The Crucible Through a Moral/Ethical Lens

Question

1. What would a Moral/Ethical critic say about Elizabeth asking John to go talk to Abigail in order to save her life?
2. Hale tells John that, “your house is not a church. A Christian on Sabbath Day must be in church.” What would a Moral/Ethical critic say in response to this?
3. What is significant about John Proctor forgetting the commandment about adultery?
4. What is significant about John Proctor forgetting the commandment about adultery?

Answer 1

Hi Bri! It looks like your teacher is wanting you to have a good handle on moral and ethical principles. First of all, you need to go into this assignment understanding what morality and ethics actually mean and then apply that definition to the situation in the book. Fortunately, morality and ethics are fairly easy to define. They involve the right treatment of a person. So how do the situations in questions one and two involve the right treatment of individuals? For question three, which is the same question as number four, what is it about John as a character that makes him forgetting a commandment significant?