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 …show more content…
Amongst the dancers was Abigail Williams, an orphan and servant to Reverend Parris. When accusations of witchcraft targeted the girls, Abigail lies and confesses to Satanism: “I danced with the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 48). The puritans fear the devil so much that they willingly believe Abigail’s accusations of those consorting with the devil and imprison those she points her finger towards. Thus, Abigail uses her newfound influence to arrest the wife of her paramour, John Proctor, revealing her true feelings of greed and passion during the madness of the witch trials. Abigail was not the only abuser of mayhem; similar acts of greed and jealousy surfaced as the trials proceeded. Giles Corey, an old farmer of Salem, accuses Thomas Putnam, a wealthy and influential citizen of Salem, of making his daughter accuse landowners of witchcraft: “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeits up his property—that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land....The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land” (Miller 96). Thomas Putnam 's greed uses the trials as means of monetary gain, thus prolonging the trials. Salem became a boiling pot of madness that melted away everyone 's pure and lustrous facade,
By ending The Crucible with the hangings of innocent people Miller conveys that hysteria can have devastating effects. The play’s name “The Crucible” also has an underlying message. A crucible is a metal used for heating substances at high temperatures. The word is derived from the latin word crux meaning trial or cross and has a connotation that means a test. Metaphorically speaking, the people of salem were put in a heating pot under high temperatures for a confession. People were put to test of their faith and values. Miller uses the term “crucible” to show how inhumane the events
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.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1952, is symbolic and portrays many double meanings. These elements force the reader to uncover a deeper meaning behind what Miller writes. One of the most prominent symbols is in the title of the play; a ‘crucible’.
Page 1 of 3Hai Nguyen John Proctor and the McCarthyism “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller illustrates the reflection of the anti-communist hysteria in the United States known as McCarthyism. Miller uses the character John Proctor as a force in demonstrating the way lives were destroyed by McCarthyism. Throughout the story, while Proctor is respected in the community, he has conflict secretly with many people as well as himself. John Proctor is a perfect character because the readers are able to view him as a victim in the society where McCarthyism took place. He is also an adulterer, husband of Elizabeth, and knows what is happening in and outside of the Salem society. Proctor was having a conflict with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth did not trust John because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. Elizabeth was supposed to trust John, but she refused to because he said he was alone with Abigail for a moment. John cannot say or argue against Elizabeth because of his guilt:” Because it speaks deceit, and I am honest! But I will plead no more! I see how your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!” Elizabeth tried to make John feel guilt, so John wanted to make sure she understood her cold nature may have prompted his cheating. He also has conflict with Abigail Williams which is his mistress. John Proctor was so angry because Abigail accused his wife to witchcraft. She sent Mary Warren with a puppet that has needle inside its
With all that is going on in the world today, what is more important to you freedom or Safety? In The Crucible, Abigale choose her own safety over hers of her friends and family, and in Fahrenheit 451, Guy choose his freedom over the safety of him and his wife and, in Berlin you either live on West Berlin were you were free or you lived on the other side of the wall where you had no freedom but you were safe. So which side of the wall do you want to live on?
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible show the hysteria that took place in Salem in 1692. Even though this play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on a real historical event which was McCarthyism in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. There’re many connection in The Crucible to be considered as an allegory due to similarities themes and how the characters are being portrayed. Miller does an excellent job of portraying numerals characters used fear for benefit and they showed selfishness and malfeasance. This is also similar to how Joseph McCarthy’s oppressive by using intense fear of the spread of the economic system called communism.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, hysteria breaks out in Salem when young girls begin pronouncing accusations of witchcraft. One of the accused, Elizabeth Proctor and her husband, John Proctor, live on a farm where he provides and cares for their family. When Elizabeth becomes sick John is unfaithful and has an affair with one of the accusers, Abigail Williams. Through the course of the story, John Proctor moves from denial and deflection of his actions and their consequences in order to maintain his public dignity, to public confession and condemnation for his actions in order to soothe his conscience and maintain his internal sense of integrity. This progression is illustrated by his interactions with his wife, their accusers and the court, who ultimately condemns them.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It all started when Reverend Parris discovers a group of girls dancing in the woods. After he found the girls in the wood, his daughter Betty fall ill. Since Betty wouldn’t wake up, people become paranoid and started believing that witchcraft was real. Fake accusations were made and innocent people kept dying. In The Crucible there are many people to blame for all for everything that occurred, characters such a Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Reverend Parris. Abigail Williams is to blame because she accused everyone else just to protect herself. Reverend Hale is also blame because he was the one who got people to think that witchcraft was real. Lastly Reverend Parris is to blame because he was just worried about himself and his reputation in Salem.
Most people would not like to be known as a coward. Mary Warren was not aiming for that title, but that is what she ended up with. She gave herself this negative reputation. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play about the undergoing of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692. A group of Salems girls, are caught dancing in the woods. To take allegation off of themselves, they accuse other innocent townspeople of practicing witchcraft. Multiple victims are murdered or imprisoned. Mary Warren, one of the accusers, plays a big role in this play. Mary Warren’s character changes from cowardly, to brave, and back to cowardly, throughout the story which shows how she evolved throughout The Crucible.
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
“Honesty is the best policy.” Kids grow up hearing that from their parents, teachers, and other adult figures. However, many grow out of listening to this advice, spreading bits of untruths as harmless as white lies to the more severe, like in the case of the Salem Witch Trials or the McCarthy trials during the Red Scare. Arthur Miller delved deeply into this topic in his famous play, The Crucible, in which he compared the Salem Witch Trials to the McCarthy trials as a comment on the self-preserving, rash, and gullible nature of human beings, in order to open the audience’s eyes to the error of their ways. He wanted them to see the negative consequences of the Red Scare so they would put an end to it.
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 Crucible by Arthur Miller in a play based off of the Salem Witch Trials. The play ends with the town in mass hysteria. A girl is struck with lust, an innocent slave is accused, and a man struggles to do the right thing. Three characters that influenced the development of mass hysteria throughout the play are Abigail Williams, Tituba, and John Proctor.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, it takes place in 1962 in Salem, Massachusetts. The main conflict the characters face throughout the play is identifying who is the one to blame for the witchcraft. While figuring out who is behind all the witchcraft, there is a lot of reactions towards the methods the characters use to figure out who it is. The title, The Crucible, has a figurative and literal meaning that goes along with the play. The literal meaning of the crucible is that it is a piece of laboratory equipment used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures or to melt metal, and is full of violent reactions. Meanwhile, the figurative meaning of it is that it is a test or trial. Miller’s title, The Crucible, is significant to play since both the literal and figurative definitions is portrayed throughout the play.
Sometimes title’s meanings are unimportant, but other times title’s meaning are everything. In the case of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, the title is a very important aspect to the piece of literature. There is a lot of supporting evidence that shows the symbolism of the title throughout; whether or not its in relation to the characters or the events that take place, there are many details that support the title choice. The title of the Crucible has two significant definitions, and is a good title for the play.