‘The Crucible’ is an allegory. An allegory is a story with an obvious meaning but if you look deeper into it, there is another meaning. In this case, the obvious meaning is the Salem witch-hunt and the hidden meaning is McCarthyism. McCarthyism started in the early 1950’s and it was governmental accusations with no evidence. Joseph McCarthy started doing trials on those he thought were communist, but he had no evidence for it. This is the same as the witch trials in The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote this in response to McCarthyism.
Arthur Miller uses some dramatic techniques in The Crucible. One of the examples of dramatic technique is subtexting. Subtexting is a hidden meaning within what is said or done by a character. An example of this is when Elizabeth says to John “what keeps you so late?”. This is subtexting because she is asking him why he is late home but she is really trying to suggest was he with Abigail.
Another dramatic technique he uses is creating tension at the end of each act. At the end of act 1, the girls started naming people who they ‘saw with the devil’. This scene shows how much the girls are desperate to save themselves because they are putting the blame on people they know. For example, when Abigail says, “I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil”. This chanting started by Tituba being so frightened of being hung, she had to do something. It is shown that she is very scared by the stage direction “rocking and weeping”.
At the end of act 2, Elizabeth Proctor is being arrested, and with rage, John Proctor tells Mary Warren that she will go to court with him to tell the truth that she never saw the devil to make sure that Elizabeth is named innocent. This scene reveals a little about John’s character. I...
... middle of paper ...
... the audience do not know what John is thinking, he may still love Abigail but knows it is wrong to do; therefore he hides his love for her. Maybe he loves Elizabeth and not Abigail? Or maybe he even loves them both? It isn’t know for sure.
In my opinion, I think that The Crucible is successful in its own right because it taught many people about mass hysteria, the witch-hunt and also McCarthyism and how these were all linked.
I think the allegory was successful because it shows people the madness of the McCarthy hearings and how people react to mass hysteria.
I have learnt that human nature is fully to blame for the disaster that took place in Salem. This is because humans just in general try to defend themselves. The girls were defending themselves so they started blaming others. If they had never done this, then none of it would have ever happened.
The Crucible is a dramatic play by Arthur Miller that has a direct tie to McCarthyism and how the witch trials and false accusation was related to the fear of someone being a communist. Generally, the story is about an affair between two primary characters that live in a Theology-ruled village. The secret of the affair was supposed to be assured until things got out when the truth was close to being in the limelight and a huge lie came out instead. This lie led to false accusations of believing that some people were part of witchcraft. Therefore, the situations became much more risky as people got hanged on whether or not they confessed they were a part of the witchery. Through the play, the character Mary Warren is depicted as a shy and powerless girl until she finally gains some control over the lives of people through her lies. This results in being labeled as an antagonist of the story, but she has traits similar to a protagonist which contradicts her character. In the end, Mary Warren is still a villain through her selfish and inconsiderate actions in the play.
In conclusion Arthur Miller saw the similarities in The McCarthy Era and The Salem Witch Trials, and portrayed them in “The Crucible.” The lives of many people were destroyed during these times in history.
“I visited Salem for the first time on a dismal spring day in 1952….” (Miller 1095) that’s what started it all. Arthur Miller was motivated to write The Crucible due to the trauma done to the liberals during the McCarthyism trials. The question is, was he a little too motivated to write it? Could his thirst for vengeance for those accused fuel him to over-exaggerate what happened in order to prove a point? Arthur Miller overused his artistic license because Joseph McCarthy was accusing important people of being communists, he wasn’t exactly like Danforth, and some of the accused in the McCarthyism trials were actual communists.
“No-no. There be no unnatural case here.” (Parris, The Crucible Act 1 Line 34) The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote this play as a critique of McCarthyism, but distanced it by using the Salem Witch Trials as the setting. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of treason without proper evidence. Using the Trials as the setting has strong suits, such as allowing him to compare McCarthyism indirectly and the events related strongly with society, and weaknesses, including the time period being so long-standing that it is not a modern example in their era and the idea of witches is farfetched compared to Communism.
Early on in the play, the reader comes to understand that John Proctor has had an affair with Abigail Williams while she was working in his home. Abigail believed that if she got rid of Elizabeth Proctor, then John Proctor would become her own. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed it to be true love. She told John Proctor that she loved him, and once she destroys Elizabeth, they would be free to love one another. John is horrified at this, but can do nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. John Proctor has to wrestle with the decision of what to do. He knows that he has sinned; yet he does not want to hurt his beloved wife. This is partly why he is willing to die. He knows he has already sinned.
Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, lived during the Red Scare, which was anti-Communist as the Salem witch trials were anti-witches. The whole book is a symbol of two events that happened in history. The Red Scare and McCarthyism both serve as symbols of the Salem witch trials, which makes it an allegory. Although the play is based off of the witch trials during seventeenth century New England, the author meant for it to address his concern for the Red Scare in an indirect way. For example, just like the witch trials accusing people of witchcraft, Americans during the Red Scare accused others of being pro-Communist. The same widespread paranoia occurred as a result.
In 1953, a book/play called The Crucible was published. It was written by Arthur Miller as an allegory of the McCarthyism era. It talks of the causes and effects of the Salem witch trials in the late 1600's. The story is told in a way that made the people of the 50's realize how crazy they were actually acting.
20 were executed” (Blumberg). The Crucible setting is based on The Salem Witch trials, but the plot is based on The Red Scare. The author employs strict tone and rhetorical questions to convey power. This connects to the purpose of how a occurring can devastate a whole community and the people in it. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, employs empowerment by expressing the challenges within each character and their influence on the trial through the characters John Proctor, Abigail, and Danforth.
The Crucible is interpreted as an allegory on the intolerance of McCarthyism, allowing Miller to express his criticisms towards the practice through a crucial period in American history. After its publication, it was widely expressed that the Crucible illustrated Miller’s opinion on McCarthyism and its effect on society. McCarthyism is defined as the political practice of broadcasting accusations of disloyalty and undermining power and authority without providing legitimate evidence. This was specifically targeted to communists, who similarly were the innocent citizens falsely accused of witchcraft in Salem. Although Miller does not specifically mention McCarthyism, he incorporates analogies to elements of McCarthyism. A direct connection to it is Danforth states "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” This crucial quote loosely references the aspect of McCarthyism that loosely states a person is either with the government, or suspected of communism. Miller continues to reinforce this technique through the representation of his characters. Abigail reflects on the encouragement of accusations of innocent folk without providing solid evidence, such as claiming “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!” therefore encouraging the fellow girls of Salem to follow. This parallels to McCarthy’s allegations against anyone regardless of their social status. Proctor however, represents the injustice placed upon the honest citizens who attempted to clear their names. The hangings reflect on the citizens during the McCarthy era who were blacklisted and therefore excluded from society. Although there is no direct symbolism, this practice is clearly depicted in t...
Well first off Miller uses the title “ The Crucible” as a metaphor for the scenario in the play. For the first part of the definition of crucible meaning: a container in which metals are heated. With the town of Salem being the container and what is inside being the emotions of the
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.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.
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.
In The Crucible, the mass hysteria surrounding the witch trials caused paranoia amongst the people of Salem. Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a symbol and allegory of the fear surrounding the spread of communism during the 1950s in America. The community’s sense of justice was blinded by the mass hysteria and for some, a desire for vengeance and personal gain. The Putnams
Events have played out in history that made people realize the inhumane acts of people and the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era were two of them. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were almost 260 years before the McCarthy “witch hunts” in the 1950s yet there are similarities between them. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is about the Salem witch trials and is an allegory to the practicing of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare in the United States, which Miller was a victim of. Although there may be differences between “The Crucible” and McCarthyism, ultimately the anger, lack of evidence, and the people were alike in both events.