Comparison Between The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Vinegar Tom by C. Churchill

The Salem Witchcraft trials was an outrageous event that began in 1692, and ended May of 1693 seeing the execution of many people. Unfortunately most of the victims of this phenomenon were women. For the most part these women were accused for very trivial reasons, such as for being widowed, being of old age and living alone, or for simply collecting herbs and other plants. During this time in history women and men were treated very differently both as they should contribute in the home and in society, this would have presented reasons as to why women were predominantly accused of witchcraft, along with any religious beliefs. The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place at a time of a patriarchal society, the roles of men and women were different, along with how they were treated overall in society. This contributed to the stereotype of women being the ones predominantly associated with witchcraft.

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a rich and enticing play set in the late 1600’s describing the epic horrors and emotions through the events of the Salem witch trials. The Crucible, focuses primarily on the inconsistencies of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden agendas. The play begins with the discovery of several young girls and an African American slave, Tituba, in the woods just outside of Salem, dancing and pretending to conjure spirits. The Puritans of Salem stood for complete religious intolerance and stressed the need to follow the ways of the bible literally without exception. The actions of the women in

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an iconic piece of literature that was published in the 1950’s. When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, the United States was in the middle of the McCarthyism era where innocent people were being accused of treason without the proper evidence (“Joseph R. McCarthy”). As a result, Arthur Miller became involved and wrote a play to show his beliefs in response to the accusations and haywire going on. Miller used individual characters and portrayed them as a part of his protest. The Crucible was published as a play and made a film. The two are similar, but differences do occur. The play represents these characters with more historical accuracy and believability than the film because individually, the characters

When does author’s intent give way to reader’s perspective? People may interpret texts in many ways, such as in The Crucible. The Crucible is the story of Salem in 1692, when calls of witchcraft were rife and plenty. When looking at Arthur Miller’s The Crucible through the Historical, Feminist, and Psychological lenses, society’s guilt driven and patriarchal nature, along with some historical perspective, becomes more eminent.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible focuses on the Salem Witch Trials along with the pointing of fingers that went along with it. Miller wrote this to reflect upon what was occurring during the Red Scare in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The Crucible is written in an ironic and cynical tone mocking the Red Scare.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the Salem witch trials that were taking place in the 1690s. This is social history because it focuses on fabricated accusations based off of personal stories that took place during this time. There are many theories about people being accused of witchcraft because of their bad blood with other people. Accusing someone else could have been a way of getting revenge and these kinds social rivalries in the past are examples of social history as well because, they were personal stories that related to a public issue. For instance, one of the characters in the book named Abigail had an affair with a man named John Proctor and started accusing his wife of being a witch so that she could have John all to herself. Another connection this book has to social history is the reason it was written in 1952. Miller used the accused witches as a metaphor for the communist disputes that were taking place at that time. He thought that the people accused of being communists were treated the same as the people accused of witchcraft were. Furthermore, the treatment of the slaves compared to that of the accused communists and witches are somewhat similar. In the book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the quote “Tis the devil who tempts you. God is angry with you, and will surely punish you, if you don't forsake your wicked ways” helps back-up the

Both literary works were written about the same time period, the Puritan era, hence their strong views on women and their roles in Puritan society, though one is a larger extreme than the other. Arthur Miller and Anne Bradstreet both have God as a main theme in their works. Though the writers have Puritan life as a major theme they also have many differences in their writing styles. The Crucible was not written in the Puritan era, the story was written as an allegory to Communism (The Communist Witch Hunt); because in the 1950’s Arthur was accused as a Communist spy. Rather than Anne Bradstreet who lived in this time period. Also in Bradstreet’s writings she largely focuses, with her Puritan-related works, on more of the familial side of the Puritan lifestyle. When Arthur Miller writes more closely relate to the Puritan woman's relationship with her husband and the corruptness of Puritan society. In Bradstreet’s portrayal of the Puritan woman in her poem Upon the Burning of Our House, is an attached woman, to her memories in her possession and with reason she figures out that God is the only that is constant and everlasting in her life. Arthur Miller portrayal of the Puritan are at opposite spectrums of the Puritan, the loyal Elizabeth’s; which her husband knows when he says, “ That woman will never lie, Mr. Danforth.”(Miller 85), or

The witch trials were a very interesting part of the early 1600’s. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller was written for the time period 1620. He wrote this play for the purpose of displaying communism and showing the red scare that was happening to his community in the 1950s. He wanted to show the similarities of the two time periods. He wanted to show that what happened in the salem trials was happening with the communist trials. He took historical accounts from Salem Massachusetts and created characters on what he read. Two characters he wrote about were sweet Mary and a manipulative girl named Abby. Although Mary Warren and Abby in this play, seem different, Mary is a meek and quiet girl while Abigail Williams is an aggressive girl who likes to get her way,they both play a part in why the salem witch trials happened in The Crucible.

In the everyday live one repeatedly meets people who turn out to have a two-faced personality. In both The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we get to know characters with split character traits. While The Crucible is a play and The Scarlet Letter a novel, both works have several points in common even though in the stories they tell they are so very different. Both of these literary works are set in the early days of the Massachusetts colony around the mid 1700’s. In this time period many citizens of both Salem in The Crucible and Boston in The Scarlet Letter were highly religious. So if anything happened that was not able to be solved with a believable explanation, the citizens believed

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. Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, “Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.” (Are You Now… 34) Miller is explaining how the court

In The Crucible, there was a lot of senseless behavior. The purpose of The Crucible is to educate the reader on the insanity that can form in a group of people who think they are judging fairly upon a group of people. Judge Hawthorne believes what he is told by certain people is the truth even if little evidence is to be shown. The young girls with Abigail convince Hawthorne of others being witches so that Abigail can get what she wants, John Proctor, also so that Abigail does not blackmail the girls. The Crucible by Authur Miller investigates the effects of hysteria, superstitions and repression on the Salem Community in the late 1600’s.

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, self- preservation and self-dignity play a vital role. The three factors I listed played a huge role in John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many other lives. Many other characters such as, Abigail Williams and her friends can be characterized by being greedy, bitter, and selfish. In the play, Miller reveals how people can go against their own morals, therefore they can protect themselves. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he reveals to readers how fear escalated in Salem because of people's desire for personal gain.

The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953. Miller’s main purpose in writing this play was to use it as a metaphor for McCarthyism, a period of strong communist suspicion in the 1950s, started by Joseph McCarthy. Miller also wanted Americans to understand that McCarthyism was giving them false information and causing them to have unfounded fear; he accomplished this by comparing McCarthyism to the Salem Witch Trials. There are many similarities between the events of the Salem Witch Trials and the Second Red Scare, a time when McCarthyism was a strong belief and caused strong communist fear. In both instances, the accusers caused mass hysteria among the people, which led to unfortunate consequences for the accused. Although The Crucible and McCarthyism happened at different times and the accused suffered different outcomes, they are similar in that they were both fueled by fear, were used to get revenge, and ruined the lives of the accused.