The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, focuses on the inconsistencies and injustice of the 1692 witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. The restrictive Puritan society of Salem in the 17th century was based upon religious intolerance, where faith was demonstrated through physical labour and by strict adherence to religious doctrine. Material, physical and sexual desires were considered the Devil’s work and a threat to the very fabric of society. In summary, it is said that Puritanism discouraged individualism on all levels. The literal way in which the Bible was interpreted by the Puritans, provides a paradox within the play. This is because although the Bible says “thou shalt not kill,” the people of Salem are willing to sentence innocent

Names usually possess a significant meaning behind them: someone could be named after a close relative, pets named after their owner’s favorite comic character, an email address named after their favorite pastime. However, sometimes the meaning of a name is less obvious. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller recreates the anxiety and hysteria of the Salem witch-trials from 1692. Although the title, not once is the word “crucible” spoken in the play. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “crucible” three ways: “A pot in which metals or other substances are heated to a very high temperature or melted”, “a difficult test or challenge”, and “a place or situation that forces people to change or make difficult decisions” (“Crucible”). The definitions

In a perfect world, every citizen would be beatific because of their wealth, fame, and fortune. Each person would have a reason to smile every morning, and would not face any consequences if they took part in immoral actions. However, if one person seems out of place in a utopia, he or she may be a victim to oppression. In most fables, the unique character, or underdog, finishes victoriously: becoming the hero, winning over the girl, and so forth. This story line has been seen in many different fairy tales. The Crucible follows that same plot, but twists the typical denouement into one that portrays the darkness of a society meticulously. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible highlights the significance of conformity in a society of people and growing suspicion that will begin to lurk throughout a community if one is different. This is portrayed accurately by the vehement John Proctor, who had the ability to influence society conspicuously because of his refusal to act as a typical Puritan.

One may call self-preservation a natural, basic instinct. This will to survive is strong, but how far would you be willing to go to stay alive? In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a series of events unfold in the 1600s when a group of girls accuse others of conspiring with the devil. These accusations spread and the mass hysteria caused neighbors and friends to turn on each other. When unexplainable things happened, they attributed it to other performing witchcraft. The religious town of Salem took action against the accusations by making a court. This court prosecuted anyone suspected of being a witch or being affiliated with one. With little to no evidence, many innocent people were arrested and even killed in Salem. A recurring theme prevalent throughout The Crucible is self-preservation.

Everyone has someone in their life that is trying to take what they have. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, written in 1952, there are two women that stand out due to their conflicting personalities. The two women are Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. Elizabeth Proctor is a caring mom and wife that tells the truth, while the naïve Abigail Williams is a cruel adultress teen that lies to help herself, but both characters want the same thing: John Proctor.

Strange and peculiar happenings occur in The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller. In this story of hypocrisy, guilt, and revenge, innocent people are accused of the bizarre crime of witchcraft. In Salem, Massachusetts, hysteria sets in among every person over fear of being accused of these shocking accusations. Each and every person experiences a severe test or trial in order to live to see another day. In addition to this, these people witnessed their own friends be sentenced to death over a crime in which many were found guilty. The morals of Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor are tested in the crucible of the Salem witchcraft trials.

“I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 45). In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, residents of Salem habitually ‘cry witch’, driven by fear, paranoia, and vengeance. Under a strict theocracy, where the court’s ruling and religious beliefs are exclusively bound to one another, death is practically inevitable for those branded as witches, their names perpetually tarnished. From atop his high horse, one may look upon The Crucible and harshly judge the irrational actions of Salem’s community; however, human emotion drove these injudicious acts, the very raw emotion that often overpowers logic in today’s society. Though theocracy has dissolved in America, one can never rid the world of blind emotions or the mishaps that may follow them. Currently, fear, paranoia, and vengeance drive racial profiling in society, inciting scores of people to ‘cry terrorist’. Unjustified displays of racism, witnessed in the persecution of Muslims as result of the 9/11 and the Paris attacks, verify that society today is a reflection of The Crucible’s in unfortunate ways.

What is a reputation? Is it something you earn or is it something you are just handed? The dictionary describes it as a favorable repute; good name. One could conclude that one is given a reputation based on certain actions or characteristics. Also valid for argument is the importance of having a good or bad reputation. Having a good reputation can be for the sake of having others view you as a good person and someone that they can rely on. On the other hand, a person with a bad reputation would be treated with little respect and not taken very seriously. All of these factors based on what society chooses to name you as, a person with a good reputation or someone with a bad reputation. The birth of a reputation is created by society and it alone. If having a reputation were all up to one’s self we would all have superb reputations. The Crucible by Arthur Miller focuses on upkeeping a good reputation and showing the importance of having a good clean name.

The quality most necessary in a leader and a catalyst for hysteria is the ability to manipulate. The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller depicts the events that occurred in 1690s in Massachusetts best known as the Salem Witch Trials. These events center on a group of young girls who are found dancing in the woods with a black slave. Among them is Abigail Williams, a 17 year-old-girl desperate to conceal her affair with a married man and escape charges of witchcraft. In an attempt to pull the spotlight away from themselves, this group of girls, led by Abigail, begin to accuse countless people of witchcraft and as a result 19 people are hanged. The Crucible serves as an example of an individual’s ability to create hysteria, as well as the factors that are necessary for the rest of a society to participate in it. Despite the negative puritan perceptions of women, Abigail’s accusations are still acknowledged and believed by important members of society. Furthermore, the combined actions of Abigail as well as the rest of the girls spark a movement of panic and frenzy among all members of her society. The way in which Abigail manipulated people using the shortcomings of her society in The Crucible, the strict religious and cultural values of puritan society, as well as the ability of the people in The Crucible to oppose hysteria demonstrate the factors that allow for an individual to create hysteria and other people’s willingness to go along with it.

People will do almost anything to take down the person they believe to be the cause of their problems. McCarthyism blew up in the 1940’s when America and Russia (a communist country) had a race with technology. With this McCarty saw his opportunity to take down his competition by accusing them of being a communist; which at the time, was seen as being a large threat to the American government. Sense that Russia was a communist country, and threatening war against America, being a communist was punishable by incarceration. While with the Salem Witch Trials of sixteen-ninety two the court and townspeople were pushed into unthinkable things by their own fears of few people. In The Crucible (written based off of the records Miller read when he visited Salem) Abigail was determined to get what and who she wanted, and in trying to achieve that goal Abigail accused women in the town of witchcraft to protect herself. Being accused of witchcraft in Salem was the equivalent of being accused of being a communist in the nineteen-forties. Miller wrote the Crucible to point out the underlying ridiculousness that sparked real fear in both the time of McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials; McCarthy and Abigail protecting themselves, punishment being the best option, and having no proof but still ruined people 's lives.

Reverend Hale develops from a strong intelligent individual with no compassion, to kind & sympathetic as the story matures for example when he is begging women in prison to confess to save their lives.

The human mind can be a dangerous weapon; how it is used is a grave responsibility, one that, not everyone can control. Some see the mind as a commodity, a plaything to warp reality and torture others with, and while that might work for now, it will always turn on them. This perception is often mirrored in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Crucible takes on the advantageous backdrop of Salem, Massachusetts during one of the darkest times in American history, the Salem Witch Trials. With swiftly changing times, the townspeople of Salem must prepare to defend themselves against Abigail Williams and the girls of Salem, for they are on a quest for revenge. With accusations being thrown at anyone with an opinion, one wrong move will most certainly mean death. Abigail Williams takes on the role of lustful greed that becomes her eventual ruin. This transformation is catalyzed through her ability to manipulate perception, her apparent control over Salem, and her narcissistic personality.

Imagine being persecuted for something you had no control over. Ever since 1692 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts where the idea of “witch-hunts” originated, several groups across the world have been persecuted because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or other unsupported reasons. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the witch-hunts that took place during Puritan times are specifically targeted and serve as the focus point throughout the course of the story. Aside from the main plot points of the play, Miller also comments on a period in the 1950s during the Cold War when people who were thought to have been communists were persecuted against and deemed guilty without substantial evidence. These so-called “witch-hunts” stemmed from periods of fear and racism, and people were victimized with no way to prove themselves. Based on the outcome of multiple historical events throughout the course of history, “witch-hunts” are not justified or needed to achieve justice or establish order in society. One prime example of a historical “witch-hunt” is the Negro Holocaust, a period in the late 1800s and early 1900s where African Americans were lynched by white people based on their skin color.

In Arthur Miller’s writing he clearly says his profound political and moral convictions. In 1953 Arthur Miller drew upon the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692 to attack the anti-communist “witch hunts” of the 1950’s. Because the Puritans deeply feared the power of Satan, the villagers of Salem became involved in the hysterical climate not only out of religious reasons but also because it gives them a chance to act on their own personal grudges. When Reverend Parris’s daughter and Abagail Williams started having fits over convulsion, screaming, and hallucination, the theocracy sets up a court to identify the witches in the village. The witch trials are the ultimate expression of intolerance because hanging witches is a way for the

Lucifer, Satan or his common name, the devil. From an English perspective, he is the first antagonist. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the Devil is the main cause of conflict. He is the root of Evil. Now the reaction to devilish behavior varies from person to person, possibly even society to society. The Puritan society combats evil doing with actions that could be considered worse than the Devil 's worst of deeds. This is demonstrated by Reverend Hale, whose importance starts initially as a figurehead of judgment, and his influence of judgment slowly dwindles. Another proof of imperfection in the Puritan society is the article McCarthyism. It projects the same sickening goose chase that ruins the lives of harmless people. Abigail is the ultimate icon of the mockery that is the Salem witch trials. Her “encounters” with demons in the courtroom are borderline comedic. The puritans justify all decisions with the argument that all drastic measures are necessary to remove the demons within the townspeople, for the greater good.