More handpicked essays just for you.
Arthur Miller on writing the crucible
Arthur Miller's hidden meaning behind the crucible
Arthur Miller's hidden meaning behind the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Tension in Act One of Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Miller builds up the tension using theatrical effects, language, the
relationships of characters and the plot development, the structure of
the act. He makes us visually aware of the tension using these tools.
He needs tension as the story of the crucible is about witchcraft.
Miller draws in the character of Proctor as himself, as Miller was
caught up in communism in America and fought to maintain his dignity,
as Proctor does, near the end of the book. The communism is not an
issue in this play but was relevant to Miller and inspired his writing
of this play. He uses the build up of tension throughout this play
especially in act one.
The whole of act one is set in the bedroom of Betty Parris. At the
beginning of the act there is only Parris and Betty in the small
claustrophobic bedroom. "A small upper bedroom in the home of reverend
Samuel Parris." "There is a narrow window at the left." Miller makes
this act more intense by increasing the number of people in this
bedroom as the act progresses. This symbolises claustrophobia within
the community and physically on stage. The narrow room symbolises the
narrow-minded community. The act starts quietly, "Parris is praying
now, and though we can hear his words, a sense of confusion hangs
about him." Betty sleeps. The act ends with everybody shouting and
accusing all of being witches. The end is a contrast between the
beginning, it ends with ecstatic condemnation of the girls, "calling
out hysterically."
The villagers are all off stage reading psalms and chanting prayers.
Their presence is that of annoyance, menace and threat. This...
... middle of paper ...
...ersation with the girls
saying if they tell what happened in the woods she would kill them.
Proctor then enters and we find out about his affair with Abigail.
Proctor, Parris and Putnam then have a fierce conversation and
Reverend Hale enters and questions Abigail and Tituba, the act ends
with Betty waking up and her and the other girls shout out the names
of people whom they have seen with the devil. This act has become
tenser with the happenings during the act building up.
Miller builds this play strongly to bring out the full dramatic effect
of tension.
He has used a combination of language, relationships, his plot and
theatrical effects to conjure up a tense atmosphere, which develops as
the act continues. Miller has made us visually and physically aware of
the tension using his speech and stage directions.
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
Conflicts happen every day. Who did you yell at in traffic? What nasty thing did you say to your mother? Did you fight with your best friend? Sometimes these conflicts and grudges last for a long time, and sometimes they are resolved rather quickly. The Crucible by Arthur Miller has many examples of these kind of conflicts. The Crucible is a play written about a small town in Massachusetts going through the struggles of the Salem witch trials. One of the many reasons behind the Salem witch trials were the personal grudges that people held against one another. There are many preexisting conflicts and grudges between community members that added to the accusations of witchcraft. People accused their neighbors of witchcraft just because that person had wronged them.
Right when he finds them, Betty becomes sick and won't talk or open her eyes, about this time other people's daughters become sick too. Rumors spread that witch craft is involved in Betty's illness and the development of the plot begins. Important to the major development of the plot is the fact that in the forest, Abigail and the others were just playing like witches. But they were following Abigail because she wanted to try to put a curse on a lady named Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail was in love with Mrs. Proctor's husband, John Proctor, and she wanted to some how get rid of Elizabeth.
Fear, resulting in chaos, and overturned lives affected the personal decisions of John Proctor, thus creating inner conflicts, as well as desperation in the story. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor's stand in a society where opinion drove fate created ignominy towards him and his beliefs. At first he hid his horrible sin inside, fearing the consequences. When he finally did, he was placed in a tangled labyrinth of feelings as to what his next action should be. Lastly, it's Proctor's defiance and integrity in his own self that proved him stronger than the entire community of Salem. Proctor's tremulous feelings and general unease of the situation built up to his defining point of confession. Theocracy came together to take coerce control Salem and it's actions. Proctor saw this and feared, for diabolism was a practice unheard of. Danforth states, "You must understand, sir, a person is either with the church or against it, there be no road between. We live no longer in the dusky afternoon and evil mixed itself with good and befuddled world. Now by God's grace the good folk and evil entirely separate"(63).
At times, fear motivates people to behave unscrupulously. Personal fears instigate some characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible to cry witch. Reverend Parris fears losing his job, Abigail fears prosecution and losing John Proctor, and Tituba fears physical retribution. Fear induces people to defend their personal whims and use their power to harm others.
In The Crucible, the members of the Salem community accept the lies that their neighbors are taking apart of witchcraft as the truth. The lies and deceit in the community help attribute to the play’s overall theme of hysteria. The theme of hysteria is prevalent throughout the play, as the belief that witchcraft is occurring in the town enables members of the community to believe that their neighbors have committed devilish acts. As the town descends into a hysterical climate, members of the community take advantage of the situation to act upon any long-held grudges or repressed sentiment. Characters, such as Abigail, use both lies and hysteria to seek revenge and gain power. This reveals that the lies and deceit told throughout the play drive
John is shown as a deceiver, as he is in the dominant of the two and
The devil is defined as being a spirit or power of evil. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, numerous citizens of Salem Village are prosecuted and convicted for having made contact with the devil. While historically, the Salem Witch Trials were an effect of greed and vengeance and are said to be false, the devil was indeed present in the town of Salem; he takes the shape of a young girl named Abigail Williams. Abigail depicts her evil spirit and coalition with the devil though her deception of anyone willing to listen, her irrational behavior, and her immoral actions, which directly defy the Puritan church.
It is apparent that Miller focuses his play around the moral struggles of the protagonist, John Proctor. Throughout the play, Proctor has many struggles that he must deal with and look deep into his soul to find the resolution. He undergoes a major survey of his character and it is only this way that he can gain redemption for his sins. By abiding by his own moral code, John Proctor makes many hard decisions that will affect the outcome of the play. Proctor's struggles reflect upon the central message that Miller is communicating through the play.
Fear holds a great control over any mortal human-being through daunting and restricted words, most commonly seen while anyone is under pressure. While being controlled over fear, you may come to realize that you are being manipulated to the possibilities of a threatened punishment and may also be mislead by lies. Arthur Miller’s classic novel, The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, where a lot of times fear would be used to control anyone to blame another of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller elucidates this through Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren, that fear holds a great torment on the truth.
Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.
Arthur Miller brings out the absurdity of the incident in the play, which is expressed through the struggles of the main character, John Proctor. Elizabeth Proctor has been 'cold' towards her husband, which has tempted him to have an affair with their servant Abigail Williams. Abigail has fallen for John and wants him for herself. When she is found dancing with some of her friends in the forest, it is suggested that they had been tempted by witchcraft. The girls take this opportunity to accuse women from the village for performing witchcraft.
Crucible- a severe test, a hard trial or also could be define as a pot for melting metals. A severe trail could be as other then a physical it also could be mentally a severe trial like person verses self. In The Crucible, Miller reflects the theme that pressure can force people from there can force their morals. The characters in The Crucible have morals that they must up hold to be accepted into the town and church. It is a struggle to keep these values when there are moral hazards like desires, greed, hate, and obsession.
They are similar to what is now happening today in that there is a lot
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.