inevitability of human flaw - these factors are archetypal of the classical tragedies‚ first made popular by notable Sophocles‚ Euripides‚ and Aeschylus. Arthur Miller adopts this structure in his play‚ The Crucible: a tragedy‚ in which John Proctor is the epitome of an Aristotelian tragic hero. The Crucible is presented in a superstitious village‚ located in Salem‚ Massachusetts‚ in 1692. The time frame is compressed‚ and the action a fast pace. There is thus an unifying
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“What is a crucible?” Why does the author choose to name this play The Crucible? However‚ two definitions of the word can apply to the play The Crucible‚ which could mean “a severe test” or could also mean a piece of laboratory equipment used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures or to melt metal. The symbolism is very clear here because the village of Salem was actually a very strict community‚ which kind of ties in with a crucible because the people were accused of witchcraft in
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Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible in response to the red scare of the 1950’s‚ in which he was was condemned for disrespect & disapproval of the United States Congress for being unsuccessful in naming numerous individuals who had attended meetings with him. In a bid to not only secure his career as a journalist & play writer and also to alert the American people against the government misinformation & propaganda that were headed their way. The characters in the play are faced with the same
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A crucible is defined as a severe test or ordeal a person goes through. That being said several characters in the play “The Crucible” by Author Miller are put through these test‚ but some more than others. The characters in this play that are put through the hardest trials are John Proctor‚ Reverend Hale‚ and Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth has to go through the test of trying to convince her husband that he must decide for himself what he wants to do with him life weather he wants to give his to
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described in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was inspired directly by McCarthyism when he was writing The Crucible. The many claims of witchcraft made by characters in The Crucible--lacking sufficient evidence--share great similarities with the “witch hunts” of the McCarthy Era. The first great example of McCarthyism in The Crucible appears in Act One when Reverend Parris first becomes a major character in the tragedy in his confrontational interaction with Abigail. On pages 915-16
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The Crucible According to the Encarta® World English Dictionary‚ a definition for the word crucible is a place or set of circumstances where people or things are subjected to forces that test them and often make them change. In the drama The Crucible by Arthur Miller‚ various citizens of Salem‚ Massachusetts face the witch trials. Victims were tried and convicted based on only spectral evidence. John Proctor‚ Giles Corey‚ and Reverend Hale were a few among the many that went through these severe
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Abigail lies throughout the entire play. She has Tituba cast a spell to kill Elizabeth but in order to avoid detection of this she lies saying she saw all these people with the devil; "I saw Sarah Good with the devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!" She also states before these lies "I want to open myself!" The word ’open’ means ’entirely honest; Ironically‚ nothing thatshe says is actually truthful. She lies in court by pretending she see’s things that aren’t actually there in hope to get others
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Corruption and gullibility drove Salem into panic and fear. The Salem Witch Trials were written in the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a story about the trials in town called Salem; in this town a group of girls led by Abigail goes to the woods and dances. Abigail’s uncle‚ Samuel Parris‚ found them dancing in the woods‚ which causes the whole town to go into hysteria. The town starts accusing each other of witchcraft. Samuel Parris is a minister that is terrified that the town
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“The Crucible” Ignorance is bliss is a common saying that relates to Salem‚ Massachusetts during the witch trials. Arthur Miller‚ a player writer of “The Crucible” portrays what it was like during this time period. A young Puritan girl‚ Betty Parris‚ spreads rumors throughout the town causing innocent peoples death. By the end of this time people would have been better off not knowing what happened; Betty Parris is to blame for the tragedies of Salem‚ Massachusetts. For example‚ after Betty
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McCarthyism and the Red Scare dominated society and culture‚ instilling the terror and suspicions of an invisible enemy on an uninformed people. This enemy was that of communism. Written to alert society of the doom that lurked nearby‚ Arthur Miller’s The Crucible‚ depicts the consequences that come from the hysteria associated with accusations made against one’s neighbor and in some cases friend. From the play‚ one can gather that guilt in society is destructive to communal relationships. The evidence that
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