Thesis- Seeing The Crucible through an archetypal lens the reader sees that even though the Salem Witch Trials seem to be an outrageous story, it has many characteristics of everyday archetypes. These archetypes are shown by three different characters which hold the traits of being a hero, rebel, ruler, and lover of the story.
Body Paragraph #1
The first archetype lens that comes to mind when speaking about The Crucible is the hero of the story. This role was taken on by Proctor; one example is when Proctor says, “Would you give them such a lie? Say it. Would you ever give them this she cannot answer. You would not; if tongs of fire were singeing you would not! It is evil. Good, then-it is evil, and I do it!” (I). Proctor is …show more content…
Another archetype lens that comes to mind when speaking about The Crucible is shown through the role of Abigail, who even though it is believed that a character can only have one archetype she demolishes this rule with the lens of both a rebel and the ruler, which is very ironic. Abigail displays the archetype of a both rebel and ruler when she says, “Now look at you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all”(I). Abigail is a rebel because she is participating in witchcraft, which at the time was a serious crime that could cause her to be hung. Abigail is also a ruler in this because the reader can see that when she is saying this in the context Abigail is telling her group of friends what happened, and telling them to follow what she is saying happened in the woods. She shows the rebel archetype in this story when Abigail explained to Proctor in Act I, “I know how you clutch my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near! Or did I dream that? It’s she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now!” (I). This proves that Abigail is a rebel because Proctor was married and a good puritan man, however this opens the door that Abigail stole him from his wife and broke the standard rule of who he could have a relationship with …show more content…
However Elizabeth differs from Abigail. When looking at Elizabeth through the archetypal lens she reveals the archetype of the lover. A particular example of this is when Elizabeth was asked about her husband 's affairs. Elizabeth first starts to tell the court what happened; however later when asked specifically about the affair she responds, “My husband-is a goodly man, sir” (III). She is a lover because she is Proctor 's wife and even though he has been unfaithful, she has that mentality that Proctor is the one and only guy that she will stand by. Another example is, “I cannot judge you, John. I cannot” (III). Elizabeth is showing that no matter how many times Proctor will mislead her or been untrue to her, Elizabeth’s love for him is so strong that she cannot see the wrong in him, no matter what he does. The final way Elizabeth shows the archetype of being a lover is, “Conceding: I think you be somewhat ashamed for I am there, and she so close” (II). This shows how she is worried about how Proctor feels about her and doesn’t believe that she is better than Abigail because of the his unfaithfulness towards Elizabeth, which caused her to question herself while losing herself in the process. Throughout The Crucible Elizabeth portrays the archetype of a lover, which if often seen in your stories of