In 1953, Arthur Miller wrote a novel called The Crucible. This book is set in 1962 and it tells the story of the infamous witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. Throughout this whole story we find that greed, revenge, and hysteria affected much of what happened in Salem. From Abigail Williams's lust for John Proctor, to the hysteria throughout the trials, and to Abigail's accusation on Tituba; greed, revenge, and hysteria was shown rampant in Salem during these times. I believe that greed, revenge, and hysteria presented in the book, destroyed the town and the people of Salem, Massachusetts. This book really shows how slight misconceptions of innocent individuals can create uterpandimony. Many people who were thought to be Godly…
Can you recall anyone in history who had extreme beliefs? In Arthur Miller's “The Crucible,” which talks about the Salem witch trials, there are parallels to the McCarthy era because, they were both very tense times. People were being accused of conspiring and had to face consequences for actions they might have not even done.…
Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ is based upon the Salem Witch Trials which occurred in the year 1692. The text also serves as an allegorical warning about much more recent events, in particular the McCarthy Trials of 1953. The McCarthy Trials were exploring communism. ‘The Crucible’ was written to highlight the similarities between McCarthyism and communism in the 1950’s in the United States of America and the witch hunts of Europe in the 17th century. The play is literally written about the witch trials but it is figuratively about the society Miller lived in, in 1953. Thousands of Americans were accused of being communists like in ‘The Crucible’; hundreds of the town’s people were accused of being witches. Three major ideologies that are still relevant in society today are evident in the play, intolerance, mass hysteria and reputation.…
The Crucible is a book written by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s. The book describes events of paranoia in the form of witchcraft, and trial. This book was written during the McCarthy Era, which, as defined by http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mccarthyism?s=t, was the government, amongst others, making unsupported claims of people being communist. The Crucible was based on the witch trials of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, in which central european countries would trial, torture, and kill tens of thousands of men and women across the continent.…
In "The Crucible", written by Arthur Miller, religious freedom and justice of the law are the main controversial aspects that are not enforced in this play. The Crucible is a play in which Arthur Miller writes about the tendentious, hysterical event of the Salem witch trials that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692. Miller writes "The Crucible" to show how inequitable and unjust the law can be in a time of fear and tension of the masses. In the play, inferior and subordinate people were accusing innocent citizens of witchcraft for revenge or land. The hysteria and fear in this time of the Salem witch trials influenced the law to become less dependable and accurate when Salem did not adhere to the basic American fundamentals of religious freedom and "innocent until proven guilty." Arthur Miller creates this play to show that we still as modern America are hurt by…
In the Salem Witch Trials Abigail, Betty, Mary, and Mercy were the only evidence needed to get convicted in the adapted play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It became their word against yours and the girls had all the power because they were well trusted within the community. The same goes for this news story about José Antonio Zúñiga, or known more commonly as his nickname Toño, he was sentenced to jail for up to 20 years for a crime he did not commit due to no one doing a follow up on his story and just assuming that the police caught the right guy. In today’s society there are many flaws in the legal system, whether it is in Salem in the 1600s or in today’s time in Mexico; people will assume the worst of the situation and it may not be the…
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 is a play by Arthur Miller that tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials, in a time when religion was really important in people’s life and their life basically revolved around it. Throughout this time, there were many trials taking place because of the accusations of people against witchcraft and people involved with witchcraft, specially during the Salem Witch Trials. However, this accusations from time to time were not caused by witchcraft, but because of land disputes. In this play, characters like Mr. Putnam give accusations of people who he wants land from and says that they were seen with the Devil. Together with the likes of Abigail Williams, who is very manipulative, she also accuses people of witchcraft to get what she…
The Crucible has such a title, meaning severe trial, because puritans believe that life is a test. They lived a very strict style and understood that if you do anything wrong in life, god would harshly punish you for it. This puts a lot of stress on the characters to live up to the expectations of living perfectly and faithful.…
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor proclaims “Because it is my name! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of those who hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” This quote shows both the dilemma in the Salem Witch Trials, which Arthur Miller set his story in, and the era of McCarthyism which he kind of writes about; John was going to confess to being a witch but couldn’t because he didn’t want to ruin his name for his family. He was an innocent man but died because he didn’t confess. This is very similar to what was happening during the 50’s when McCarthyism first started. Arthur Miller’s use of the Salem Witch Trials in the Crucible demonstrates…
In the play, The Crucible, one of the main plots of the story took place deep in the woods of Salem, Massachusetts. This was during the Salem Witch Trials in the 1960s. In the previous night, Several young girls were caught dancing in the woods with Reverend Parris's servant, Tituba. Unfortunately, they were caught in the act by Reverend Parris…
The mock witch trial which our class ran was a perfect representation of the crucible. Proctor says “Damn this village” pg 142, and “Damn the Deputy Governor” pg 77 The Crucible. These are two good ways of describing our experience. The charges against the accused were nonsense, but what was more ridiculous was when the judges believed it.…
The Crucible Essay Arthur Miller, born on October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York was a successful play- writer. He wrote The Crucible in 1953 to show the effect of falsely accusing people with something that they have not done (“Arthur Miller Biography”). He compares the accusation of being called a witch during the Salem trials to being called a Communists during his era. He was inspired to write this play after Joseph McCarthy, and House Committee on Un- American Activities were going after Communists (Miller, Arthur). At this time news didn't travel as fast as it does today and people usually believed and accepted whatever the majority of people and the people with power said.…
If you don't believe in witch hunts, that's fine. But the idea of them is very real. The Crucible is a story that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. This small community is full of superstition and the towns people let their beliefs destroy friendships, and lives. Arthur Miller uses many repeating themes in the play The Crucible. There are many good, and bad themes that come up throughout the play. Some of the common themes of this story are lust, fear, and courage.…
Imagine being in the Salem Witch Trials era and hearing rumors that even your next door neighbor’s daughter can be a witch. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem, MA in 1692. The Crucible is about people being accused of Witchcraft getting put on trial. In the Crucible many characters have secrets that can make a serious change in their lives and the lives of others. Some characters chose to keep their secrets which made others have a bad reputation. An example of that is when an underaged teen named Abigail Williams used to work at John Proctor’s household and they had an affair. John is a married man with kids. The author, Arthur Miller uses the motifs reputation, hysteria and light vs. dark to set the stage for the events…