The Crucible Research Paper

Jessica Mayes
Mr. Foley
Honors American Literature
October 16th, 2014
Arthur Miller Sure Knows How to Use Artistic License Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible is a dramatic telling of the tragic Salem Witch Trials. While Miller was telling a true story, he exercised his artistic license and twisted the truth, sometimes drastically. Miller made his changes in order to create a more entertaining moral story and to fit the main themes of the Crucible. Since the play is a literary work, Miller had the right to change the facts to make a more entertaining story. However, it is important to note the changes Miller made and why he choose to change those things. The Salem Witch Trials were a dark time in American History and need to be remembered for
what they truly were, alongside the Crucible. The Salem Witch Trials began in winter of 1692 when several young girls in Salem, MA fell erratically ill after a night of fortune telling in an attempt to learn about their future husbands, and were diagnosed as being afflicted by witchcraft.
The afflicted girls named the first witches as Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. Between February and June of 1692 over 160 people were arrested for witchcraft, 19 of whom were hanged because of the charges against them. In September 1692 the hysteria died down and the hangings ended (Marvel133-135). Arthur Miller maintained a fairly accurate timeline relative to how events actually unfolded. In The Crucible, the same series of events happened when Abigail Williams began to accuse other women of witchcraft in order to save her own reputation. The events in the play spiraled out of control, much like the real events, and ended in the deaths of several people that came to be known as the best, most upright people in the community. The issue lies within the characters, whose stories were changed for dramatic
purposes. The biggest change was reflected in the character of Abigail Williams. In the play, Abigail is a seventeen year-old girl and is the main antagonist. She is very abrasive and menacing in order to save herself and get what she wants. In reality, Abigail Williams was an eleven year old girl, who started accusing the witches but is not known to be the villain she is portrayed as in the play. When asked about this Miller said, “As for the characters of the persons little is known about them…They may therefore be taken as creations of my own, drawn to the best of my ability in conformity with their known behavior…” (Burns). Miller had a valid point; because there is little recorded about the characters of those involved with the Trials, Miller can make them to be whomever he wants. The only problem is Miller did change actual facts like Abigail’s age and her relationship with characters like John Proctor. In the play Abigail and John Proctor had an affair which is completely at odds with the historical record. Proctor’s age was also changed in order to make the affair more acceptable, but it still factually inaccurate and is only added to create conflict and character development for Proctor. With things like facts Miller should be obliged to stay accurate, for the sake of history and properly preserving the memory of those affected during that time. As an artist, Miller did have a purpose for changing the facts, whether it was right or not. Good literature and theatre are based around conflict and a theme. Every author writes with a purpose and a lesson that should be taken away from the literary piece. When Miller chose to alter and create the character of Abigail Williams he intended to use her to demonstrate the theme of reputation. In the play Abigail essentially started accusing the women because she was suspected of witchcraft herself after Reverend Parris, her uncle and the town clergyman, saw her in the woods behaving suspiciously. Abigail was already under scrutiny for rumors about her affair with John Proctor, her former boss whom she did have an affair with, and Abigail desired to keep the good name, or reputation, she had. Abigail, along with others in the Puritan age, was very concerned with their reputation because the repercussions of having a bad reputation then were both social and possibly legal. In the play, especially with Abigail, it is clear that being concerned with reputation is very petty and not worthwhile, and has unintended negative results. Another large character change was of John Proctor. Proctor was historically in his sixties when the Witch Trials happened and the local tavern owner (although he did own a farm as well). Elizabeth Proctor was his third wife and together they had more children than the two boys depicted in the play, John also had other children from his previous marriages. In fact, John had children that were years older than Abigail, the girl he had an affair with in the play. Similar to the play, John was well liked and admired in the community and did not buy into the idea of witchcraft in Salem as easily as his neighbors did (Documentary). The affair between him and Abigail Williams is completely a figure of Miller’s imagination and has no factual evidence to support it. The affair Miller made up is also the reason Miller changed Proctor and Abigail’s ages and made her the servant in his house. John’s character changes were largely to give motive for the actions of Abigail, who was in the woods that first night trying to supernaturally get rid of Elizabeth Proctor so she could have John for herself, and for why Abigail would accuse Elizabeth. Proctor’s character was also created to demonstrate the theme of redemption.
John Proctor’s personal story within the play is truly an inspiring story of redemption. Before the play opens John was a well-respected, Godly man and then he commits a sin by having an affair with Abigail. John is in constant struggle throughout the play with how to redeem himself and forgive himself for the sins he created, and then he is charged with witchcraft, along with Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey, two of the most Godly women Proctor knew. When the three of them are condemned to hang after they all refuse to confess, Proctor felt unworthy to die alongside such holy women. Proctor verbally confesses to the crime but refused to name anyone else. After primarily signing a statement informing the citizens of Salem that Proctor was in fact a witch, he decided against ruining his name in such a way, and tore up the confession. In that moment John had experienced redemption and was able to be strong and die amongst the women (which is also inaccurate because Proctor was hanged on a different day) who were “cleaner” in the eyes of the Lord. Ultimately, by refusing to officially associate his name with witchcraft and by dying alongside Rebecca and Martha, John redeems himself. He goes from living in the aftermath of the sin he committed with Abigail, to dying in the fashion of a hero, and very redeemed. Miller wanted to express this idea, but needed a character to reflect this, so Miller choose
to use Proctor. Proctor was an upstanding member of Salem and it is easier to see redemption in a man who has fallen into sin, than in a man who was always in sin. Thomas Danforth and Reverend Hale were also real men during the Salem Witch Trials. Hale was truly called in by Parris to examine the girls and diagnose their ailment and Danforth was a judge for some of the trials at one point. Miller invented Hale’s passion for witch hunting, justice, and the people, in order to make Hale a more sympathetic character. If Hale had just been portrayed as a reverend that came to Salem and condemned that many people for being witches without any hesitation or without showing concern for the people, Hale would not have been a sympathetic character. However, because of Hale’s passion for being accurate in his work and making sure what happened is in the best interest of the people, who he cared for, Hale is seen in a much more positive light. In the play, Danforth is the head judge of all the trials. However, that is not actually true. There were nine judges total presiding over a special court, called the Court of Oyer and Termier, and Danforth was not a part of them. Danforth was Deputy Governor and a member of the Governor’s Council in the colony and only joined in the trials for a short time, dealing with only the Proctor couple and a woman named Sarah Cloyce (Burns). In the play, Danforth is very authoritative and prideful. His purpose in the story was multi-purposeful. He not only took the place of six-seven other judges who would have clouded the play and made it harder to follow, but demonstrates both themes of reputation and of power. Danforth’s obsession with maintaining his excellent reputation as a judge, and being right all the time, led to him not conceding when confronted with evidence in favor of the accused and in him insisting in hanging many innocent people. The struggle between Danforth who represents justice, and Hale who represents mercy, is a power struggle in the play. Hale wants to do the best for the people and save as many innocent lives as he can, while Danforth is determined to find justice for the crimes and to eradicate the issue of witchcraft in Salem. Miller effectively manipulated their characters in order to show this power struggle. As with most works of fiction, there are clear sides of good versus evil. When writing The Crucible, Arthur Miller created more detailed characters with evident personalities and backstories. This created motivation in many cases and showed good vs. evil clearly. Even though The Crucible is a work of fiction, it is based on a very dark event that truly happened in America. It is important that Miller portray the events that happened as objectively and factually as possible so if the play is one’s only exposure to the Witch Trials, one takes away at least a semi factual idea of actual events. It is commonly said that history is important because it teaches what was done poorly in the past and from that, modern people can determine how to not make the same mistakes. For this reason, it is also important to preserve the facts of the Witch Trials since a similar thing has already occurred during the McCarthy Period during the Cold War. Miller actually based The Crucible on that time period. While the changes to the characters are warranted and allowed, Miller should be criticized for altering facts, even if it was to express the themes.

Works Cited
Burns, Margo. "Arthur Miller 's The Crucible: Fact & Fiction (Or Picky Picky, Picky...)." 17th Century Colonial New England. N.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.
Marvel, Laura. The Salem Witch Trials. Farminton Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Print.
"Salem Witch Trials Documentary." Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive. University of Virginia, 2002. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.