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justify millers use of the crucible as the title to his play
arthur miller's hidden meaning behind the crucible
analysis of the crucible by Arthur Miller
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The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Every great playwright has his or her time in the spotlight, for Arthur Miller it is believed this time came when he created The Crucible. The play is based on the corruption of the Salem witch trials which condemned many to an unjust death. Numerous amounts of criticism and interpretations were published to help the reader visualize a clearer picture of the play and understand what was happening during that period of time. The setting of language and the force of evil along with a review on hysteria and ideology and finally and interpretation on the devil in Salem can all be discussed in The Crucible as well as in this paper.
The Crucible for Miller was a turning point as far as being a playwright was concerned. It was the first time in his playwright career that he did not base his play on a Greek background. Miller's creation also turned heads because the reader noticed a more diverse choice of characters with individual descriptions on characters such as Hale, Abigail, Putnam and Proctor. Miller also uses the basic subject of his play very well, he bases the fate of one Massachusetts town on the decision of a few people. Curtis believed the greatest drama occurred during the collision of divine and secular law. (68) I feel this statement to be true, all was quiet in Salem and the whole fiasco could have been avoided if Rev. Parris had told the town Betty was sick in bed instead of blurting out that she was possessed. Most likely divine and secular law would not have conflicted and the townspeople would not have been accused so harshly. The role of titles in the play shows one characters greatness over another. One's integrity, reputation, prestige, functional power and selfish...
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...h their description. One as a controlling, materialistic priest and the other a spoiled teenager who ruins the lives of many people. Arthur Miller's The Crucible was full of controversy and superstition as well as many other elements of great playwriting.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Barron's ed. Services. Baron's Book Notes, Arthur Miller's "The Crucible". New York: Barron's ed. Services Inc., 1984.
Burns, Margo. Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" Fact and Fiction. 2 pp. Online. Internet.
Burns, Margo. The Witch Index. 4 pp. Online. Internet.
Miller, Arthur. The Assault on Privacy. New York: University of Michigan Press, 1994.
Miller, Arthur. Electric Library. Encyclopedia.com. 1 pp. Online. Internet.
Miller's, Arthur. Collected Plays. 2 vols. The Viking Press, 1981.
Sparknotes.com. The Crucible. 8 pp. Online. Internet.
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows the true dynamics of his characters. We see the characters moral or immoral actions and how they’re all put into life changing situations. John Proctor experiences a drastic change when his wife Elizabeth is accused of being a witch. In the beginning of the play, he portrays a man who isn't affiliated with religion and becomes a man who redeems himself. Finally, he proves to be a man of actions, not just words.
Written in the 1950s, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible delineates the situation of the McCarthy conflicts in America while the plays’ events revolve around the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. In the play, two major characters are Reverend Hale, an expert on witches sent to Salem for investigation, and John Proctor, a man known for his leadership and hard work. Proctor and Hale, in addition to both being Puritans, are alike in their actions and motives since they both see the depravity of the court and seek to protect people from it. However, they have major differences in their characters as they have contrasting dedication to Christianity and the values that they live by.
The Crucible is a play that was written in 1952 by Arthur Miller. This play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, where witch trials were held in 1692. Miller is able to combine nonfiction and fiction in order to make this story dramatic and entertaining. A few decades after The Crucible play was published, a movie version was released. There are various differences between the book and the movie version. The movie added various scenes, elaborated on others, as well as omitted some scenes. The movie expressed Arthur Miller’s book in a very dramatic and exaggerated way. It made the reader have a better understanding of some points in the book and emphasized ideas more clearly, such as jealousy and hysteria.
...ur Miller wrote the Crucible as a response to the McCarthy trials. He was trying to reveal McCarthy's abuse of power, the hysteria he was causing, and hopefully this would stop the terrible happenings in America. Miller twisted in his private life into his play. He was the John Proctor of his time. He displayed what society was like during the McCarthy trials and what needed to be changed.
In the play: The Crucible Miller reveals the effect of the Salem Witch Trials on the people due to their growing fear. Miller shows that fear exasperates man’s innate vices of self-preservation, greed, and hypocrisy. In The Crucible Miller demonstrates these vices through Danforth, a prestigious judge that should represent the peak of human morality and reason.
Miller, Arthur, and Christopher Bigsby. The Crucible: a play in four acts. New York [u.a.: Penguin Books, 2003. Print.
While reading three articles about the play called "The Crucible" I noticed many interesting facts. Many questions as well came to mind. The main question was “What was the Arthur purpose for writing The Crucible”? Well let’s start of by saying Arthur Miller was a extremely American play writing. Miller born in 1915, but where was his childhood? He grew up in New York with a Jewish family. Arthur Millers’ play went on Broadway at the Martin Beck. This occurred in the year of 1953. The play was called The Crucible. Was The Crucible even one of his best places? Well it was yet one of his best second plays. What were the events of the play of Miller had done? The event of the play had to do with the events that took place in Salem. What happened in Salem was a witch craft trial. Most unfavorable people felt as though the play was a play about a terrible period in the American history.
The reputation of a person is very important to their standing in the community, and especially in a religious community. In the play the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows the importance of social standing by religious beliefs and contemporary social dynamics. Therefore, the play was based off of a historical context, witchcraft, some characters represent as a scapegoat while others act as an antithesis of being a witch to meet the society’s standards.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that was first performed in 1953 in the United States of America in the midst of the persecution of alleged communists during the era of McCarthyism. Although the play explicitly addresses the Salem which hunt, many find that the play is an analogy to McCarthyism due to the striking similarities in which the people behaved. Miller highlight the different groups of characters in order to reveal overlying ideas of the play such as: Self preservation, power, and hypocrisy.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, include similarities to its historical context which lie in the attitude of Salem. Du...
The issues of power, that Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, portrays are concerned with, who has the power, the shifts of power that take place and how power can consume people and try to abuse it, for either vengeance, jealously, material gain or sexual desire.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that discusses many issues and spurs contemplation within the reader. While reading this play, because of the controversy of many issues detailed within, it is difficult for one not to take a look at one’s own morals and determine what one would do if placed in a similar situation. The key issues discussed within this play, the effects of hysteria, marital betrayal, and the murderous powers of lies, are portrayed intriguingly and effectively. The lessons that can be learned from The Crucible are still quite applicable today.
Arthur Miller cleverly picked the title "The Crucible" for his play about the Salem witch hunts of the 1660's because of the word's many meanings. Throughout the play, Miller has characters face severe tests that make them question their own self. A crucible is also an earthen pot that is used for melting metals. In a way the town of Salem was a crucible as people were brought before the court and blasted with allegations from others as being witches. They were either forced to give in and live a lie or be hanged.