The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that shows how the Salem witch trials unfold. As a Puritan society, Salem functions as a theocracy. Unlike today 's United States government in which Church and State are entirely separate entities, a theocracy is essentially the Church acting as the government. Because of the theocratic nature of Salem 's governing body, religion plays a principal role in the lives of every character and has a major effect on the progression of the plot. In The Crucible, theology is used as a tool to accomplish ulterior motives of greed and vengeance, allowing the witch trials to gain momentum. The theocratic governing body in Salem is ultimately responsible for the witch trials due to laws based on religion rather than reason that are enforced by a corrupt criminal justice system.

In The Crucible, the theocratic Christian society where God and the law are the same, the faith of the Salem community becomes flawed and twisted as Religion is taken advantage of to serve private interests, ultimately poisoning society. This worldly abuse of Religion can be seen when members of Salem twist their faith to secure their reputation, grapple for political power, and carry out personal vengeances.

The Salem Witch Trials were a time of destruction and tragedy; the children and the people of the court were accusing everyone in their town of witchcraft. In The Crucible, a play about the Salem With Trials; Reverend Hale is an extremely dynamic character towards his beliefs and power. Hale changes throughout the story from being determined to find witchery in Salem to realizing that all the accused were innocent. The main problem for Hale in The Crucible is power: the level of it, how he uses it, and the issues it may cause.

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.

Almost every part of life follows a format or set of rules; The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, is no exception. The town of Salem lives under a theocracy that ultimately destroys the town. Both large and small groups also obey certain laws, as made in clear in Megan Donley’s article, “Explaining the Mob Mentality”. A Newsweek article written by Reuter reveals that even 2017’s government cannot escape falling in line with a certain structure. The paradox surrounding the theocracy in The Crucible has not been resolved, which can be seen in modern society.

‘The Crucible' not only addresses the issue of conformity, it attacks the poor balance of power that surrounds us everyday. Miller demonstrates how much power a sole in-dividual can have when the decisions made by that person effect a whole community. During the Witchcraft Trials in Salem, religion was, much more than now the answer to the unknown and the unexplained. As a result, the Church and the people in its service were people of prominence and power. They were the only people who could successfully interpret the Church's doctrine, often to their own benefit, without being accused of a wrong doing and what could be more powerful than this in a theocratic society like Salem? This corrupt hierarchy meant that nobody could question a priest or minister because doing so would be considered questioning God. As a result, a per-son of such power could say almost anything they pleased, people would listen and appropriate action taken. This is evidenced with the supposed ‘cleansing' of Salem. Although an event that occurred before the writing of ‘The Crucible', the Holocaust is a prime example of imbalanced power. Hitler, a man of great power, especially in Nazi Germany, basically accused a few million people of being witches. Action was taken and millions perished all

In the novel, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail, the antagonist in the book is to blame for all the events that occur because she was the one that first dabbled with witchcraft. In that time period, witchcraft was thought of as a sin, and if somebody was accused, they would be hung unless they confessed. She would be categorized as an instigator of her society since she played with witchcraft, and accused others, which would be hung if they didn’t confess. Many events in her past and present influence this behavior, and many problems occur because of her impact on the community. Abigail’s affair with John Proctor, her association with witchcraft and her accusation of others causes her to be blamed for the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts.

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, Arthur intrigues audience time and time again with the historical context, social implications, and the Salem, Massachusetts Witchcraft Trials of 1962. Most members in Salem feel the need to prove their authority in ways such as accusing those who have done nothing or hanging them without proving their innocence first. The thing is authority is not made up by an authority figure, but by society. Miller’s The Crucible, demonstrates how people misuse their authority for cruel purposes through a fascinating plot, well-crafted characters, and well-set theme. During the hysteria of witchcraft trials in Salem, there were multiple figures of authority or per say the community who abused their power, Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris and Judge Danforth.

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.

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.

The Crucible perfect example of how beliefs could affect people in a negative way. For example, in The Crucible, the town’s government is a theocracy. The citizens made decisions based off of their religion. Once people were accused of witchcraft, the accused were arrested and hanged because the town were taught to believe they were committing serious crimes but in reality, there was no witchery. In today's society, individuals will do the same action of having certain beliefs that influences one’s actions or behavior towards something or someone. For example, a religious person being intolerable towards someone who is gay. The religious individual was taught by their religion to believe a certain way about those who are gay. The person could feel very strongly about their beliefs and act upon those beliefs such as hurting the other individual. In the play, The Crucible, Reverend Hale is summoned to Salem and explains, so

By the standards of virtually any society, lying is an act that is almost certain to 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 circumstances is vital to true morality. Miller’s stance is a rational and realistic one and can be seen not only in his play,

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.

The tragic events of the Salem witch trials tested the morality of several individuals, who abided to a government based on religious intolerance and limitation. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” highlights the detrimental effects of the religious court, and the impact Puritan societal norms had on its citizens. Reverend Hale, a protagonist in the play serves as a balance between morality versus and the religious conformity that took place within society. His transformation throughout the play demonstrates his true intention in doing what is right and abiding by the correct ideals, instead of following the damaging priorities enrooted in the theocratic system. Throughout “The Crucible,” Reverend Hale transfers from adhering to a theocracy to prioritizing the true value of life, revealing his maintenance of a strong moral code.