Women in the Crucible Essay

The Salem Witchcraft trials was an outrageous event that began in 1692, and ended May of 1693 seeing the execution of many people. Unfortunately most of the victims of this phenomenon were women. For the most part these women were accused for very trivial reasons, such as for being widowed, being of old age and living alone, or for simply collecting herbs and other plants. During this time in history women and men were treated very differently both as they should contribute in the home and in society, this would have presented reasons as to why women were predominantly accused of witchcraft, along with any religious beliefs. The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place at a time of a patriarchal society, the roles of men and women were different, along with how they were treated overall in society. This contributed to the stereotype of women being the ones predominantly associated with witchcraft.

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a rich and enticing play set in the late 1600’s describing the epic horrors and emotions through the events of the Salem witch trials. The Crucible, focuses primarily on the inconsistencies of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden agendas. The play begins with the discovery of several young girls and an African American slave, Tituba, in the woods just outside of Salem, dancing and pretending to conjure spirits. The Puritans of Salem stood for complete religious intolerance and stressed the need to follow the ways of the bible literally without exception. The actions of the women in

In the Crucible, there are only a few types of woman being displayed. There are three contradistinctive personalities show in three different women. A few are shown to be moral, truthful people, while others are shown to be dishonest and deceitful. It can be concluded that the playwright is not a feminist. The author, Miller does not portray the females as impeccable and immaculate. Instead, Miller shows many slipups and vulnerabilities of the females being displayed.

When in reality, there were no witches, it was all false notations of Abigail's’ lie that lead into something greater than it should have been.“It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits” (Mary Warren, Act 3, p. 100)

In 1692, many people in Salem, Massachusetts confessed to witchcraft, which resulted in several conflicts. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, uses real events to develop a fictional play. One of the characters in the play is Elizabeth Proctor. She is a static character because she undergoes very little changes throughout the play. The author illustrates the theme of reputation through Elizabeth. Her character shows traits of strength, honesty, and loyalty to protect her good reputation.

Feminist theory is the advocacy of gender equality in terms of respect, opportunities and social rights. The Crucible by Arthur Miller represents the conventional feminist gender struggle, through the medium of an androcentric patriarchal society built on the ideals of religion. In Salem, woman are portrayed as the lower class of society, patronised by men such as Proctor “I am looking for you more often than my cows!" comparing Mary to a farm animal is indicative of their perceived place. Furthermore, the violent way the men within Salem converse with woman “You will confess yourself or I will whip you to death, Tituba! demonstrates the lack of impartiality and feelings that theyhave on a woman’s fundamental rights. Miller’s use of

Imagine the panic when there is the possibility that anyone around who looks no different than everyone else is relaying information to the enemies. Having no idea if the neighbors who have lived there for 15 years are actually spies. Having no idea if there was a real threat of danger right around the block. This is the type of concern spread by Senator Joseph McCarthy, in his hunt to blacklist and profile as many “communists” in America as possible. Abigail Williams, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, plays a similar type of role as she starts the wave of accusations against nearly every female in town. The

There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Some are raised with high expectations, morals, and the majority are raised in a Christian household. And some are raised the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she often views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary also shows how women portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.

The Crucible is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the 17th century and is based on true events. The Puritans believed in witchcraft and were gullible. At the start of the play, the audience learns some girls were caught dancing naked in the woods by Reverend Parris. They had supposedly “conjured up spirits” and this led to the accusations of the girls as witches. In order to escape the punishment, they accuse other women of the town of being witches. They say that they were approached by the devil but did not go over to his side so they are used as members of the jury.

Adolf Hitler once said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed” and he was right. After all he convinced millions of Germans to hate Jewish people, he pointed his long bony finger at the Jews and said that they were the devils children and people believed him. He formed an army and started a war that killed sixty million people all based on a lie. A lie he believed in but never the less, a lie. In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, a girl named Abigail Williams, also manifests a lie that ends up killing many innocent people.

There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Women are raised with high expectations, morals, and majority are raised in a Christian household. Although there’s the other types of women that are the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” also uses a woman to portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.

The roles in which women play in the drama are very significant due to the fact that they are able to shape the story and give an idea of the nature of one of the strangest events which we call the witch trials. In the play, women are depicted as weak creatures who are expected to submit to men, and whose only access to power is through dishonest means which we see a lot through certain characters. No women in the Crucible possesses extreme power and with the lying and dishonest females having the most power through despicable acts, only means for the truthful, pure-hearted, and family orientated women to be the least powerful. More specifically, women from the drama who fit into these archetypes are Mary Warren,

Elizabeth Proctor is Proctor’s wife who is the main character having been impacted by the error of his ways. Proctor simply wants to be forgiven by Elizabeth however she has already forgiven him, he just has to forgive himself. Mary Warren is also one who is impacted by what Proctor has done. She has only tried to do the right thing but fear of Abigail and the others stands in her way. Miller does a remarkable job in The Crucible showing how one person’s motivation for doing something can impact other lives.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many women were powerless previous to the witchcraft trials. Especially in a Puritan town, women had no choice in society and weren’t fully treated as respected members. However, when the women of Salem, Massachusetts gained power over the court and church, some used the newly founded power for selfish and immature reasons while others, found it an unbearable burden to carry. The Crucible depicts the effects power can have on others. The role of women then became a firm driving force of the plot line. The characters of Abigail, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor each portray a different stage of moral development through their actions during the Salem witch trials and societal roles in the play.

Thomas Middleton’s, Women Beware Women and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, are both set in the 1600s a time when women did not have any rights. Although both stories are completely different from each other, they share a common trait of bold, powerful women. In The Crucible, Abigail’s jealousy and desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor has her manipulate everyone in the town of Salem causing hysteria. Livia, the widow in Women Beware Women strategically manipulates every person to turn their backs on each other which creates a tragedy. Abigail and Livia are the villains in their community but how they acquire their power is very different. While Abigail’s power comes from her intense desire for revenge on a specific person and then spreads throughout the community, Livia’s motivation for power originates from her own boredom and desire for control on a large scale.