Theocracy In The Crucible

The village of Salem was a Puritan society, meaning the strict Puritan lifestyle was a strong factor to the outcome of the Salem witch trials. The lifestyle of Puritans was influenced massively by Christian beliefs and the church (Fraser 69-71). They desired to create a ‘City upon a hill’ (Fraser 69) and believed all eyes were focused on them. Their strict religion was one of a variety of reasons to why the witch trials occurred, if a resident of Salem were to commit a sin against God, then they were to be punished by the court of law. In Salem, politics and religion were viewed as one, and townsfolk followed laws to feel as though they are obeying God. The mass hysteria was affected by religion because the townsfolk were tricked to believe that the Devil was among them in Salem. This forced a reaction of fear out of the residents of Salem, because it challenged God (Hytner The Crucible). Religion had an impact on outlook of reputation as well, if an individual were to sin their name would be tainted, residents of Salem would obey commandments and laws, to avoid their name being posted on the door of the church (Hytner The Crucible). Religion was used to Abigail's advantage to create a mass hysteria over her accusations of witchcraft, which she utilized to gain authority

In this essay I will talk about two main central ideas. First, some people accuse innocent people for witchery. Secondly, there is a lot of hatred in the town of Salem.

It is believed, that in the hands of the Puritans, held a candle that would light the world. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he states, “They believe, in short, that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world. We have inherited this belief, and it has helped and hurt us.” In many ways this belief has been inherited in everyday American society and it has indeed helped and hurt us.

The Crucible is a complex and intriguing novel with events, characters and themes comparable to almost every period of human history. It is common for humans to fear change and what is unknown, in the play The Crucible this is witchcraft and the devil, in more recent times it can be seen in post World War Two and Cold War United States, through McCarthyism. The themes in the crucible are as important to people in the 21st century as in Salem in 1692. These include justice, reputation, hysteria, intolerance and empowerment. All of these are common themes throughout human history. The characters in The Crucible are also important to people of the 21st century as they can teach us a little bit about people around us and their reactions when

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.

When people hear the words “disobey to authority”, often what might come to mind is a dog in an obedience class. Dogs are trained to obey the authority of a human owner, and when they disobey that authority they are often punished or chastised for their actions. With humans though, the process is somewhat different. “Disobedience to authority” could then mean almost anything. It could be disobedience to a rule in a board game, a law, a teacher, a boss, a government... It could be civil disobedience or classroom disobedience. No matter what “disobedience to authority” calls to mind, often times the disobedience to authority is a plausible case that can be allowed for its reasoning. Within the context of The Crucible and modern societal disobedience

A ‘crucible’ is an object in which substances are combined and then subjected to high temperatures. Arthur Miller uses this theme to guide “The Crucible” from the exposition, when Puritan girls danced in the woods, to Proctor’s death by the hangman’s noose. Hale and Danforth are closely intertwined in their beliefs and views at the beginning of the play, but, as tensions and temperatures rise, they begin to separate; ultimately ending with contrary beliefs. In the opening scenes, Hale and Danforth are present in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 to cast out demons and witches. When the final curtain falls at the end of Act Four, Hale recognizes that the Salem Witch Trials were a result of repressed emotions and conflicts, and the desire to express them under the pretext of witchcraft. Danforth cannot and will not recognize this fact. Thus, Miller develops the characters of Hale and Danforth into foils for each other by the end of the novel; the growing tension is made evident through dialogue, character development, and through the theme of pride.

In the town of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, the government is a theocracy—rule by God through religious officials. The Salem Witch Trials take place here. The people of Salem, were very religious. They go to church every week, obey the commandments, never play with the devil, and witchcraft. If you did not obey these commandments people thought you were a bad Christian. If you broke these commandments there were major consequences. Church and working takes up most of the people's time.

Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. In society it has been something you are taught as toddler to respect authority, your elders. There are plenty of rules that as children we follow because it has been enforced in our minds that those are the rules and we must follow them. The rules do not tend to be questioned until someone disobeys them and did not think their actions were wrong. It is then that we being to question authority and resist the majority rule. No matter how unfair the laws of the governments might seem, it does not change the fact that people in society obey them. Henry Thoreau, Stanley Milgram and Martin Luther King have all considered the reasons as to why we obey authority and what the struggles of resisting majority rule may be. As a society there has come times that people themselves disobey the law and even in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people being to resist authority. Authority may play a major role in society but when people being to come to a realization of the rules that are unjust, they being to resist and protest against them.

Life teaches one very valuable lesson: with power comes the abuse of power, which results in hysteria and fear. Fear comes in many forms; fear for loved ones, fear for health, fear of losing reputation and fear of reprisal. Throughout history, a powerful few have abused their power. An example of this dilemma occurred in the 1950’s when Senator Joseph McCarthy started accusing innocent people of being communist sympathizers. Contemporary author, Arthur Miller, visited this concept of corrupt power and disapproval of McCarthyism in his classic, The Crucible. Good Night and Good Luck, a movie which was about the hysteria McCarthy caused to innocent lives, and The Crucible have one major thing in common: the corruption of power. This thematic idea reveals that the corruption of power can not only affect and impair mainstream society, but also the people which live within it.

Before and during the Salem Witch Trials, the community suffered under poor leadership and disunity, while led to abuses of power from its courts. The trials began at a time in Massachusetts history known as the “inter-charter” period, as the colony did not have a working royal charter and lacked a strong government. The years before the trials were marred with political conflict due to unpopular leadership, and by the 1690s, a new governing body known as the Council was created to “restore the institution of government and impose political order” (Ray, 50). Coincidentally, right before the Salem Witch Trials, the magistrates of the Salem court were appointed to the Council. In examining the motivations of the magistrates, it is evident that the court, as a new political body in Salem. acted to protect its authority over the people. When faced with the witch hysteria, the courts moved quickly to shut down the conflict, presumably to restore order within the community. However, the methods they employed, such as forcing confessions, created more harm than good, exaggerating the panic the people of Salem were facing. Examples of these improper court procedures are referenced in Miller's book when, in a conversation between herself and the Proctors, Mary Warren states, “He sentenced her. He must. But not Sarah Good. For Sarah Good confessed, y'see” (Miller, 53). Those that confessed to engaging in witchcraft, regardless of the truthfulness of their statements, were spared from death. While this was likely done to speed up court proceedings to alleviate some of the tensions within the community, it did the exact opposite, bringing to light false confessions that both emboldened the courts in their sentencing and instilled fear in the people of Salem. In addition, because the court was seen as a political structure, the magistrates refused to accept criticisms, as doing so would challenge their authority within the community and lead to disunity in a time when conditions were already highly unfavorable. This is reflected in Danforth’s portrayal in The Crucible. Miller depicts the judges, particularly Danforth, as authoritative and unwavering, refusing to accept evidence that challenges their ruling; instead they

The varied nature of human beings and of the crisis’ that can befall us are varied, yet often we find that reactions to perilous situations are time and time again met with similar reactions. Authors Arthur Miller and Geraldine Brooks attempt to study and comment upon the way different humans react to different crisis’ in their works: the play ‘The Crucible’ and novel ‘Year of Wonders’ respectively. Both texts explore the ideas of hysteria and look at the ways in which it can be exacerbated or soothed by such things as religion and superstitions, the theory of herd mentality and the effect of an isolated community. They also communicate how certain styles of text or the behaviour and character growth of individuals can have a profound impact upon the view of human behaviour.

Power is something almost everybody strives for at least once in their life. In Salem, the men who own the most land or people who have a great reputation for being very religious are the people with the utmost power. Slaves and women, especially unmarried ones, are the people with the lowest status. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the power dynamic dramatically shifts. Tituba, Betty’s family’s slave, brings a group of Puritans girls, including Betty, into the woods. Tituba is from Barbados and practices a different religion, which goes against parts of the Puritan beliefs. When the girls are in the woods, Reverend Parris, Betty’s father, sees them and they all scatter. Betty worries she will get in trouble, so she falls into a trance,

Social order is taking over the world. The Puritan government was more worried about social order than letting people be free. Today, we are supposed to have certain freedoms as individuals. Well, like in The Crucible, some of these freedoms are not given to us. Us as humans, deserve to be treated fairly and like free human beings.

The Crucible book written by Arthur Miller  based on a real life story that happened in 1692 to 1693 In Salem Massachusetts was based on lies and injustice, genre is play, The author's purpose is to inform the audience about what happened during the witch trials .  The Salem Village was full Puritans and they was very strict based on church rules. People that missed church regularly will be justified as a witch or malignant and will be put to shame on a stockade. People that break the rules of the strict religious town will hang or live if such person decides to confess, If they confess the accused person will still be imprisoned and not killed. Also if you was accused of practicing witchcraft you will be accused by the people and go