Saturday, January 25, 2020

Travel And Tourism Industry Of Greece Tourism Essay

Travel And Tourism Industry Of Greece Tourism Essay Greece is one of the most popular destinations in the world. Greece comes in the 15th place in the world rating of tourist destinations, since, according to the National Statistical Service of Greece, it receives more than 15 million tourists every year, after countries such as the USA, China, Spain and Great Britain. According to the 2009 Travel Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum, Greece holds the 24th overall position among 133 countries, 3rd place in the prioritization of travel tourism subindex, 9th place in the number of World Heritage cultural sites, 5th place in tourism infrastructure and 1st place in the physician density subindex.. Demand Supply: Total demand: The number of international tourism visit over has been steady increase from 14.2 million in 2004 to 17 million in 2008. It is expected to reach 20 million in next few years, almost twice the countrys population. Tourist Arrivals http://www.investingreece.gov.gr/files/sectors/charts/tourism/tourism_arrivals1_en.jpg Source: Greek National Tourism Organization and National Statistical Services of Greece Key markets Source regions Greece has today managed to become one of the most favourite tourist destinations among Europeans, Asians and Americans. Approximately 85% of arrivals originate in Western Europe: 21.2% from the United Kingdom, 17.5% from Germany, 8.8% from Italy, 5.3% from France, 5.2% from Holland, and 7.5% from the Scandinavian countries. However, significant numbers of visitors from Eastern Europe, USA and China are making Greece their preferred destination. According to a survey conducted in China in 2005, Greece was voted as the Chinese peoples number one choice as a tourist destination. In November 2006, Austria, like China, announced that Greece was the favourite tourist destination for its citizens. It creates a wider base of origin countries and new demands for services, facilities, and attractions. Supply: Currently, more than 9,000 hotels operate in Greece. According to the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, the number of hotels in Greece was by classification (bedplaces): Star rating Number Beds 5 star 176 64,913 4 star 994 176,631 3 star 1,804 163,077 2 star 4,460 231,333 1 star 1,677 57,298 Total 9,111 693,252 535 hotels were built under Development Law 3299/04 in the period of 2005 to 2009 in Greece, with a total budget of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 2.6 bn, 44% (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ~1.2 bn.) of which was subsidized by the government. The number of beds added through these investments is approximately 50,000. The breakdown per hotel category is as follows: Below are key statistics about cost per room and subsidies paid out by the government, per hotel category The Greek government has announced plans for a new Development Law, providing financial incentives for investment in Greece in the form of extensive tax breaks and subsidies of up to 50%. Economic Impacts GDP Contribution: Greeces TT Direct Industry is expected to contribute 7.0% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 (EUR15.4bn or US$22.8bn), rising in nominal terms to EUR27.9bn or US$36.4bn (8% of total) by 2020. The TT Economy contribution (% of total) should rise from 15.5% (EUR33.9bn or US$50.2bn) to 17.3% (EUR60.7bn or US$79.1bn) in this same period. Employment Greeces 418,000 TT Direct Industry jobs account for 10% of total employment in 2010 and are forecast to total 483,000 jobs or 11.1% of the total by 2020.The contribution of the Travel Tourism Economy to employment is expected to rise from 18.8% of total employment, 785,000 jobs or 1 in every 5.3 jobs in 2010, to 21% of total employment, 916,000 jobs, or 1 in every 4.8 jobs by 2020. Industry Challenges Greek travel and tourism is affected by economic crisis in 2009 The number of arrivals to Greece was decreased affected by the 2009 economic crisis. In Q3 2010 number of international arrival in Athens drop by 5.2% in compare to 2009 leading to a ytd drop of 5.3% The RevPAR in Athens dropped by -11.3% in Q3 leading to a ytd drop in the RevPAR of -6%. The RevPAR in Thessaloniki continued its sharp drop, -22% Resort hotels, however, showed a significant improvement in their Total RevPAR, by 5.1%, leading to a reversal of the previously negative trend in the ytd figure, which improved by 4.4%, compared to -4.0% in Q2. Therefore, fears that Greek tourism would collapse this year did not materialise. Greece 2010 debt crisis The Greece debt crisis, which started at the beginning of 2010, exacerbated the effects of the global economic crisis on the Greek travel and tourism industry. The debt crisis will certainly affect consumer confidence in the country and is expected to negatively impact outbound and domestic tourist flows in 2010, especially as the bailout has involved the European Union combined with the IMF. Other difficulties expected: The further increase of the VAT on hospitality services to 11% from July 1st, 2010 (from 9% at the beginning of the year) will have a negative impact on the profitability of the industry overall, particularly in combination with the price reductions taking place due to current market conditions. The Hotel Federation and the Hotel Employees Union have announced that they have reached a 3 year agreement on labour relations; salary increases will be 1% in 2010 and a further 1% in 2012. Industry Competitiveness: Most of the hotels in Greece are categorized as 1- and 2-starhotels, meaning there is plenty of room for investors to establish 4-and 5-star properties. According to the Greek Hotel Branding Report, branded hotels in Greece account for 4% of the total number of hotels and 19% of total availability of rooms, while in other European countries this figure lies between 25 and 40%. Infrastructure Infrastructure in Greece is very developed with 40 airports throughout Greece of which 15 are international and well-designed national highway system. Investment Incentives Law: Greeces newly implemented PPP (Public Private Partnership) scheme provides significant opportunities to investors to participate in new infrastructure projects, including marinas and thermal springs. The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) for the years 2007-2013 establishes the broad priorities for EU Structural Funds Programmes in Greece. For tourism, NSRF provides significant financial support, with a budget of more than 500 million Euros until 2013 A draft Investment Law has been issued by the government including financial incentives in the form of subsidies up to 50% or equivalent incentives in the form of tax breaks for companies carrying out new investments or buying assets of companies that have seized operations. Human Resources Because Greece, a country of 11 million inhabitants, hosts more than 17 million visitors, education and training in tourism services is paramount. The workforce is multilingual, well versed in the tourism sector, and willing to respond to new challenges. From management to catering, human resources for tourism enterprises is a Greek strength. Hotel Chain Project Company background : Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the largest hotel companies in the world. As of December 31, 2009, Starwood Hotel Resorts Worldwide, Inc owned, managed or franchised 992 properties under its nine owned brands. It has 145,000 employees worldwide, of whom approximately 34% were employed in the United States. W Hotels is Starwoods luxury boutique hotel brand. The hotel brand, which generally markets towards a younger crowd, was launched in 1998 with its first property, W New York. The brand has expanded internationally with properties opening first in Mexico City, Seoul, and Istanbul. The W Barcelona hotel was the Ws first in Western Europe and opened in October 2009. The W plans to double its number of properties by 2011 with hotels planned in Austin, Texas (2010); Taipei, Taiwan (2010); Marrakech, Morocco (2011); Guangzhou, China (2011); Bangkok, Thailand (2011); Paris, France (2011); Athens, Greece (2011); St. Petersburg, Russia (2011); and London, England (2011) Investment project: W Athens Astir Palace Beach is going to open on 1 April 2012. It is a part of Astir Palace Resort beside Arion, a Luxury Collection Resort Spa and The Westin Athens. W Athens is converted from the 165-room Aphrodite Hotel under an extensive refurbishment. Sustainable Concerns : Fearing the spread of Greek debt crisis, the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed to launch a bailout package worth nearly $ 1,000 billion. However, the key issue here is not just saving Greece from a short-term debt crisis, or cut the budget deficit of the Greek government, but the country economics growth in future According to the ease of doing business index of the World Bank (WB), Greece is ranked 109, after countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Lebanon. In rating the business environment of high-income countries, Greece is almost bottom, just above Equatorial Guinea The Euros is stronger than the currency of other countries those are not in Eurozone, therefore cost to travel in Greece is more expensive. However, Greece does not have enough luxury hotels, golf courses, and resort for that difference in cost Expensive prices of goods and service in Greece created by the strength of euro, has weakened the countrys competitiveness on international market. This problem will become worse if the labor productivity of countries such as Germany and France growing constantly and increase value of the euro. It will push the price of Greek exports higher that market realities. Greece should change to another currency that is weaker than Euro to increase their competitiveness. Cà ³ mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢t già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i phà ¡p khà ´ng dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ dà  ng Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thoà ¡t khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i tà ¬nh trà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ng tià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n thoà ¡i lÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¡ng nan nà  y. Ä Ãƒ ³ là   tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡o ra mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢t và ²ng xoà ¡y già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m phà ¡t già ¡ cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £ và   tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n lÆ °Ãƒâ€ Ã‚ ¡ng. NhÆ °ng, ngÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i dà ¢n Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i gian qua Ä‘Ã £ lià ªn tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥c Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ ra Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ gà ¢y à ¡p là ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±c buà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢c chà ­nh phà ¡Ã‚ » duy trà ¬ chà ­nh sà ¡ch tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n lÆ °Ãƒâ€ Ã‚ ¡ng và   phà ºc là ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £i, do Ä‘Ã ³, vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡c à ¡p dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥ng bià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n phà ¡p già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m phà ¡t sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ khà ³ duy trà ¬ Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c trong bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t kà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ³ trÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £p nà  o. Chà ­nh phà ¡Ã‚ » Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p ngà  y 23/12 Ä‘Ã £ thà ´ng qua kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ch ngà ¢n sà ¡ch khà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯c khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ 2011 nhà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ±m Ä‘Ã ¡p à ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©ng nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ng Ä‘ià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ u kià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n khà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯t khe do Lià ªn minh chà ¢u Âu (EU) và   QÃ…Â ©y tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ (IMF) Ä‘Æ °a ra Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ nhà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c gà ³i cà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©u trà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £ tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « cà ¡c tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ chà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c nà  y. Kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ch nà  y Ä‘Ã £ Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢i Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thà ´ng qua và ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi 156 phià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿u à ¡Ã‚ »ng hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢ và   142 phià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿u phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœi. Thà ¡Ã‚ » tÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºng Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p Georges Papandrà ©ou hi và ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng rà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ±ng, kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡ch nà  y thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ hià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n sà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± quyà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t tà ¢m thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±c hià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ng bià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n phà ¡p cà ¡Ã‚ ºn thià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ Ä‘Æ °a kinh tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ Hy Là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡p thoà ¡t khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i khà ¡Ã‚ »ng hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £ng. Theo Ä‘Ã ³, ngà ¢n sà ¡ch năm 2011 sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c 9,4% tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ng sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ©m quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢i (GDP) dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± kià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n năm nay xuà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœng cà ²n 7,4%. Và   trong 3 năm tià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿p theo, nÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºc nà  y  phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥n Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥u già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m thà ¢m hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥t xuà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœng cà ²n 3%. Vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡c cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯t già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­p trung và  o lÄ ©nh và ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±c cà ´ng, bao gà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"m: y tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿, già ¡o dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥c, cà ´ng trà ¬nh cà ´ng cà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢ng nhÆ ° Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ng sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯t và   cà ¡c loà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡i hà ¬nh và ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i khà ¡c.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Employee relations Essay

Employee relations in hotels and catering is about the management of employment and work relationships between managers and workers and, sometimes, customers. The employee relations can be briefly divided in some â€Å"factors† i.e.: Unionisation Structure Culture Collective bargaining Negotiation Consultation Conflict Management Empowerment Grievance & disciplinary 1.1. Unionisation All employees, in every kind of business, are united by â€Å"unionisations†, which are employees’ organisations, created to gain greater power and security at work. In fact union membership can provide greater influence collectively with employers than workers have as separate individuals. Within the hospitality industry, unfortunately, there is a low number of union’s membership for the following reasons: There is a large number of small hotels that make more difficult for the trade union to organise meetings. There is a high number of young workers and part-time/occasional workers that are not really interested in belonging to trade unions. There is a large number of foreign people that are working in this industry in the UK and that are staying here just for short-time periods etc†¦ For example teachers have one of the best trade union in the UK because there are not â€Å"secret contract†, there is a large workforce and primarily there is just a really low number of part-time workers. 1.2. Culture Cultures within workplaces are made up by traditions, habits, ways of organising and relationship at work. Organisational Culture can basically be defined as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one organisation from others.† People who are in charge of a company decide how to let people act, through the encouragement to do something appreciated by them or even discouraging the staff to do something not good seen by them. The organizational culture can be divided in some key factors i.e.: Mission content Management style Language and communication Staff diversity Traditions & celebrations Titles etc†¦ The culture can be seen also through symbols in which culture is manifest e.g. â€Å"high-profile† symbols to create an external image of the company (mission statement, annual statement, logo) and â€Å"low-profile† symbols that are not big manifestations and are related to what really happen in order to get the work done. However organizational cultures can be presented in different ways, depending on the kind of organisation. The main organisational cultures are: Power culture Role culture Task culture Person culture 1.2.1. Power culture Power cultures are usually found within small organisations or a section/department belonging to a large organisation where just a person or few people have the power to make decisions and they can do it quickly. In fact in a large organisation the decision process would be limited and really slow if just few people could make them. 1.2.2. Role culture Usually in a role culture organisation every employee has a specific role or job. This culture is particularly useful and used for some specific jobs like sales, marketing or project management where employers do not want to spread the task to all the employees but just to some specific ones that own specific skills. 1.2.3. Task culture Task culture refers to the use of teams to complete tasks especially if the task/objective has a number of steps e.g. the establishment of project teams for the completion of specific plans. A task culture has a number of benefits e.g. staff feel motivated because they can make decisions within their team or teams may be allowed to be more creative and develop problem solving skills. 1.2.4. Person culture Person cultures are found in organisations that rely on employees’ knowledge and skills, where there is an opportunity for the staff to develop their career and skills e.g. in universities where employees have the chance to continue their education throughout their employment. 1.3. Consultation All employees, according to European legislation, have the right to be: Informed about the business’ situation Informed and consulted about employment prospect Informed and consulted about decisions that can change substantially the organisation within the workplace or decisions that can change contractual relations, including redundancies and transfers. Employers should also consult their employees in others aspects that are not imposed by the law because it can improve the level of trust of the company, it can improve employees’ performances and also their satisfaction for the job. 1.3.1. Redundancy consultation The right to be collectively consulted applies when an employer proposes to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment over a period of 90 days or less. Employers must consult every person who may be affected both directly that indirectly by the proposed dismissal and also they must undertake these procedures with the view of reaching an agreement with people affected by that. Consultation should begin in good time and must begin: At least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect if 20 to 99 employees are to be made redundant at one establishment over a period of 90 days or less. At least 45 days before the first dismissal takes effect if 100 or more employees are to be made redundant at one establishment over a  period of 90 days or less. 1.4. Conflict Management In most of the organisations where there are people with different backgrounds, it is almost impossible make decisions or meet project goals without arise a conflict, however if there is a conflict between two or more parts that does not mean that it is bad for the company but people who are in charge need to be able to deal with these â€Å"problems† and evaluate both positive and negative value of them and try to learn how to stimulate workers to improve their performances from those â€Å"problems†. However, according to Thomas, K.W., and R.H. Kilmann, there are five conflict management â€Å"styles† as shown in FIG.1 FIG.1 (http://sourcesofinsight.com/conflict-management-styles-at-a-glance/) Accommodating: An accommodating managers is one who cooperates to a high degree and this may be at manager’s own expenses and it could go against manager’s own objectives. Avoiding: Avoiding an issue might be a way to resolve conflicts for a manager even if avoid the issue does not help him but it can be a solution when the manager think to have not chance of â€Å"winning†. Collaborating: Managers, in this case, work together to achieve all of their goals. This style can be effective when there is a complex scenario and managers need to find a solution, therefore they can â€Å"win† together without any â€Å"loser†. Competing: This style is exactly the opposite of the previous case, where just a manager is the â€Å"winner† and he/she is acting in an assertive way to achieve only his/her goals. The only case where this style may be useful for emergencies when time is of essence. Compromising: This is the case where neither manager achieves what he/she really wanted. The compromising style requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation and may be appropriate for temporary solutions or where both sides have equally important goals. 1.5. Empowerment Empowerment is a management practice of sharing information, rewards and power with employees, and in this way they can take decisions, improve their skills to solve problem and also improve their performances. Empowerment is based on the idea of giving responsibly to employees authority, motivation, skills and resources will contribute to improve their competence and  satisfaction within the workplace. EMPLOYMENT LAW Over time a body of law has developed governing employer/employee relations and the rights of employees and employers in the workplace such as: Employment Relations Act, and Employment Rights Act 2.1. Employment relations act The Employment Relations Act covers a range of topics including: Recruiting, and selecting the right candidate for the job. Writing employment agreements. Trial and probation periods. Union membership. Workplace training and development. The object of the Act is to maintain fair and productive relationships between employers and their employees. It achieves this by promoting the notion of ‘good faith’ workplace relations based on: Recognising that employment relationships must be built on mutual trust and confidence as well as certain legislative or legal protections Understanding that there is a degree of inequality of power in employment relationships that needs to be mutually understood Respecting the integrity of individual choice Promoting mediation as the primary problem-solving mechanism – reducing the need for judicial intervention. 2.2. Employment rights act The Employment Rights Act 1996 came into force on 22 August 1996. It sets out the statutory employment rights of workers and employees. If these employment rights are breached, the Employment Rights Act 1996 gives the Employment Tribunals powers to order compensation to workers and employees. The Employment Right Act 1996 confers a number of employee rights, which the main are: The right to receive a written statement of terms and conditions of employment. The right to not be unfairly dismissed. Maternity rights. Redundancy provisions, including right to redundancy pay. Statutory minimum notice period for dismissals and reasons for dismissals protection of wages. Protection from suffering a detriment in employment. Time off from work for public duties. http://bwglaw.co.uk/library/employment-law/employee-rights/employment-rights-act-1996 2.3. ACAS ACAS stand for advisory conciliation and arbitration service and it is a website that promote employment relations and HR excellence. Acas provides information and advice to employers and employees about all aspects of workplace relations and employment law and it promotes good relationship between workers and employer. Acas provides also high quality training and tailored advices to employer and it can also, if something goes wrong, help to conciliate employer and employees. http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1342

Thursday, January 9, 2020

How Elizabeth Proctors Character Shapes The Crucible

Elizabeth Proctor has a complex role in Arthur Miller’s â€Å"The Crucible,† the 1953 play that uses the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s to criticize the witch-hunt for communists during the â€Å"Red Scare† of the 1950s. Miller could have written Elizabeth Proctor, married to the adulterous John Proctor, to be scornful, vengeful or pitiful, even. Instead, she emerges as the rare character, albeit a flawed one, in â€Å"The Crucible† with a moral compass. Her integrity influences her husband to become a more pious man. The Proctors in The Crucible Although Elizabeth Proctor is reserved, slow to complain and dutiful, as many Puritan women were described, she finds it painful that her husband committed adultery with their â€Å"strikingly beautiful† and cunning young servant, Abigail Williams. Before the affair, Elizabeth had encountered a few challenges in her marriage. A palpable distance between Elizabeth and John can be felt during the first acts of the play. â€Å"The Crucible† script never divulges Elizabeth’s true feelings about the scandalous relationship between John and Abigail. Has she forgiven her husband? Or does she just tolerate him because she has no other recourse? Readers and audience members cannot be sure. Yet, Elizabeth and John behave tenderly to each other, despite the fact that she views him with suspicion and he endures spasms of guilt and anger over his moral shortcomings. Elizabeth as Moral Compass of The Crucible Despite the uneasiness of their relationship, Elizabeth serves as Proctor’s conscience. When her husband experiences confusion or ambivalence, she prompts him onto the path of justice. When the manipulative Abigail sparks a witch-hunt in their community, of which Elizabeth becomes a target, Elizabeth urges John to put a stop to the witch trials by revealing the truth about Abigail’s sinful, destructive ways. Abigail, after all, wants to have Elizabeth arrested for practicing witchcraft because she still has feelings for John Proctor. Rather than tear Elizabeth and John apart, the witch-hunt brings the couple closer together. In Act Four of â€Å"The Crucible,† John Proctor finds himself in the most unenviable of predicaments. He must decide whether to falsely confess to witchcraft or hang from the gallows. Rather than make the decision alone, he seeks his wife’s counsel. While Elizabeth doesn’t want John to die, she doesn’t want him to submit to the demands of an unjust society either. How Important Elizabeths Words Are in The Crucible Given her function in John’s life and that she’s one of few morally upright characters in â€Å"The Crucible,† it’s fitting that her character delivers the final lines of the play. After her husband chooses to hang from the gallows instead of signing a false confession, Elizabeth stays put in jail. Even when the Rev. Parris and the Rev. Hale urge her to go and attempt to save her husband, she refuses to leave. She states, He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him! This closing line can be interpreted in several ways. However, most actresses deliver it as if Elizabeth is devastated by the loss of her husband but proud that he has, at last, made a righteous decision.