The Crucible by Arthur Miller

3012 Words7 Pages

Salem was a very religious society, which had been established in

1652. Salem was compared to Jerusalem, which is considered to be a

holy society. Therefore this indicates that religion was a major issue

in Salem. Religion played a vital role in the life of Salem people. If

people were seen as non-religious, they were persecuted. Salem had a

lot of restrictions because of the strictness in their religion.

For many hundred of years through out Europe, there was a belief in

witchcraft. At times, this belief would develop into hysterical fear

leading to campaigns of persecution against suspected witches. Many of

them accused were women. Women in those days did not have a high

status as men did. They did not have much right. People also assumed

that superstitious people had magical powers, or were in league with

the devil.

The Bible was significant because they believed that the Bible was the

basis of their lives. People relied on the Bible to guide them

throughout their lives. The inhabitants of Salem believed in witches

and the devil, and also believed that the Bible ordered them to hang

witches. The people, who settled there, were puritans who followed a

particular form of protestant Christianity. They felt that they were

surrounded by Ungodly people and associated the forest with wild

people and with evil.

In 1692, there was an outbreak of accusations of witchcraft in Salem.

Many thousands of innocent people, accused of being witches, were

tortured and executed. Many of them accused of witchcraft were women.

This shows the position of women during the 17th century was very

weak. They had a low status in the society. Women were either

portrayed in the image of a daughter or wife. They hardly had any

rights. Their husbands' or fathers' controlled them. The force of men

oppressed females.

Arthur Miller used dramatic devices, such as the title of the play

"The Crucible". A Crucible is a container in which metals are heated

to extract the pure elements from dross or impurities.

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