Women's Rights In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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.

In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, justice and injustice is portrayed through the characters of John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. It is also shown through the minor characters of Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis, followers of Abigail Williams, and through Danforth and various townspeople.

While reading the Crucible there are several recurring themes, a few of which include sexual repression and patriarchy. Specifically, these themes which are seen so often throughout this play seem to be connected to the downfall of this small Puritanical town. Today I will bring to light the biased views and sexual repression that led this small town to its untimely demise. This paper will delve into the puritans daily way of life and beliefs and expose that sexual repression and patriarchy were the real killers in this play based on real events.

The main quality admired and expected of women in The Crucible is submissiveness. It is clear from the play that Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, was largely a patriarchal society. Power in the hands of women was looked down on and even feared. Any leverage that women had was gained solely through manipulation. If the men suspected a woman of interacting with the Devil, she was expected to submit to their authority and confess her crime. If she rebelled and refused to confess, she was sentenced to death, no questions asked. However, the same was also true for men, though they were much more seldom found guilty of witchcraft.

During the 1650s in Salem, Massachusetts, there were many beliefs about women perpetuated by society. They were considered to be impulsive, selfish and subservient. Women were pressured into conforming to these social standards. This is shown numerous times in Arthur Miller’s play, the Crucible. However, despite these social pressures, there were a number of instances where women we shown to have more power than men. The action of female characters were influenced by the beliefs, stereotypes and expectations promoted in their society.

Sparknotes emphasizes the role of empowerment by stating, “The witch trials empower several characters in the play who are marginalized in Salem’s society”. In fact, by empowering individuals who were previously powerless, the society (in The Crucible) crumbles. Arthur Miller is trying to convey that absolute power will often lead to corruption.

Women are portrayed in three distinctive ways in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Some are appeared as great, moral, upright people, while others are the opposite. Miller is not a feminist, his intentions are not to make women appear to be spotless, however, he is also not a misogynist, he does not condemn all women for the sins of their sex. He demonstrates a balance between various individuals, with a specific end goal to make the story more believable. There are three distinct women in the play with three different personas.

Imagine never being able to speak in public or talk to a man other than your husband. This is how the women of Salem had to act and live during the 1600s, they were deprived of any social power in the public eye. However, during the year 1692 the Salem witch trials occurred allowing powerless women to finally develop a social standing. In the play, “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller, the witch trials empowered powerless women by allowing the female gender to develop a voice, bestowing social power within themselves, instilling fear in others.

I stand as an outsider looking into a very complex cultural and economic system. I try to understand the perspective of these women but it is impossible because I have not walked in their shoes. Many are resigned to their fate and I wonder if my reaction would not be the same if I were put in a situation in which there were no other options. These women cannot, for whatever reason, be angry about the humiliation and abuse that they suffer, so I feel an obligation to be angry for them and make their plight known to the world.

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.

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

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,

From the very beginning, society has seen women as inheriting the character flaw of Eve 's original sin. Most people see women as lustful beings because of how Eve tempted Adam in the garden of Eden, meaning they were more susceptible to the Devil. Men target the females because of their views and the roles they play in a male dominated society. Men have a more opinionated view of a woman 's duties. The Crucible portrays women as the very definition of sexual desire, open to demonic command and beneath the common beggar, with little or no reputation attached to their name.

In “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller uses the characters Abigail and the three girls as feminists to gain power. “American laws wanted to move women closer to equality through an Equal Rights Amendment that would ban governments discrimination based on sexes”. “Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of equality of the sexes.” He portrayed this by women having the power in a positive and negative way. In the town of Salem, women were given less amount of power, with their ability to have judgments upon other women and men as being witches and wizards. There was no need of evidence to prove if a person was a witch or not. This power was given to Abigail and the girls implying larger comments on the negative effect of women holding power. Although there were good things and bad things about women having power, Elizabeth Proctor lost power over her husband because John Proctor is the head of the house, but “she is submissive to him.” Elizabeth is not secured within her relationship with John Proctor because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. Elizabeth is upset and deeply hurt, and constantly reminding John Proctor that she is still hurt because he cheated on her. Society’s view a husband having more power than the woman. Elizabeth began to have the position of a stereotypical wife. She doesn’t lose power, but suppresses her power and holds her power privately. Society view women to be weak, not intelligent, so they deserve to have less power, and