Discussion Topic
Giles Corey's Role, Symbolism, and Impact in The Crucible
Summary:
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Giles Corey stands out as a unique character due to his outspoken nature and his habit of suing neighbors, which reflects his cantankerous personality. In Act 3, Corey accuses Thomas Putnam of using the witch trials to acquire land, leading to his arrest for contempt when he refuses to name his source. Corey's death by pressing in Act 4 symbolizes his steadfastness against deceit and injustice, highlighting his integrity and resistance to societal pressures, akin to a Christ-like sacrifice.
What is unusual about Giles Corey in Act 1 of The Crucible?
Giles Corey is a very unique character, and we are introduced to him first in act one. He is good friends with John Proctor, and they leave together at the end of the act. You will learn more about his unique traits as the play progresses, but in act one we learn several things about him that make him unique, and stand out from the rest of the people there.
First of all, he is an older man who speaks his mind quite plainly. He has also sued many of his neighbors for various offenses. He even sued his good friend John Proctor for "sayin' [he] burned the roof off [his] house." John asserts that he never said any such thing, but paid the court fees anyway. Giles seems to be a grumpy, cantankerous old man that people are highly amused by, and put up with. So, the fact that he...
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sues people a lot is definitely a unique trait. Another unique thing about Giles is that he got married for a second time later on in life, and is baffled by the fact that his new wife likes to read books so much. In fact, he is almost convinced that her reading books has to do with the fact that while she is reading, he can't say his prayers, and he brings this interesting fact up to Reverend Hale. Unfortunately, that information later lands his wife in jail, accused of witchcraft. He regrets saying anything about it, and goes to the courts to try to save her.
Corey, in the end, ends up being a unique hero in the course of the play. His rather funny character traits turn very serious as he stands his ground on moral issues, and he proves to be one of the best of them all. I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!
What happens to Giles Corey in Act 3 of The Crucible?
Giles Corey angers Judge Danforth, who has him arrested for contempt of court. He asks him to take his seat and keep counsel with himself. Giles has to reconsider his actions prior to the judge's finding.
Giles finds himself in this unfortunate situation because he drew up a deposition accusing Thomas Putnam of using his daughter, Ruth, to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft. Giles claims Putnam used his daughter to accuse Jacobs so he may be arrested and incarcerated. Jacobs's property would then be forfeited to the state and sold at auction. In terms of Giles's accusation, Putnam would be the only one with the means to buy the property. Giles's deposition thus accuses Putnam of illegally abusing the witch trials to profit from the accused's misfortune.
Giles's deposition claims that a friend of his had heard Putnam instruct his daughter to accuse George Jacobs. Both judges Hathorne and Danforth then ask him to name his witness. Giles refuses to do so, saying:
I will not give you no name, I mentioned my wife’s name once and I’ll burn in hell long enough for that. I stand mute.
Giles is afraid his friend will be arrested if he should identify him and, therefore, refuses. He believes having innocently mentioned his wife's name on a previous occasion put her in jail -- an act for which he feels great regret.
As it is, Giles refuses to relent and is later put in jail, where he is incarcerated with other accused people. We learn of his tragic fate in Act Four, when Elizabeth Proctor informs her husband, John, of his death. Giles refused to respond to the charges against him and was pressed to death. His accusers placed huge stones on his chest until he died. His last words supposedly were, "More weight!"
What role does Giles Corey have in Act 3 of The Crucible?
In Act Three, Giles is arrested because he won't reveal the witness that claims to have heard Thomas Putnam admitting that he was accusing his neighbors of witchcraft so that he could swoop in and buy their land. Someone told Giles they heard Thomas saying that, and Giles knows that if he were to reveal the witness, that witness would be arrested. So, Giles refuses, and is arrested himself as a result.
This action serves several purpsoes. The first is to alert the reader to just how power-hungry, suspicious, illogical and defensive the courts are. Corey's statement is just one of many attempts that John and his friends make to try to set their wives free, and it is just one more example of the courts not listening, and arresting the people making the claims instead. So, Giles plays the role of further revealing the court's corrupt nature.
It also plays a role is letting the readers know that Giles, even though he is a grumpy and cantankerous old man who serves as comic relief quite often, is actulaly a man of integrity who cares deeply about other people. He refuses to give the man's name, in order to protect him. He would rather get arrested than send someone else to jail. It adds character depth to his personality, depth that makes him a bit of a hero.
Giles and the statement he made also reveals that Putham is a conniving schemer willing to murder his neighbors in order to increase his wealth. This is crucially important information for the context of the play, and vital to understanding the motives of why many of the accusations occurred.
I hope that helped; good luck!
In Act 3 of The Crucible, why is Giles Corey accused of contempt?
In Act Three, Giles Corey interrupts the court by yelling out that he has evidence that Thomas Putnam is attempting a land grab. Danforth immediately yells for the Marshal to remove Giles from the court and he is thrown out. Outside of the court, Giles Corey holds up his deposition that states that someone overheard Thomas Putnam instructing his daughter to accuse Jacobs of witchcraft in order to take his land. When Hathorne asks Giles to give him the name of the man who overheard Thomas make the comment, Giles refuses. Giles Corey explains that he cannot give the name because the man will be arrested and thrown in prison. Danforth then says he has no choice but to charge Giles Corey with contempt of court. Unfortunately, Giles is arrested and eventually gets pressed to death by heavy stones after refusing to admit that he was involved in witchcraft.
What accusation does Giles Corey make in Act 3 of The Crucible?
At the end of Act 2, the reader finds out that Martha Corey, Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse have all been arrested. In the beginning of Act 3 Giles Corey tries all that he can to get the court to see that these are false accusations. In order to do this, he begins by making an accusation that Thomas Putnam is having his daughter, Ruth, accuse people of witchcraft so that he can buy their land. Corey's only proof is that he was given this information by a man who overheard Putnam tell another villager that his daughter gave him a "great gift of land" when she accused George Jacobs of witchcraft.
In Act 3 of The Crucible, what accusation does Giles Corey make?
Giles Corey accusesThomas Putnam of trying to get more land.
In Act 3, Scene 1, Giles Corey’s wife has been accused of fortune telling. Giles turns around and accuses Thomas Putnam of trying to get more land.
COREY: (Emphatically.) The proof is there!—I have it from an honest man who heard Putnam say it! The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land.
Danforth and Hathorne demand proof, but Corey refuses. All he will say is that he should burn in Hell for already having mentioned his wife’s name. When he continues to refuse, he is held in contempt of court and thrown out of the courtroom. He just says she loves books.
The accusations are flying at this point. Almost anyone can be accused of witchcraft. Corey is ridiculed for his unsupported accusation, but there is a grain of truth in it. It has since become widely accepted that the Salem Witch Trials were largely an attempt to gain land. Accuse someone of being a witch and the person is either in prison or death, and at the least a social pariah. Then you just step in and take over.
What is the symbolic meaning of Giles Corey's death in Act 4 of The Crucible?
The symbolic meaning of Giles Corey being pressed to death in Act IV of The Crucible reflects how he will not acquiesce to deceit.
Giles Corey is one of the most stubborn characters in The Crucible. Miller's physical description of Corey reflects many of the traits he shows throughout the drama:
Knotted with muscle, canny, inquisitive, and still powerful. . . He didn't give a hoot for public opinion, and only in his last years did he bother much with the church. He was a crank and a nuisance, but withal a deeply innocent and brave man.
Corey does not hesitate to speak his mind, as he does not "give a hoot for public opinion." Motivated by bravery and courage, Corey is passionate about truth. For example, he constantly challenges Putnam's motivations. Corey suggests Putnam's intentions are driven by greed for land more than spirituality. In his time in front of the court, Corey refuses to give into the pressure Danforth and Hathorne exert on him, acting as his own legal counsel. Corey is also pure of heart. He sincerely asks Hale questions about his wife's reading habits out of curiosity. He has no idea such questions could be manipulated into accusations against her. Throughout the drama, Corey actively avoids peer pressure. He will not be forced to do something unless he believes in it.
Corey's death symbolizes what he embodied throughout the play. Elizabeth's description of his death communicates how he represented his beliefs until the very end:
He were not hanged. He would not answer aye or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge they’d hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law. And so his sons will have his farm. It is the law, for he could not be con-demned a wizard without he answer the indictment, aye or nay.
To compel Corey to talk, he was pressed to death. When he insists on "More weight," Corey challenges social pressure. Corey defiantly confronts authority's desire to get him to do something he refuses to do. By insisting on "more weight," Corey emphasizes that he will not lie or embrace deceit. His challenge for more stones emphasizes this refusal.
Corey was a devoutly Christian man. This is reflected in how Elizabeth says he wanted to die with his faith. In this way, Corey acts as a Christ-figure. His sacrifice shows the transgressions within the world around him. Corey's death symbolizes the injustice of the Salem Witch Trials and how resistance in the face of unrighteousness is the only appropriate response. By refusing to speak, Corey shows how goodness and one's word do not have to be sacrificed upon the altar of public pressure.
What were Giles Corey's dying words in The Crucible?
In act 4, Elizabeth Proctor tells her husband, John, that Giles Corey's last words were "'More weight.'" He refused to answer his indictment, after he'd been accused of witchcraft, and the court could not proceed with his trial until he did so. In the play, he continues to refuse to speak, as he knows that this would allow his property to pass to his sons upon his death (rather than being auctioned off to the highest bidder were he to be found guilty of witchcraft), and so the sheriff and magistrates make the decision to "press him." To do this, they would strip him down and lay him on the ground in a kind of shallow ditch, place a large wooden board on his chest and begin piling the rocks on until either he answered his indictment or was crushed to death. Giles thumbs his nose at this corrupt authority by continuing in silence until, finally, the only words he would speak were not the ones they wanted to hear. He was a stubborn man, both in the play and in real life, and though the play's account of his motives have been questioned, the facts of his death and the legend of his last words seem accurate.
In this telling of the story, Giles Corey's last words are "more weight." This makes sense because of the way that he is killed. He is killed by being pressed to death. They piled rocks up on his body until he was no longer able to breathe and he suffocated to death. So, at the end, he was still telling them to add more weight to the pile.
This shows us what a strong character Corey had. He remained defiant even until the moment that he died. He was still telling them, in essence, "bring it on, I can take it..."
What conflict does Giles Corey encounter in The Crucible?
Giles Corey has a couple conflicts. One is that he goes to court frequently in fights over his land. He contends that one of the reasons for the trials is to get his land because Thomas Putnam wants it and has been trying to find ways to get it. A bigger conflict though is that Giles' wife, Martha, has been accused of witchcraft. This is, of course, tied to the first conflict of the fight over land. Giles defends his wife saying that she reads books, but that doesn't mean she's a witch. Despite his protestations, his wife is convicted of witchcraft and hanged but not before he is tortured and killed. He is pressed to death because he refused to enter a plea of "innocent" or "guilty". Entering a plea would have meant his land went to the town instead of to his sons and he wouldn't do that.
Why does Giles Corey interrupt the court proceedings in The Crucible? What does the judges' response suggest about the trials?
In Act Three, Giles Corey gets kicked out of the court after interrupting the proceedings to mention that he has evidence that Thomas Putnam is attempting a land grab. While Giles's wife is on trial, he stands up and begs the judges to hear his evidence before they remove him from the court into the vestry room, where the remainder of the scene takes place. In the vestry room, Giles says that the girls are telling lies about his wife and Francis Nurse joins the conversation to beg the judges to listen to their evidence that proves the girls are frauds. When Proctor presents Danforth with a list of names claiming that Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Martha Corey are honorable, morally-upright Christians, Danforth demands that Cheever write warrants for each person who signed the document. When Francis Nurse mentions that he has unknowingly hurt those people who signed the document, Danforth responds by saying,
No, old man, you have not hurt these people if they are of good conscience. But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. (Miller 94)
Danforth then reads Giles Corey's deposition claiming that someone overheard Thomas Putnam telling his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft as a way to purchase his land. When Judge Hathorne demands to know the name of the man who overheard Thomas Putnam speaking to his daughter, Giles refuses to tell him out of fear that the man will be arrested. Danforth then arrests Giles for contempt of court for refusing to cooperate and release the name of the individual.
Danforth and Hathorne's responses to Giles and Francis suggest that the court is corrupt. Danforth and Hathorne have no interest in listening to the truth or conducting justice, but choose to unfairly wield their authority without being questioned. They are presented as corrupt, callous individuals, who are more concerned about their status and reputation than helping the community.
Clearly the judges weren't as interested in hearing the truth as they were in getting rid of the sin of witchcraft. Danforth, in practically the same breath, told Giles he had to follow the rule of law and that he didn't care what the law said. The test tells us the judges and the girls eat their meals together--a practice unheard of in this world, one guaranteed to skew the proceedings and unbalance the scales of justice. If Giles Corey, the most litigious man in the entire region, is not able to get satisfaction in this court, no one else is going to get it.
The fraudulent nature of the trials is what is explored through the play. One of the most powerful elements that are brought out is that if individuals in the position of power seek to abuse their control, trials can turn out to be exercises in corruption. This helps to underscore the potential to abuse the legal system, and the need to protect it from such influences. Giles Corey's interruptions are done in the name of making right what has been twisted into so much wrong.
What were Giles Corey's last words in The Crucible?
Giles Corey was a strong, determined old man who refused to break under the torture inflicted upon him by the court in Salem. When Giles refused to answer the charges against him and to name his friends in order to save his life, he was "pressed." Great stones were placed on his chest, one at a time, to force him into compliance. The pain was excruciating as Giles endured stone after stone placed upon him. Still he refused to give his tormentors what they sought. Giles would not betray his friends, and he would not betray his own character. He was defiant to the end. Giles' last words to the court showed his indomitable spirit. "More weight," he told them. Then he died. The example of Giles Corey's courage foreshadows that of John Proctor, who also chooses to die rather than to sacrifice his integrity. Giles' death is historically accurate. During the witch trials in Salem, all who died were hanged, except for him.
Who is Giles Corey in The Crucible?
Giles Corey is one of the oldest citizens of Salem.
When he initially appears in The Crucible, Miller describes him as "knotted with muscle, canny, inquisitive, and still powerful." At 83 years old, Corey is very perceptive about the world around him. Corey is inquisitive about Putnam's land holdings and his motivations. He also demonstrates his spirit of independent thought when he asks Hale about the interest that his wife has on certain books. Corey is a character who is willing to question the world around him. His inquisitive nature makes him a voice of dissent in a world where such thoughts are being silenced.
As the play develops, Corey's wife is imprisoned along with Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor. Corey's independent thought is displayed in his assertion that Putnam's motivations are to consolidate his control of Salem real estate. He proves to be a skilled litigator, challenging the authority of Hathorne and Danforth.
Giles Corey demonstrates one last moment of insight before he is to die. Elizabeth relays this to John in the drama's final moments:
He would not answer aye or nay to his indictment: for if he denied the charge, they'd hang him surely and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law. And so his sons will have his farm. It is the law for he could not be condemned a wizard without he answer the indictment aye or nay.
Even in his final moments, Giles Corey demonstrates his intelligence. When Giles Corey is taken to jail and sentenced to be pressed to death, he insists upon "more weight" as his final words. Giles Corey is Miller's way of reminding the audience that even in the most oppressive of conditions, human beings can display resistance to injustice.
What happened to Giles Corey according to Elizabeth in The Crucible?
In act 4 of The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor gives John the dispiriting news of what has been happening in Salem. When she mentions that Giles Corey is dead, John assumes that he was hanged for witchcraft like the others, but Elizabeth explains that this is not how he died. Giles was a stubborn and courageous man placed in an impossible position. He did not have it in him to pretend that he was a witch and beg for forgiveness. However, he knew that if he denied the charge, he would be found guilty and hanged, and all his property would be confiscated.
Giles, therefore, took the only course he could and remained silent. This, Elizabeth notes, means that he died "Christian under the law." He was not hanged, and his property was his own when he died. However, in an attempt to make him talk, he was pressed with heavy stones, which were placed on his chest, crushing the air out of his lungs in the attempt to make him say something. His body was crushed by the stones but his spirit was not, since his last words before he died were "More weight." John repeats these words admiringly, gaining some grim satisfaction that Giles Corey died as he had lived, obstinate and steadfast to the end.
How does Giles Corey die in The Crucible?
Giles Corey is pressed to death because he would not enter a plea in court. Elizabeth Proctor tells her husband, John, in act four that Giles knew he'd be convicted if he allowed the court to proceed (which it cannot if he refuses to respond to the charges against him). If the court proceeded, he knew he'd be convicted of witchcraft, and then his property would go up for public auction. By keeping quiet, he allowed his farm to be inherited by his sons. The court decided to "press" him in an attempt to get him to enter a plea. Elizabeth says,
Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words. "More weight," he says. And died.
Although the details of Giles Corey's real life are somewhat different than the way Miller presents them in the play, his death is recorded here with some accuracy. He was, in fact, pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea in court, and pressing was absolutely a legal method for the court to use in such a situation. He would have been stripped of clothes and laid in a kind of shallow trough in the ground, a heavy wooden board placed atop him, and then large stones would be piled on top of it. The goal was to force him to enter a plea, though he never would. Giles even cursed the sheriff before he died, and many believe that the curse actually did work, as that sheriff (and a great many others since then) died of mysterious heart-related causes.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, who is Giles Corey?
In Arthur Miller’s parable about the dangers of the Red Scare and allegations of communist affiliations that were a characteristic of the post-World War II period, The Crucible, the character of Giles Corey is a strange, physically powerful old man whose ignorance and innocence both contribute to and later detract from the hysteria sweeping Salem. He is introduced in Act I in the midst of chaos and hysteria, as Parris continues to panic over Betty while Abigail and John Proctor argue over their relationship and Elizabeth Proctor’s accusations against Abigail. In this context, the old Giles Corey makes his entrance:
Giles Corey, eighty-three, enters. He is knotted with muscle, canny, inquisitive, and still powerful.
Giles is a recent convert to Christianity, and, typical of recent converts to any religion, is particularly pious. He is also highly susceptible to the paranoia running rampant through the community – paranoia that he initially applied to his wife, whose interest in books was, to Giles, highly suspicious. As with others who initially got caught up in the hysteria about witchcraft and sorcery, Giles would come to his senses and prove his mettle when subjected to torture in an effort at forcing him to accuse his wife. At the play’s end, Giles dead from the weight of the rocks placed on his torso to compel compliance, is described by the Proctors [stage directions in italics]:
Elizabeth: Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. With a tender smile for the old man: They say he give them but two words. “More weight,” he says. And died.
Proctor, numbed - a thread to weave into his agony: “More weight,”
Elizabeth: Aye. It were a fearsome man, Giles Corey.
What actions does Giles Corey take to influence the court and what are their outcomes in The Crucible?
First, Giles Corey inadvertently helped the court to get off the ground when he tells Mr. Hale in Act One that his wife reads "strange books" and "hides them" from him. Further, he mentions that he "tried and tried" to pray the night before and was unable to do it until she "walk[ed] out of the house." Once his wife left, he could pray again. The "stoppage of prayer" is an phenomenon relevant to witchcraft, and Hale seems to become immediately suspicious. As a result of Corey's words, his wife is later taken into custody, questioned, and convicted of witchcraft. In Act Three, he comes to court to try to plead her case, but he is denied entry. She is later executed.
Second, in Act Three, Corey brings a deposition which claims that "Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land" and prompting his daughter to accuse men whose property he wants to purchase. As a result of his refusal to name the man who told him that he heard Putnam say as much, he is arrested, jailed, and later killed.
Third, in Act Four, we learn from Elizabeth Proctor that Corey never would enter a plea -- guilty or not guilty -- and so his trial could not proceed. He was pressed to death by the court in an attempt to force him to enter a plea. Because he "died Christian under the law" his "sons will have his farm." When John Proctor hears this, he begins to consider confessing a lie to the court in order to save his life. When he eventually rescinds this confession and is executed, we understand that the trials cannot last much longer due to the change in the public's opinion concerning the guilt of the convicted and the court's fear of riots in the town.