At first glance, the playwright Arthur Miller in The Crucible highlights the historical significance of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but in fact it is an allegorical expression of his perception of McCarthyism. If the reader has some background information on Arthur Miller’s victimization as a communist, it is evident that the play is a didactic vessel illustrating the flaws of the court system in the 1950’s. The communist allegations were launched at government employees, entertainers and writers
of their way to the last dying breath to make sure they leave with a good or bad reputation. In one of the recent literature study in class “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, Miller uses characterization to illustrate reputation throughout the play. “The Crucible” takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. It is based upon the Salem witch trails. In “The Crucible”, we journey through the life of three characters who reputations plays a major role in the play. The three characters are John Proctor, Abigail
motivated by jealousy and spite. The Crucible is a four-act dramatic play production that was first performed on January 22, 1953. Arthur Miller used dialogue within the characters to cover the multiple themes; conflicts and resolutions, plus the few directions for the different actions of the play. The Salem Witch Trials were intended to be performed as the play however, when read, it can be more carefully examined and broken down to analyze the techniques. Miller, the playwright, uses literary
The traditional saying of “history repeats itself” is extensively and effectively demonstrated in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Arthur draws parallels between the concept of the witch trials and the “Red Scare” through the entire play to the old adage. The truth of this concept is that similar events continue to occur multiple times throughout history. The events that took place in the 1690’s and the 1950’s seem completely insane in today’s world; the foolishness of society’s belief system and the
result in some form of contempt, hatred, or even ostracism. However, not all liars are regarded in the same way- there is an obvious difference of morality between a fraudulent politician and one lying to protect his own life. In his play The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates the moral and societal differences between and consequences of different types of lies: A liar’s virtue is determined primarily by intention, and while some forms of dishonesty are more acceptable than others, truth under all
The Crucible Author 's Purpose In the town of Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a mass of hysteria broke out. It all started in the spring of 1692, when a group of adolescent girls claimed the works of black magic within the village. This ultimately led to a “series of investigations and prosecutions that caused 19 convicted ‘witches’ to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned” (Salem witch trials 1). Sparked by interest over such a series of tragic event, Arthur Miller produced an
” -Margaret Atwood the author of “Half-Hanged Mary”. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, ¨Why I Wrote The Crucible¨an essay by Arthur Miller, and ¨Half-Hanged Mary¨ a poem by Margaret Atwood, it shows that a society under stress will always scapegoat a person or a group of people. Defending this statement, people from each of these sources have felt betrayed by being blamed and persecuted for actions they have not done. In The Crucible, Abigail and her friends choose to scapegoat people in their
Jenna Dugas Mrs. Susan Gremillion English III 15 March 2016 The Crucible Arthur Miller’s famous play, The Crucible, takes place in the late 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts. The intense drama is a fiction story based on the Salem witch trials in the Province of Massachusetts. In this play many characters have to decide if their lives would be better off if they confess to working on the devil’s side and giving away their innocent name or be hanged for something that they committed. It
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
As the various characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller interact, the dominant theme of the consequences of women’s nonconformity begins to slide out from behind the curtains of the play. Such a theme reveals the gripping fear that inundated the Puritans during the seventeenth century. This fear led to the famous witch-hunts that primarily terrorized women who deviated from the Puritan vision of absolute obedience and orthodoxy. Arthur Miller presents his interpretation of the suffering by subtly