Examples Of Tension In The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a tragic play set in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, where Miller uses the Salem Trials as a metaphor for the 1950s McCarthy hearings. In Salem, people value their good names. The Puritan community acts as a theocracy in which there appears to be no right to privacy, and people must conform to a strict moral code. The theme of reputation, lying, and deceit are shown in Abigail, John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Mary Warren, and other characters. In the play’s dialogue, Miller uses Biblical allusions, situational irony, and dramatic irony to develop these themes.

Today, we plaster death, relationship drama, and corruption in Holy places everywhere for our enjoyment. During 1953 when the author Arthur Miller wrote a play called The Crucible, it had all of those components. This play had the drama of infidelity, lying, murder, and corruption of a church; all of the fun things that make us laugh, cry, and fear for a character's fate. The Puritans did not allow entertainment, only work and pray, so when they received entertainment they took to the extreme. The play will have Miller playing with your emotions in the same ways that the Puritans played with life and death. Throughout this play, Miller will create pathos through the conflicts of infidelity, religion, and injustice.

The Puritan town of Salem is corrupt when it comes to accusing innocent people of witchcraft. The town fears their powerful God and assumes that the Devil is punishing those that sin. Miller writes this play during the Red Scare time period which is also a time of questioning others on beliefs. Miller brings attention that people are questioning others if they don’t understand something and this leads the decision to be made without any background knowledge or ideas. Even if Education is not presented to someone, they should do everything possible to educate themselves on the topic before making a

In the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows us how fear and suspicion can destroy a community. As the play develops, Miller shows us how fear and suspicion increase and destroy the community. Throughout the play it becomes apparent that the community gets more and more divided as time goes on. In the beginning there were arguments about ownership of land between some of the villagers.

1. Although The Crucible revolves around the Salem Witch Trials, it allows readers to examine many themes. Choose a theme from The Crucible and discuss how it is developed throughout the play. How does this theme reveal the play’s deeper meaning?

We can see that shifts are made as the narrator inserts times to describe characters and tell us what we should think about them such as when Miller tell us that Judge Hathorne is a bitter man. In addition, each inserted stage direction indicates exactly what a character is thinking or feeling. The narrator is able to jump into any character’s mind at any given moment in a justified way. Miller allowed the narrator to weave in and out of many characters’ internal workings, letting the audience see what drives them. This helps establish the tragic events throughout “The Crucible” and allows the audience to have a better understanding of the factors that led to the accusations and the impact of those actions. Arthur Miller shows the audience the good and evil within people and brings out the mad hysterical qualities in a mob. He displays that even deeply religious people make mistakes in their lives. He does this through his characters, who through their own imperfections and beliefs bring the witch-hunts to a complete

Towards the end of the book, when John Proctor calls Abigail a whore in act three, it causes the people in the court to see her as an untrustworthy liar. Throughout the book Abigail uses her wit and mischievous ways to get her out of things. For example, when she was accused of having an affair with Elizabeth, she convinced the town Elizabeth was witched. She moved the blame off her shoulders onto someone else to seem innocent. But, her past caught up to her and an affair with John Proctor came back to haunt her. And then, finally, in court he stood up in anger and called her a whore. The minute she was called a whore she was affected and shut down. The court then questioned her motives and her morals. Miller says, “Danforth seems unsteady” (Miller 111). In this

What is the main tension that drives Act 2? This should be framed in the

In Act three of The Crucible (1953), Arthur Miller expresses his frustration at the perpetual power grab under the façade of justice. Miller uses juxtaposition, dramatic irony, and selective dialogue in order to show how in the struggle of innocence, cold-hard facts are often overlooked in exchange for the promise of influence. The purpose of the act is to demonstrate that in every play for power, there must be pawns to manipulate and facts to twist in in order to remind the audience to compare with McCarthyism in Miller’s time and how in all power plays, there will always contain innocent losses. The implied ethical argument lies in the court of Salem where it would be better to accept the truth and sacrifice power, or perpetuate a lie and

The Crucible examines the exploitation of an individual by the power of coercion in society. The play is set in

     Abigail William’s aggressive personality easily persuades the other girls to follow her footsteps, and back up anything and everything she says. This personality also frightens people in the courtroom to question her truthfulness, or her relation with John Proctor. Due to her forceful behavior, the girls support Abigail, and therefore become entangled in her web of lies, sins, and murders.

Arthur Miller writes about the tragic results of human failings in his play, The Crucible. He presents characters from the past and infuses them with renewed vitality and color. Miller demonstrates the horrifying results of succumbing to personal motives and flaws as he writes the painful story of the Salem witch trials. Not only do the trials stem from human failings but also from neglect of moral and religious considerations of that time. Characters begin to overlook Puritan values of thrift and hope for salvation. Focusing on the flawed characters, they begin to exhibit land lust, envy of the miserable and self-preservation.

One concept is capable of more destruction than almost anything else. It can change a person’s life, or end it. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690’s. The play revolves around the infamous Salem Witch Hunts and their proceedings both within the court and outside of the court. Within this plotline, a theme of greed functions in the play, influencing the actions of certain characters, including Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail.

First off, Abigail uses the trials to seek revenge, resulting in the wrongful deaths of many. Abigail commits many sins, including lust for John Proctor. Once she rises to power in the courtroom, she uses it to exact vengeance upon those who have done her wrong. Victims of her wrath include Elizabeth Proctor; who she calls a ¨a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her¨ during an argument with John Proctor and Mary Warren (Miller 23). After Mary Warren starts siding with John Proctor, Abigail goes so far as to accuse Mary of sending her spirit out in the courtroom to attack the other girls. Abigail can be seen using such accusations to inflict a twisted justice on her enemies. Actions as unjust as these

Perhaps the most popular theme in the play is that of revenge. R.A. Foakes in “The Play’s Courtly Setting” explains the burden of revenge which the protagonist must carry for the duration of the play: