Literary Themes In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, justice, individuality and dignity play a vital role. These factors define the characteristics of many of the most significant characters in the play. Some of them being John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many others. The Salem witch trials were a result of the lack of expression of individuality and the fact that no individual could expect justice from the majority culture as a result of the deterioration of human dignity in the Puritan society of Salem.

Few people are willing to stand up to the overwhelming power of authority, especially during a time like the Red scare. Hardly any authors are able to recognize meaningful similarities between the present times and an event that happened many years ago—and write about it effectively. Only one has had the courage and intelligence to do both. Arthur Miller was an American author who wrote plays, essays, and stories and has published works dating from to 1936 through 2004. The Crucible, one of his most famous plays, premiered in New York on January 22, 1953 (InfoTrac). It is a historical-fiction story set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The witch hunt described in this play is similar to the Red Scare, an anti-communist movement led by

How many people have you met in your life that is stronger because of a difficult experience they went through? Most people are because we take these difficult experiences and grow from them and become better people. This is the exact case is expressed in the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The story begins in Salem, Massachusetts 1692 right in the middle of a period of witchcraft hysteria. During this time many people were accused of being witches and wrongly convicted by judges Danforth and Hathorne. The characters in the story are struggling because of a girl named Abigail who gets caught practicing witchcraft and then starts naming and accusing others so that she doesn’t get in trouble; one of these people being a well-respected farmer, John Proctor’s, wife Elizabeth. The title, The Crucible, refers to a test, trial, ordeal, formation by fire, and vessel baked to resist heat, and the entire story is an allegory meaning it has a hidden meaning. John Proctor symbolizes a crucible by embodying the definition of one, as he went through a test and was formed by fire.

Abigail on the other hand wants John to love her as he loves his wife and wants Elizabeth gone. “With bitter anger; Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be-” (Act 1, 23). Abigail felt distraught and angry at John when said that he will never see her again as she continues to talk about his wife so John feels guilty among himself. Abigail as well made a poppet in church for Mary Warren to give to Elizabeth as a “gift” although she had stuck a needle in the bottom of the dress by the belly. Abigail earlier that morning had been seen having a needle shoved in the exact same location. “She'll kill me for sayin that! Proctor continues toward her. Abigail charged lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!” (Act 2, 80).Handing Elizabeth with a poppet inserted with a needle was the most clever way for Abigail to charged Elizabeth of imposing with craft upon her. Knowing Mary Warren is afraid of her she took advantage of it to steal John Proctor from his wife.

Crucible, a noun defined as; a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures, in the traditional sense but, it also means a severe, searching test or trial. The latter of the two definitions is exactly what Arthur Miller had in mind when he wrote the play, The Crucible. The play set in Salem Massachusetts during the start of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, is about the struggle to discover truth within the twisted and brutal lies flying about the little town, started mainly by a young girl by the name of Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams, as we quickly come to know, is the past mistress of the prominent Mr. John Proctor, a local farmer. As the tension rises in the

pull it down and so denounce God and place a whore in God’s place is

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the witch trials in Salem were a devastating time. The entire community was in disorder and chaos because of personal vengeance. This included accusations of innocent town’s people being called witches, so they hanged and were jailed. Throughout the play certain characters help the rise of witchcraft as well as the disapproval of all the innocent people who were being convicted for no reason. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character whom comes to rid of the evil spirits in Salem, yet he later tries to end the trials. Hale realizes the accusations are false, attempts to postpone the hangings, and persuade the victims to lie conveys that he is a dynamic character and changes throughout the play.

She contrasts with Elizabeth Proctor due to her affair with John. When Elizabeth discovered the affair, she fired Abigail, who feels a strong hatred towards Elizabeth. Abigail was upset that she was fired and jealous that John had chosen Elizabeth over her, so she used her power as a juror to accuse Elizabeth by stabbing herself in the stomach with a needle and claiming that a poppet in the Proctors’ house was a voodoo doll. Elizabeth was then arrested for witchcraft. Abigail’s actions prove that she is deceitful, selfish, jealous, and vengeful.

A man 's reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one 's accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s biggest flaw would be his great amounts of pride, which unfortunately led to his own death. In Arthur Millers’ The Crucible, he characterizes John Proctor as the tragic hero of the story because of all that he lost, through his relentless crusade to free his wife and exposing injustice, illustrating that no hero is perfect.

In the story the Crucible, by Arthur Miller he uses several literary devices to portray each character. One of the main characters John Proctor, is displayed as a trustworthy human being in the community. Arthur Miller uses the following literary devices; metaphors, allusions, and tones to convey John Proctor to the audience.

The Crucible was based in 1692 in and around the town of Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The Salem witch-hunt was view as one of the strangest and most horrendous chapters in the human history. People that were prosecuted were all innocent and their deaths were all due to false accusation of people’s ridiculous belief in superstition and their paranoia. The Puritans in those times were very strict in personal habits and morality; swearing, drunkenness and gambling would be punished. The people of Salem believed in the devil and thought that witchcraft should be hunted out.

Literature can connect with any reader at any moment. Whether the reader is analyzing a poem, singing a song, or even reading a book, literature can connect with anyone. When relating to events, people tend to relate music, poems and other forms of art to symbolize that memorable time in life. People make connections to all sorts of different art and literature, making it easier to comprehend the author’s work. One piece of literature that people can make an emotional connection to is The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He combines the history from the past and emotional impacts of their economy to tell the terrible truth of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. By analyzing the major events in the passage, song lyrics can often be referred to in relation to these common situations.

Mahatma Gandhi, an eminent leader of the Indian independence movement in India, once mentioned, "an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. " In other words, one's revenge leads to another revenge, destroying the whole world's morality. In the book, The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, the vicious, endless cycle of revenge can also be found. In the story, each character in Salem has conflicts with other characters, so he or she tries to bring up their enemy’s name in court, because of relationship, greed, and grudges.

Webster’s dictionary defines a crucible as “a vessel of a very refractory material (as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat.” This means that since ancient times, something such as a pot of clay could be used as a container for melting metals or other materials under a great deal of heat, burning away any and all impurities to get a rather purified product. Relevant to our day and society, a courtroom may sometimes be referred to as a crucible. This is because a courtroom is where irrelevancies, lies or half truths are burned away under harsh questioning or scrutiny until the purest product, which in this case is the total and complete truth, is all that remains. Likewise, in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Miller uses an analogy between a crucible and the events that take place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts to exemplify the ‘severe tests or trials’ that occur as an entire puritan community, under mass hysteria, is facing a series of daunting trials that are meant to fish out any accused witches that supposedly have sold their souls to the devil.

In every literary work, there are themes. A theme is a broad idea, moral or message of a book or story. One individual may construe the themes of a book or story differently than another, but that is the pure beauty of themes. One great literary work is The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. Succinctly, the play is about the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. Throughout the story, the townspeople indict their neighbors of being a witch and practicing witchcraft. On the surface, this historical drama has a few universal and enduring themes. Themes are universal because regardless of where in the world, the ideas still relates to everyone and is understood. Themes are enduring because the ideas are found