The Crucible Five Act Structure Essay

As long ago as 350 BC, Aristotle famously wrote that a play must have a beginning, a middle, and an end, which is the beginning of the structure. Over time, dramas evolved, the Roman poet, Horace, advocated for five acts, and many centuries later, a German playwright, Gustav Freytag, developed the five-act structure which is commonly used today to analyze classical and Shakespearean dramas. The first act of these five-act structures consist of an exposition, which allows the reader to be introduced to the time, setting, and characters. The second act introduces the rising action. A rising action normally includes the protagonist of the story to face some sort of conflict or obstacle. The third act produces the climax, which is the turning point in the story. This act creates suspense and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The fourth act is the falling action, which wraps up any plot twists or unknown details of the story. The fifth act is the denouement or the resolution, which is the final outcome of the drama. In 1952, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, a four-act play, to compare the witch hunts of the Salem Witch Trial to the hunts for communists in the 1900s. Although tragedies are normally constructed into five parts, Miller managed to fit the story into a

Miller related to the protagonist of the story, John Proctor, who despite being an imperfect person, was able to fight the madness surrounding him. The Salem court had moved to admit "spectral evidence" as proof of guilt, as did the court in 1952. The question was not the acts of an accused but of his thoughts and intentions. Miller understood the universal experience of being impuissant to believe that the state had gone mad. The Crucible evokes a lethal brew of illicit sexuality, fear of the supernatural, and political manipulation, a combination not unknown these