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Liar, Liar Pants of Fire

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Liar, Liar Pants of Fire
Everybody lies about something in their lives and it’s a dangerous thing to do, unfortunately it is the easiest way to get out of trouble and put the blame on someone else. The effects of lying are shown in the American classic The Crucible by playwright Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a play about the witch trials in Salem, which led to the death of many innocent people in Salem who were accused of being witches. Throughout The Crucible significant lies were told by Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Reverend Parris and Elizabeth Proctor. These characters lie for selfish reasons but also to protect their loved ones. Some of them only lied once and some lied many times, but their lies had significant results that could have changed the outcome of the play entirely. The amount and significance of the lies told by Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Reverend Parris and Elizabeth Proctor led to more conflict, innocent people dying and changes in people’s characters.
In the Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor is John Proctor's pious wife she is reserved, dutiful and hurt after knowing about John's affair with Abigail. In the play the only sin committed by Elizabeth is lying in court when Judge Danforth asks her “...has John Proctor ever commited the crime of lechery?” and elizabeth replies “No, sir” with pure intentions. Elizabeth only lies in an attempt to protect her husband from being hanged but her only lie leads to the unfortunate death of her husband. This is ironic because compared to Abigail who constantly lies and the result of Abigail's lies are almost equal to this one lie Elizabeth told.
Reverend Parris is greedy and selfish. In act one when his daughter Betty is sick, Parris seem worried but only about his reputation. Also in act three Parris does perjury when he tell the court that he say no one dancing naked in the woods even though he has when he tell Abigail. In act four he is lying when he tells Danforth to postpone the hangings because his life is in danger

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