying down, and relief that some of the officials actually realized what they were doing was wrong. Danforth basically says in the end of Act 4, "I can't postpone the hangings, doing that now will show everyone that I made a mistake." The fact that more than a dozen people had to die to get Danforth to come to this relization is pretty sad, but relieving that eventually did come to that the conclusion and wasn't trying to cover it up with cries of witchcraft anymore. I also just felt relief that the play was over. Not in a way that would suggest I didn't enjoy reading it, just that nothing worse was going to happen to the characters. Knowing that just made the play seem a little better. It made me think "ok, only a paragraph left, what's the worst that could happen?" The saying "I'll be happy when it's over," comes to mind when reading the Crucible, being a fly on the wall during the witch trials was frustrating and irratating, but it showed the reader exactly what was happening during the trials. A great sense of relief is felt at the end of Act 4 when you realize the witch trials are dwindling, and it makes the ending that much more memorable.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible was one of the better plays that I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book as a class and thought it was a good display of our not so distant past. As a whole the play was great, and the ending of the play only enhanced it. Act four was a great part of the play because literally everything was I hysteria. Abigail mysteriously vanished stealing all of Parris’s money leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back, Procter half confessing but in the end only sentencing himself to hang, and the courts back take on whether or not they were doing the right thing were all great elements to end the book with. When finishing the book you can think “well hey, at least Abigail was gone and couldn't convict anyone else”, or maybe “Procter died almost by his own choice at the end”, and it lightens the blow of the intense ending. Another good thing about the ending was that the court began to second guess themselves. This signifies the end of the witch trials because they realized they were making a huge mistake and “Lucifer” had not actually been among them. I also enjoyed this book because of its historic values. It is amazing how much our government has changed since the trials. I do not think that we would still be a country if we had a theocratic government. All in all, I think the ending of act 4 enhanced the book through massive amounts of hysteria.
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