Personality Disorders in The Crucible Literary Analysis Essay

📌Category: Plays, The Crucible
📌Words: 1037
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 25 April 2022

In 1948, psychologists conducted studies on people with varying identity crises. They found that people suffering from these mental diseases all had a few traits in common: Fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, and explosive emotions towards others. Later, in a more recent study in 2019, they found that these traits are consistent with people with borderline personality disorder; it is more common than most may realize. The Crucible, a 1952 play written by Artur Miller, has many characters based on various personality disorders; most notably Reverend Parris. In fact, Arthur Miller's wife of five years, Marylin Monroe, suffered from borderline personality disorder. Miller was inspired by his now ex-wife to write the charter of Parris as showing traits of borderline personality disorder. Throughout The Crucible, Reverend Parris continuously shows traits of borderline personality disorder through his fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, and explosive anger towards others.

The play’s exposition begins with young girls frolicking in the forests which were sworn off to good people of God. Forests concealed the devil and his evil spirits. One of the girls dancing was Abigail Williams, the niece of  Reverend Parris. While they were running and dancing, Reverend Parris spots them in the woods. The girls scatter, leaving some in a scared, coma-like state. Furious, he questions Abigail on what exactly happened in the woods. Being a reverend of the church, Mr. Parris expects the utmost respect from the townspeople, however, he is very paranoid that some are out to undermine him. Abigail refuses to taint her name by telling the truth of the forest. Parris pleads for the truth and says “There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit (Act 1, pg. 569)”. His paranoia is a driving force behind his fear of abandonment and forbids him to trust in others, which largely impacts the events of the play. A prime example is when Parris refuses to listen to reason from Mr. Hale and the defense in Act III. After John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, and others are accused of witchcraft by Abigail and the girls, he goes to court to fight the charge. They claim that the girls are indeed lying about being able to see spirits of the condemned. Proctor then brings up the fact that Parris was an eye witness to the incriminating dancing in the woods. Scared, Parris tries to convince the judge that he is not an enemy and on his side. He nervously says, “ I can only say, sir, that I never found any of them naked, and this man is— (Act III, pg. 644)”. Luckily for Parris, Judge Danforth firmly believes the defense is all nonsense. Parris is utterly afraid of being convicted of such a crime, so he sides with the all powerful judges. Along with them, he refuses to look at proof or hear out any defense the townspeople might have against the accusations of witchcraft. Reverend Parris’s refusal to leave the Judges' good graces proves his fear of abandonment. Even with the endorsement of the well respected Reverend Hale, he will not trust in the people of his town. 

Sparked by paranoia, Reverend Parris’s fears led to unstable relationships throughout the course of the play. Our first glimpse of this behavior was in the preamble of Act I. Background information on Reverend Parris was given by an omniscient storyteller to develop the exposition in the first scene. We are told that “He believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God to his side (Act I, pg. 563)”. He was always worried that people were going to revolt against him. The conflict arising from Abigail's mistakes would only amplify his feelings. While questioning Abigail during Act I, he explains his concerns to her. He says “Abigail, do you understand that I have many enemies? (Act I pg. 568)”. Parris’s worries drive the course of the play and further affirms his borderline personality disorder. His paranoia affected all of his relationships throughout the play and he pushed many friends, like the Putnams, away assuming they were going to attempt to corrupt his house. His lack of control on his emotions not only impacts the plot of the play in his life, but also the people around him.

Reverend Parris continuously lets his emotions overcome him when interacting with others. Earlier in Act I when he was interrogating Abigail about the forest, Reverend Parris had a sudden outburst of anger.  Parris knew Abigail was lying about what really happened and went from a calm manner to a violently angry one. The stage directions give more context as well by asking the actor to show even more anger. When talking to Abigail, Parris says “with anger: I saw it! (Act 1, pg. 569)”. When things are not going the way Parris intends, he lets his temper get the best of him. When John Proctor comes to the court to argue his defense, Parris starts to get scared that the court will turn on him because of his relation with Proctor and any evidence he has. When Mr. Proctor claims that the girls are only pretending to see spirits of the condemned, he has a sudden outburst of rage upon the courtroom. Mr Parris yells “ “This is a clear attack upon the court! (Act III, pg. 636)”. This causes Judge Danforth to deescalate the situation by calming the men and asking more questions. Parris and the judges need Proctor to be wrong otherwise they would lose their reputations as honorable judges. When the case does not go Reverend Parris’s way or the Judges waver in their opinions of him, he responds with rage.  

Borderline personality disorder can affect many different people; some of whom are unaware that they suffer from the condition. Arthur Miller understood these signs and used them through Reverend Parris to further the plot of the story and emphasize the mass hysteria in the play. Even his ex-wife, the famous Marilyn Monroe, helped to inspire the Parris family. Miller was familiar with the behaviors of an individual with personality disorder and actively wrote them into The Crucible. Parris’s character reflects The Crucible’s theme while amplifying the idea of betrayal and how it affects a person suffering from personality disorder. His actions work in part with other characters to develop the events of the play. Reverend Parris continuously shows traits of borderline personality disorder through his fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, and explosive anger towards others. His personality disorder is fueled by everyone around him while affecting them as well. The vicious cycle of raging mental health disorders throughout the characters, leads us to believe that Salem was a toxic breeding ground for delirious ideologies. 

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