Examine Miller’s presentation of John Proctor :: English Literature

Examine Millers presentation of John invigilate and the Circumstances which lead to his choo perditiong to be executed.Although the events of the play are based on events that took place inSalem, Massachusetts in 1692, Miller was liberal in hisfictionalisation.For example, the involution between farmer, husband, and father JohnProctor, and the Ministers teenage niece, Abigail Williams, drivemany of the accusations of witchcraft in the play in fact at the beat of the Witch Trials, Williams would only have been around elevenand Proctor would have been in his sixties. The play, written in 1953,was in response to Senator McCarthy and the House Un-AmericanActivities Committees bid against supposed communistsympathisers, in which Miller became embroiled. When he testified infront of a congressional committee in 1956 he refused to reveal any label and so was held in contempt. The decision was overturned twoyears later. iodin of Millers most powerful devices in the play is his use of ba nterdramatic, verbal, and situational irony.Verbal irony is a figure of speech in which the speaker intends to beunderstood as meaning something that contrasts with the literal orusual meaning of what he says. One example of this is when JohnProctor says Good. Then her saintliness is done with, mentioningAbigail. However, Proctor does not actually believe that Abigail is asaint. The affair makes her a sinner, because he is married toElizabeth. However, he says this line because the rest of the town,and most importantly, the courts believe that she is believable andtruthful. In effect, he tries to convince the court and the people ofher unsaintliness, by leaseing to their attention her sins, but tono avail this is one of the most important circumstances which leadto his choosing to be executed. Another example has Proctor tellinghis wife Its winter in here yet. However, it is actually spring, asin the same dialogue he asks her to go walking in the field with himso that they may pick flowers and bring them into their home. Proctorreally means to tell his wife that their home is cold, that there isno sign of love. He believes that when his wife fills the home withwarmth and love, he is forgiven for his sin of lechery, and only thencan he continue normally with his life. By using this type of irony,Millers characters indirectly bring something to our attention, whichcould not other be done.Situational irony is a discrepancy between what we expect and whatoccurs. This is the second type of irony used in the play.