Common Themes In The Crucible
THE CRUCIBLE
Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do and have been put on trial for it? Well, in the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, many people were put on trial, and 20 were killed. The Crucible was based on a true story about the belief of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. And it all started with a lie from a group of girls. There were 3 big themes in the play: Religion, False accusations, and Witchcraft.
The first theme is Religion. In the story, the accusers based their accusations solely on religion. For instance, if you did not know the 10 Commandments then you would be accused of witchcraft. They often asked innocent people to recite the Commandments, just to make sure. When asked to recite the commandments you must recite them without hesitation and mistakes or you would be looked at as a suspect of witchcraft. “Theology sir, is a fortress, no crack in the fortress may be accounted small” (Hale-947). Here John Proctor missed one of the commandments and now he is looked at more carefully. They also asked those who were already accused of witchcraft to recite them. “Do you know your …show more content…
In their time practicing witchcraft was a death sentence, and taken very seriously. After Mary was accused, she had to do something to take the heat off of her. [To Proctor] “You are the Devils man” (Mary W-976). Mary indicated that that Proctor had a compact with the Devil, he is a witch and he made her sign Lucifer’s black book. The officials also watched what you said to let them know you are a witch. “You heard that sir! Ripped out of the world! Hennrick, you heard it!”(Cheever-952) He was referring to what Elizabeth said, so now she is officially accused of witchcraft. They often tried to get those who confessed to tell on others. “Did you ever see anyone with the Devil?”(Danforth-991). Danforth was trying to get Proctor to confess on him and others who they thought practiced
Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do and have been put on trial for it? Well, in the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, many people were put on trial, and 20 were killed. The Crucible was based on a true story about the belief of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. And it all started with a lie from a group of girls. There were 3 big themes in the play: Religion, False accusations, and Witchcraft.
The first theme is Religion. In the story, the accusers based their accusations solely on religion. For instance, if you did not know the 10 Commandments then you would be accused of witchcraft. They often asked innocent people to recite the Commandments, just to make sure. When asked to recite the commandments you must recite them without hesitation and mistakes or you would be looked at as a suspect of witchcraft. “Theology sir, is a fortress, no crack in the fortress may be accounted small” (Hale-947). Here John Proctor missed one of the commandments and now he is looked at more carefully. They also asked those who were already accused of witchcraft to recite them. “Do you know your …show more content…
In their time practicing witchcraft was a death sentence, and taken very seriously. After Mary was accused, she had to do something to take the heat off of her. [To Proctor] “You are the Devils man” (Mary W-976). Mary indicated that that Proctor had a compact with the Devil, he is a witch and he made her sign Lucifer’s black book. The officials also watched what you said to let them know you are a witch. “You heard that sir! Ripped out of the world! Hennrick, you heard it!”(Cheever-952) He was referring to what Elizabeth said, so now she is officially accused of witchcraft. They often tried to get those who confessed to tell on others. “Did you ever see anyone with the Devil?”(Danforth-991). Danforth was trying to get Proctor to confess on him and others who they thought practiced