The Crucible, a play written to criticize the Red Scare, involves a theme which focuses on how the characters change as an effect of the intensity and hysteria of the town’s witch trials. Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Hale, two major characters in the play, experience internal changes as the play progresses due to the individual pressures of the witch trials. Elizabeth Proctor faces the test of having been accused as a witch, having her husband be accused and condemned as a witch, and trying to move past her husband’s affair with a local girl. Reverend Hale was challenged by the corruption of the ministry in Salem and encountered much adversity while doing his job, seeking out witchcraft. Both of these characters come to realize the witch trials only result in death and lies, which causes these characters to evolve.…
The Crucible is play that helps to show human nature through a series of events linked through the Salem witch trials. In this play, a group of young teenagers would undermine the religious government and make a mockery of the Salem judicial system. Miller also shows human nature through the development of characters. Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor are foils of each other and have many differences; they would also develop many similar traits.…
‘The Crucible’ is a novel which was written by Arthur Miller in 1953. It takes place during the times of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. This was a time of much hypocrisy in the people of the town of Salem. Many people believed anything they heard or saw. Although The Crucible is fictitious, the story depicts the historical information of the Salem witch trials, and blends them with fictitious characters to create a very realistic plot and conflict in the story. Miller wrote this play as a response to the political environment in which he lived. The story relates to the McCarthy trials. During the 1950's Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This lead to many accusations that people were communists. Some people believed him because they had fear of communism. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting "witch hunts". The Red Scare was a witch hunt where the US government was searching for "dangerous communists." Accusations came from left and right, much the same as the characters did for "real witches" in The Crucible. This meant that people were forced to either confess to the crime of witchery or shove the blame towards a different person. As an effect of this bias, the accused were never discharged, but were given the opportunity to confess to the crime of witchcraft to lessen their sentence. With the red scare, the accused were given a chance to give up names of other suspected communists to lessen their sentence as well. In both situations, there were people who confessed even though they had no relation to the crime at all. The majority, however, valued their morals and refused to give into political pressure by lying. This is shown as abuse of power. The puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th century. The entire plot of the novel is moulded by the repressive Puritan society. Like many puritan women, Elizabeth Proctor is dutiful and loves her husband dearly. Yet, Elizabeth is hurt by the fact…
Of the over 40,000 words brilliantly crafted into a story, only two are able of capturing the meaning of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Set in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials, Miller depicts the town and the strong puritan values vested in its people. When accusations of witchcraft run ravage through the streets, such puritan purity is in question. The Crucible is a fitting title for Arthur Miller’s play.The English noun crucible symbolizes Salem, the trials and the resulting changes that occur.…
In The Crucible Miller demonstrates the evils within the human nature through the experience of the Salem Witch Trials. Many characters in this play endure their own personal crucibles. First, Elizabeth Proctor has the ignominy of keeping a terrible secret. Also, Giles Corey goes through a deadly trial trying to protect his neighbor. Finally, Mary Warren, a shy and timid girl, has the impossible task of going against Abigail and the court. Each of these characters’ crucibles are very excruciating, but only some pass while others fail.…
The Crucible was about the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s. Witchcraft is the practice of black magic, which uses spells and the invocation of evil spirits. A crucible is a metal container used to melt down metals and separate the valuable from the less valuable. It also means a difficult situation where people are severely tested.The title of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is symbolic of both of these words. In act one Abigail Williams was the most responsible for the chaotic situation that occurred in Salem in the 1600’s.…
The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States. When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations.…
The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials and all the people involved with the deaths and he people that actually died. The play explains the trigger to thee trials and the events that lead to the first and last people that were hanged. Mary Warren, a character in the play, was the cause of a lot of the deaths in the play, even though in was pretty much all a mistake. The Crucible really makes you thing about how even innocent people are the most guilty.…
Arthur Miller's masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Although the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch-hunts and trials of 1692, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller's time that it deals with. The Crucible is a searing parable of conformity and the imbalance of power of the 1950s.…
In the opening scenes of the play ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller, key ideas of persecution of those who don’t belong and of those who choose not to conform to the strict rules of the Puritan society that the city of Salem believed in and the consequences and…
The title, The Crucible, describes a severe test or trial that occurred, in Massachusetts, called the Salem Witch Trials. This historic occurrence will become a well known test of people’s values and beliefs. In a society of religious Puritans, they lived a strict and humble life they also attended church weekly. They are a quiet and tranquil people. Until, a wicked secret cast chaos throughout the society. Envy is the start of all evil which would unleash other grave evils that will be a test of the people.…
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play that takes place during a time period of the witch trials. The entire community is in pandemonium and certain characters are also fighting internal conflicts. Miller uses three characters that shows this internal battle : Abigail Williams, John Proctor who must weigh the importance of his family against his reputation and the Putnams.…
Reputation is one of the major themes in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible”. People must always act morally, in public and private. Reputation affects their actions and majorly influences the choices they make. While all the people in Salem are concerned with keeping up a good reputation, three stand out above the rest. They are controlled by their need for a good name. John Proctor, Judge Danforth, and Reverend Parris are all extremely concerned with their reputations, which affects their actions throughout “The Crucible”.…
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he develops many themes throughout the play. One of the major themes is, it is better to suffer with integrity than to compromise your honor, decency, and faith to protect yourself. Miller proves this theme through the characters and their actions for themselves and for others in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. In Act I of the play, there is a repertory hysteria rolling through the town, causing certain, less fortunate people to sacrifice who they are in order to see another day. Toward the end of Act I, Tituba states, “Eternal glory. Bless him-bless God..” (Miller 24). Tituba’s faith and views on God are much different than the people of Salem, but to save herself from witchcraft, she sacrifices all that she lives by and…
Reputations are an enormous factor of one’s life in today’s society. They can affect one’s future, past, and present. In the novel, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Reverend John Hale are the characters most concerned about their reputations. Because they are attempting to protect their prominence, each of them tend to act abnormally in the Puritan society. All of the characters tend to continuously lie about their sins. However, they do contrast when it comes to the reasoning for each of them "protecting" their reputation. In a Puritan society during the witch hunting era, protecting one's name was more important than telling the truth. If one were to confess to a witch related crime, they…