Friday, November 8, 2019

In what ways are double standards depicted in Miller's The Crucible?

In act two, John Proctor highlights one double standard relating to the town's minister, the Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Hale has confronted Proctor about his spotty church attendance, and he states that Proctor's understanding of theology must tell him that his own home is not a church. Proctor responds,

It does, sir, it does; and it tells me that a minister may pray to God without he have golden candlesticks upon the altar.

As a Puritan minister, Parris ought to be teaching his parishioners not to embrace materialism. Further, excessive ornament in a place of worship was very much associated with Catholicism, and so the Puritans absolutely hated this kind of excess. There were lovely pewter candlesticks that were handmade by Francis Nurse, but the very minister—the man who ought to best uphold Puritan values—was discontented with them and wanted a more valuable, golden pair instead. This is evidence of Parris's hypocrisy and a clear double standard.
In act one, Tituba's testimony about seeing the Devil with several other women from the town is believed whole-heartedly. The truthfulness of her statements is never once questioned. Later, in act four, she and Sarah Good sit in jail making similar statements about seeing the Devil. Tituba tells Marshal Herrick,

We goin' to Barbados, soon the Devil gits here with the feathers and the wings.

However, none of these statements are taken seriously now. At the beginning of the witch scare, practically any statement about one's experience with the Devil was believed, even welcomed by the town. Now, though, no one even seems to care about these statements.

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