Rebecca Nurse's Role in The Crucible

The Function of Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible

Rebecca Nurse, a big character in Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible", really stands out in how the story rolls out and how its themes are explored. She's this respected person in Salem, showing honesty, morality, and kindness. This essay takes a close look at what Rebecca does in the play. We’ll focus on her as this symbol of righteousness and how she affects other folks around her. By checking out her chats with others and her sad ending, it becomes clear that Rebecca acts like this moral guide and helps push for change when things aren't fair.

The Symbol of Righteousness

Rebecca’s all about righteousness and acts as a light for morality throughout the whole play. Her strong faith and sticking to her principles make everyone respect her. Right from Act 1, she’s introduced as someone who tries to cool down all the craziness around the witchcraft accusations involving the girls. She says stuff like, "Let’s just blame ourselves...and see what’s good about it" (Miller, p.20). This shows she believes in looking inward and taking responsibility rather than pointing fingers at others.

Her role as a symbol of what's right is even more obvious when they accuse her of being a witch too. Even when she's arrested and put on trial, she keeps it together and won’t lie just to save herself. Her solid grip on truth and principles just proves she’s this symbol of righteousness. Viewers can't help but feel that Rebecca's integrity is rock-solid, even when everything's falling apart around her.

Impact on Other Characters

Rebecca has a real impact on those around her, making them think twice about what they believe and do. John Proctor's one guy who really feels this change because of Rebecca. At first, he doesn’t buy into the whole witchcraft stuff and doesn’t want to get mixed up in it. But once Rebecca gets arrested, he steps up against the unfair trials. He realizes he's gotta stand up for what's right, no matter what might happen to him personally. In Act 2 he goes like, "I’ve plowed on Sunday now and then... Got three kids... land wasn’t giving much till last year" (Miller, p.60). You can see his change in attitude is because of how steady Rebecca stays despite being accused.

Same thing happens with Reverend Hale—a respected guy who starts questioning everything after seeing what happens to Rebecca. Before she's taken away, he's leading the charge on the trials thinking it's all righteous work. But watching the wrong done to Rebecca makes him question if these trials are legit at all and rethink his role in spreading hysteria. By Act 4 he’s declaring “I denounce these proceedings! I quit!” (Miller, p.130). It’s clear talking with Rebecca made him change his views dramatically; proving she's stirring up some needed changes.

The Tragic Fate of Rebecca Nurse

The way things end for Rebecca highlights just how tragic those Salem witch trials were. She’s innocent—everyone knows it—but still gets sentenced to death anyway which shows how crazy irrational everything got back then.

This event becomes a huge turning point too causing guilt among those left behind wondering about their part in all this madness—Elizabeth Proctor sums it up saying “Rotting crops stink everywhere...who knows when harlots’ cries might end someone else’s life” (Miller,p145)—her words show how deeply affected people become by losing someone so innocent reminding us what unchecked fear can lead toward persecuting innocents needlessly.

Conclusion

Rebecca Nurse plays such an important part throughout "The Crucible" hitting hard on themes like morality justice or what happens when mass panic goes unchecked; through embodying righteousness inspiring others around her challenging their own beliefs sometimes reevaluating themselves thanks largely due reactions observing such unwavering commitment maintaining truth thus becoming ultimate moral compass amidst fear paranoia running rampant society wide...

At heart though beyond simply personal character level representing collective conscience bringing audience reflect dangers blindly following irrational ideas suggesting crucial importance holding onto principles especially facing tough adversities reminding everyone standing strong truly matters.

Bibliography

• Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible." Penguin Books,1995.
• Cohn,Larry.”Arthur Miller: A Playwright's Life And Works,” Simon & Schuster:2017
• Parker,Kurt.”Understanding 'The Crucible': Themes Symbols Analysis',HarperCollins:2019
• Kramer,Susan.“Salem Trials Unmasked: True Stories Behind Witch Hysteria",Oxford Press:2020."
• Nicholson,Gary.”Rethinking Redemption Within The World Of 'Crucible',"Routledge Publishing House;2021."