Faith In The Crucible

In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts a small group of girls joined together to go in the woods at night to meet a slave woman name Tituba. Tituba is a slave of Reverend Parris. During their meeting all the girls are dancing

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was a historical play written about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. The Salem witch trials created mass hysteria throughout the entire village of Salem, which was also mainly inhabited by Puritans. Puritans had a set ideal of firm beliefs that managed how they lived. Essentially, they were living as an elect, which meant they (referring to the Puritans) had a place in heaven for the righteous acts they have done in the physical world. Meaning, any sinful acts could potentially hinder the chances of entering heaven as an elect. The Crucible, questioned everything the Puritans abided by. It questioned the basic morals of a pure lifestyle, adultery and

The Crucible is a complex and intriguing novel with events, characters and themes comparable to almost every period of human history. It is common for humans to fear change and what is unknown, in the play The Crucible this is witchcraft and the devil, in more recent times it can be seen in post World War Two and Cold War United States, through McCarthyism. The themes in the crucible are as important to people in the 21st century as in Salem in 1692. These include justice, reputation, hysteria, intolerance and empowerment. All of these are common themes throughout human history. The characters in The Crucible are also important to people of the 21st century as they can teach us a little bit about people around us and their reactions when

A society that praises moral righteousness and piety is destroyed by a series of witch trials that are ironically immoral and unfair. The Salem Witch Trials are fueled by personal motives and feuds that emerge because of the restrictions in Puritan society. The society nurtures a culture of fear and distrust that stems from dread of the devil and strict adherence to the Bible. Salem is the perfect environment for fear and vengeance to spread through witchcraft accusations, because people have no other means to gain power or get revenge on enemies. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays how the Puritan society in Salem influences the witch trials and increases their impact, because of the religion-based justice system, women and

Because supernatural can cause fear to the people in the town, witchcraft or relationships with the devil can lead to being hanged. This town truly believes in magic and panics when they hear about it. Since the play The Crucible takes place in 1692, nobody knows better and it’s a time where everyone is super religious. So when someone betrays the church, everyone jumps in and don’t play around when it comes to that. But they’re still scared for their lives.

It is better to tell the truth then to lie while being in the moment and face the consequences for the rest of your life. Being afraid is a factor that the accusers had to face before the judges to determine their fate. Everyone within Salem was subject to the many trials that took place during that time. Abigail Williams, an adulteress establishes a relationship with John Proctor and is a compulsive liar who destroyed Elizabeth’s marriage. Elizabeth Proctor, a loving wife poured her heart into the community and sought the truth behind her husband’s betrayal. Arthur Miller’s,The Crucible was a memorable play that dictates the events that took place during the Salem Witch Trials.Living in Salem Mass. during that time was very challenging. Arthur

A ‘crucible’ is an object in which substances are combined and then subjected to high temperatures. Arthur Miller uses this theme to guide “The Crucible” from the exposition, when Puritan girls danced in the woods, to Proctor’s death by the hangman’s noose. Hale and Danforth are closely intertwined in their beliefs and views at the beginning of the play, but, as tensions and temperatures rise, they begin to separate; ultimately ending with contrary beliefs. In the opening scenes, Hale and Danforth are present in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 to cast out demons and witches. When the final curtain falls at the end of Act Four, Hale recognizes that the Salem Witch Trials were a result of repressed emotions and conflicts, and the desire to express them under the pretext of witchcraft. Danforth cannot and will not recognize this fact. Thus, Miller develops the characters of Hale and Danforth into foils for each other by the end of the novel; the growing tension is made evident through dialogue, character development, and through the theme of pride.

A prevalent theme in The Crucible is that a person’s religion and or beliefs have a powerful effect on how they are perceived by society. The town of Salem was primarily dominated by the Puritan religion and its strict followers. Those who were seen as the purest Puritans, like Reverend Parris, were revered by society. Even Parris was aware that his status in Salem was because of his religious values. In the beginning of the book, Parris believed that by being associated with witches, his religious status, as a minister, would decline and he would no longer be seen as close to God, or as a prominent figure in society. Not only did your religion determine how powerful you were in society, but it affected how unpopular you were in the community as well. Bridget Bishop, a tavern keeper, was one of the first targets of the witch trials because of her religion.

The year is 1692. Throughout the small, Puritan, seaside community of Salem, rumors and accusations fly like gusts of ocean wind. Neighbors turn on neighbors, and even the most holy church-goers are accused of being the devil’s servants. The Crucible details this real-life tragedy of the Salem witch trials, in which nineteen members of the Salem community were hanged for alleged witchcraft. Abigail Williams, a seemingly innocent girl, accuses dozens of Salem’s citizens of witchcraft through the support of her mob of girls and the complicity of the court officials. The title of this play gives significant insight into the experiences of several of these Salem citizens. Although a crucible is often used in chemistry for heating up substances, the title of the play carries a much greater weight. In his famous play The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the title of “crucible” to signify the severe and unrelenting tests of faith and character that many of the community members endure throughout the Salem witch trials, which he achieves through the use of figurative language and fallacies of relevance and insufficiency.

In The Crucible, the townspeople are afraid of witches and will punish anyone that is potentially one, even if they are innocent. “I have seen too many frightful proofs in court—the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!”(Hale). The people of Salem will take every chance they get to eliminate a potential witch, and all they

The theme one could say in the play is, believing and spreading false accusations can be life threatening. In The Crucible, this happened quite often as people who had no relation to Abigail’s spell in the woods were accused of witchcraft. If they refused to confess to practicing witchcraft, they would be killed. If they confessed to practicing witchcraft, (even if it wasn’t true), they would be jailed and have their lives saved, but their reputations ruined forever. I think the author, Arthur Miller, is trying to teach readers and viewers a lesson that even innocent people can be accused of crimes they did not commit and to not believe everything we hear when people are panicking and are in fear. Abigail Williams is a prime example of spreading false accusations, even early on in the play when she falsely blames Tituba for everything Abigail says,“She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!”(23). In Salem, everyone was panicked and spreading rumors out of fear, and falsely accusing people of witchcraft, even unexpected people, like John Proctor’s maid, Mary Warren when she turned on him to save herself and said to him in court, “Don’t touch me - don’t touch me … you’re the Devil’s man!” (52). This betrayal and false accusation is what eventually causes Proctor to give up his fight.

The Crucible is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the 17th century and is based on true events. The Puritans believed in witchcraft and were gullible. At the start of the play, the audience learns some girls were caught dancing naked in the woods by Reverend Parris. They had supposedly “conjured up spirits” and this led to the accusations of the girls as witches. In order to escape the punishment, they accuse other women of the town of being witches. They say that they were approached by the devil but did not go over to his side so they are used as members of the jury.

In the book The Crucible by Author Miller there are numerous examples of faith throughout the first act. This act pertains to a young girl Betty Parris who is pretending to be ill after her father, Reverend Parris finds her dancing in the forest. This raises accusations in the town of Salem that she was involved in witchcraft. Act 1 also discussed an affair between Betty’s cousin, Abigail Williams and a married man named John Proctor. One prominent example of faith would be Abigail believing Proctor still loved her even when he denies their relationship. He continues to reject all of Abigail’s claims until admitting “he may think of her softly from time to time” (Miller 23). Abigail is convinced that Proctor still cares for her but will not

The definition of a crucible is a cup that may be subjected to very extreme temperatures that is used to melt metals to take out impurities. The Crucible is kind of like the actual, physical crucible. The town of Salem is faced with times of heated arguments, and the pressure to save their own lives by giving lies. The characters Parris, Hale, and John are some of the most pressured people in this play. From being imprisoned, to starting the whole epidemic of witchcraft, we find out how these characters deal with the stress that has been brought upon them.

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.