The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible

The Dilemmas of Conscience in The Crucible

The play "The Crucible" was written by Arthur Miller written 1950's

but was first performed in 1953. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts in

the spring of 1692 and is about a small community torn apart due to

accusations of witchcraft.

In this essay I am going to write about the affect that conscience has

on peoples' minds and decisions. Miller once said "Now I wanted to

move closer to a conscious hero". By this he meant after his last play

he wanted to move closer to a character that was aware of what he has

done i.e. sins and that he becomes a hero for it.

I will analyze John Proctor, Reverend John Hale and Goodwife Elizabeth

Proctor because these three all have their own moral struggle due to

the witch-hunts.

Arthur Miller has based his drama on a true story, which happened in

Salem in 1692. The names of the characters he used were actually the

people involved. He found out their names from his visit to Salem to

look at the court records. He had changed their characters slightly

i.e. making Abigail Williams older.

Also at the time of him writing the play there were the McCarthy witch

hunts for communists, which as a writer miller himself was thought to

be communist. He was interrogated by the government and was under

pressure to name names and confess just as John Proctor was, so Miller

can relate to Proctor's situation.

The first person I am going to analyze from the play is John Proctor.

He is the central character and the "conscious hero" Miller was

referring to.

He is a farmer in Salem and is in his middle thirties with a wife and

three sons. He is "even tempered" and has a very dark secret, his

infidelity with Abigail Williams, "before you go...

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... are faced by each of the characters I

have studied. There are other characters beside the ones I have

studied that face a battle with their conscience. These people are

Mary Warren and Danforth. Danforth faces a struggle with his

conscience as he has to make the decisions of who dies and who lives

and each death is on his conscience for the rest of his life. Miller

wanted a conscious hero central to his drama because he thought that

it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the

time

There are a few people in The Crucible that appear to have no

conscience at all. These people are Abigail and The Putnams.

Deep down I think the play The Crucible is all about the battles

people face with their conscience and the different ways in which

people deal with it. It is the central story line, upon which the

entire play is based around.