‘The Crucible’ is a novel which was written by Arthur Miller in 1953. It takes place during the times of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. This was a time of much hypocrisy in the people of the town of Salem. Many people believed anything they heard or saw. Although The Crucible is fictitious, the story depicts the historical information of the Salem witch trials, and blends them with fictitious characters to create a very realistic plot and conflict in the story. Miller wrote this play as a response to the political environment in which he lived. The story relates to the McCarthy trials. During the 1950's Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This lead to many accusations that people were communists. Some people believed him because they had fear of communism. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting "witch hunts". The Red Scare was a witch hunt where the US government was searching for "dangerous communists." Accusations came from left and right, much the same as the characters did for "real witches" in The Crucible. This meant that people were forced to either confess to the crime of witchery or shove the blame towards a different person. As an effect of this bias, the accused were never discharged, but were given the opportunity to confess to the crime of witchcraft to lessen their sentence. With the red scare, the accused were given a chance to give up names of other suspected communists to lessen their sentence as well. In both situations, there were people who confessed even though they had no relation to the crime at all. The majority, however, valued their morals and refused to give into political pressure by lying. This is shown as abuse of power. The puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th century. The entire plot of the novel is moulded by the repressive Puritan society. Like many puritan women, Elizabeth Proctor is dutiful and loves her husband dearly. Yet, Elizabeth is hurt by the fact…
Of the over 40,000 words brilliantly crafted into a story, only two are able of capturing the meaning of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Set in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials, Miller depicts the town and the strong puritan values vested in its people. When accusations of witchcraft run ravage through the streets, such puritan purity is in question. The Crucible is a fitting title for Arthur Miller’s play.The English noun crucible symbolizes Salem, the trials and the resulting changes that occur.…
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as a narrative to McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Even though The Crucible is based on the Salem witch trials, they have differences such as, the relationship between John Proctor and Abigail Williams, and the towns’ relationship with the Putnam’s.…
In my personal opinion about "Macbeth" and the thoughts of Shanley is that I would have to have to agree with Shanley's thought proses on the situation given in the book. Because when all of this is happening Macbeth still has a consionce witch would prove that he is also still human he still realizes that there is something to be lost. In the test example I gave earlier the person would probably have some sort of controversy going on in his/her head and. It would probably be going like this. "If I look I can finally have good scores! Then I can go and show off to my friends because there always doing better then I am and I would have what I wanted for the test score. But wait on the other hand if I look at the awnser and tack the test then…
Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, “Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.” (Are You Now... 34) Miller is explaining how the court operated, in terms of coming to their conclusions. He is showing the similarity between his experience with the trials involving the Red Scare, and the trials in Salem. The witchcraft trials were very much alike the communism suspicions in the United States, in which many individuals were falsely accused for crimes they had not committed. The court’s duty was to draw names of other participants of the so-called “crimes”. Miller indicates the similarity in Judge Danforth’s statement to…
Author Miller in his play The Crucible explores the lives of people who strictly live under the church’s authority in a theocratic society during the 1690s in Salem, Massachusetts. A community of Puritans with their strong beliefs will cause a paranoia in their entire village. The ministers of the church afraid of losing their power will do anything to keep it. Other individuals seek power for their own personal vendetta. With the use of direct characterization, allusion, and irony Miller shows his readers who has the power, who fears it, and who wants in The Crucible.…
Crucible means a place or occasion of severe test or trial. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it talks about the Salem witch trials, where Reverend Hale, the so called Doctor of the story, comes to play a dramatic role as religious man, trying to figure out the truth of what's really going on in the town.…
The author of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, was actually involved in the Communist hunt of the mid 20th century which ties in with the reason of why he wrote this play and what he named the play. McCarthyism is a vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy in the period 1950–54. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party. Miller saw the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era and decided that he needed one word to describe both of them when suddenly the word “crucible” came to his mind which was a perfect match. Many trials were held in the witch trials to seperate the good from the bad. This is similar to the McCarthy era because there was suspicion and the goal was to find the communists and seperate them from the rest of America before it is too late. The town of Salem became a crucible by having multiple things being stirred up all at one…
When you tell something that is not the truth, something happens inside of that person,…
The Crucible is not only a recounting of the Salem witch trials. Behind this story, Arthor Miller most wants to say is the essentiality of humanity. The most representative thing is what people do is mostly to satisfy their own interests, so mush as willing to believe outrageous lies when those lies serve their interests. Arthur Miller develops the characters to present this theme. His depiction of Putnam couple, Reverend Parris and Judge Danforth, which could effectively prove this theme.…
Many people look back on the events of the Salem witch trials and laugh at the absurdity of the allegations. It seems crazy that society could be fooled into believing in things like witches and deal with the events in such an extreme manner. It is a common belief that witch hunts are things of the past. Many people would agree that they no longer exist today; however Arthur Miller, author of the play, "The Crucible", points out that society has not come very far from the days of the Salem witch trials. In his play, he used the Salem witch trials to represent the McCarthy Era because he saw that the nation was facing the same events that Salem went through back in the late 1600's. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" in an attempt to create moral awareness for society. He did so by making a few small changes to the history and creating parallels in the play with racism, human tendencies, and H.U.A.C.…
In the late 1940’s through the late 1950’s McCarthyism was a wide spread epidemic here in America. The government had a very intense suspicion that there were influences of communism on our soil. Many were accused and prosecuted for “un-American activities” throughout the states. The FBI had no grounds or evidence to stand on when accusing these people. The Salem witch trials in The Crucible were very similar to these situations. Witten by Arthur Miller The Crucible was Miller’s way of protesting and speaking out against these trials while trying not to draw any attention to him. He uses many rhetorical devices to help better his message as it if brought forth to the reader. Irony, repetition, imagery, and metaphors are examples of some of the devices Miller uses to capture the reader and keep the story on track with the protest of McCarthyism.…
Miller uses diction, all through The Crucible, to show that the story being told is taking place in the past and to make the story have a biblical effect to it. In Act three, John Proctor begs for his name to not be blotted out and says, “Tell them I confessed myself; say proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman”. Through, using the word woman instead of baby, which most of people would use in this time period, he uses the word woman, which gives the reader a feeling of being in the past, because in that time woman were looked upon as second class citizens. When Proctor and Abigail speak with each other in Act one, Abigail explains to Proctor that Elizabeth is talking bad about her and that she is ruining her name in the community. She explains this to him by saying, “She is blackening my name in the village”. From, the diction that Miller uses by using the word blackening, it puts an old feeling to the story and it also puts a biblical feel to the story, which enhances the story by making you feel like you are in the 1690’s. Another great example of Miller using diction to make the story feel old and biblical is in Act two when, Elizabeth explains to Proctor that it is not her that judges him, but he judges…
One definition of the word “crucible” is a severe test. In the crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor faces different test. Throughout The Crucible, John's moral values are tried. Before the book starts, John committed adultery by sleeping with Abigail. But as the Salem Witchcraft Trials progresses, he is forced to choose between just watching the trials happen, or doing something to stop it. Towards the end of the play, he had to choose between whether or not to lie and save his life, or die with a shred of goodness still intact in him, along with all the other respected people of Salem such as Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. One definition of the word “crucible” is a severe test. In the crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor faces different test. Throughout The Crucible, John's moral values are tried. Before the book starts, John committed adultery by sleeping with Abigail. But as the Salem Witchcraft Trials progresses, he is forced to choose between just watching the trials happen, or doing something to stop it. Towards the end of the play, he had to choose between whether or not to lie and save his life, or die with a shred of goodness still intact in him, along with all the other respected people of Salem such as Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. One definition of the word “crucible” is a severe test. In the crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor faces different test. Throughout The Crucible, John's moral values are tried. Before the book starts, John committed adultery by sleeping with Abigail. But as the Salem Witchcraft Trials progresses, he is forced to choose between just watching the trials happen, or doing something to stop it. Towards the end of the play, he had to choose between whether or not to lie and save his life, or die with a shred of goodness still intact in him, along with all the other respected people of Salem such as Rebecca Nurse and Martha…
Arthur Miller uses allegory in his play, The Crucible, to show the similarities between the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare. During the McCarthy era, freedom was a very important aspect in life; during the Salem witch trials, religion was a very important aspect of life. In both of these events, people are frightened. The Red Scare led to many people fearing others, thinking everyone was a Communist. In the Salem witch trials, witchcraft is threatening the village. Miller also wanted to show the similarity between both corrupt courts in these two events. In the Salem witch trials, all substantial evidence is through out of the window, and everything that supports witchcraft is valid. Much is the same with the Red Scare court system.…