Austere religions with black and white definitions for right and wrong are bound to result in the deception of a suppressed people. With the cornerstone of Puritan lifestyle being the church, their community is profoundly influenced by religious philosophy and beliefs. Anything believed to be a contradiction of their religious moral code is deemed to be sin, and directly connected to the devil. Devil worship and witchcraft is conjured by means of fear that gives superstition power, and those accused of unnatural behavior receive harsh castigation. Due to the illogical misconceptions, the rigid town of Salem took it upon themselves to rid their community of “sinners”, thus creating a whirlwind of accusations and deceit. In his play The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates how a rigid …show more content…
This is not to say that they denied the existence of supernatural evil” (Morgan). Their strict Puritan belief in the plain right and wrong clouded their senses, while resulting in the deaths of many innocent people. Unfortunately, their clouded vision is problematic since authority of Puritan society is raised on high pedestals and is seen as perfect examples for the rest of Salem.
True catalysts of chaos in The Crucible are those cunning enough to break their moral ties to Puritanism to avoid the destructive punishments of a puritanical society. Abigail, “the prime mover of the Salem hysteria” (Martin), is a complex character who demonstrates her ability to manipulate beliefs and evade punishment for breaking the Puritan moral code; her role in The Crucible is a petri dish for lies and abundant fear. Early on, Abigail’s opposition to Puritan fundamentals is revealed through a short lived affair with a married man, John Proctor. She continuously “imagines herself in the arms of Proctor” (Bigsby) and “had felt him 'burning ' in his loneliness’” (Bigsby), a frame of mind which is still intact
Sometimes people are so narrow-minded that they do not see the whole picture. People see what they want to see because they cannot handle the actuality or do not like the truth. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Danforth refuses to come to the truth that the witch trials in Salem were the result of a cover-up, and that the court hung a handful of innocent people because of a lie. Miller once said, “The tragedy of The Crucible is the everlasting conflict between people so fanatically wedded to this orthodoxy that they could not cope with the evidence of their senses.” In other words, the tragedy of The Crucible involved the theocracy’s failure to control Salem’s witchcraft mania. At the time, Salem was governed by a theocracy, in which the ministers also had judicial power over society. Because the judges were ministers, religion took precedence over realism and pragmatism; they were unable to come to their senses and realize that the accusations of witchcraft were out of human emotions.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
The Crucible consists of many characters and most of them have a very descriptive personality. There are many villains in the play that only bring suffering to others. The biggest villain is Abigail Williams. She is Reverend Parris’s seventeen year old niece. Of the major characters she is clearly the main villain of the play. All throughout the book, Abigail is seen telling lies and manipulating her friends to get her own way. Her lies and manipulations get to a point where she gets nineteen people sent to their deaths. Her motivations never seem more complex than simply loving Proctor and getting rid of Elizabeth. The book is basically driven on Abigail trying to hide their relationship. The book begins in Rev. Parris’s home where his daughter
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, focuses on the inconsistencies and injustice of the 1692 witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. The restrictive Puritan society of Salem in the 17th century was based upon religious intolerance, where faith was demonstrated through physical labour and by strict adherence to religious doctrine. Material, physical and sexual desires were considered the Devil’s work and a threat to the very fabric of society. In summary, it is said that Puritanism discouraged individualism on all levels. The literal way in which the Bible was interpreted by the Puritans, provides a paradox within the play. This is because although the Bible says “thou shalt not kill,” the people of Salem are willing to sentence innocent people to death without trial or proper evidence. The play explores the extreme behaviour that can result from desires and hidden agendas within the Puritan society of Salem. In the context of the play, the title, The Crucible, takes on a new meaning. It is defined as a severe test, one which is designed to reveal an individual’s true character. The wit...
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.
Imagine how hard it would be to live in a Puritan society. This means that one could never skip a day of going to church, and would have to maintain a good reputation. This was the reality of society in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The story was set in Salem, Massachusetts, where the government was based greatly on religion. Anybody who had been accused of witchcraft would either be hung or sentenced to jail. Several girls in Salem faked illness, and pretended to be bewitched. The town went into hysteria when these girls started accusing others of witchcraft and summoning the devil. The hysteria was a result of the town’s puritan belief system in which everybody was very religious and concerned with keeping a good reputation. Abigail Williams,
Did you know that 34% of the total population of homeless people are under the age of 24? In 2014 a survey was conducted where they found that most of the homeless youth was with their family, but 45,205 of them were by themselves. In America alone, there are more than 3.5 million people that have experienced homelessness. The Crucible by Arthur Miller has many similarities and differences to the homeless people in America. The witches in The Crucible were being treated poorly because of false accusations without any proof. Homeless people are treated poorly because society was once known to pretend to be homeless to get extra money, giving them a bad reputation. Society stands up for the homeless than they did for the witches in The Crucible.
As flawed people, achieving perfection is an impossible task. Yet, despite this inevitability, individuals strive for perfection only to reveal and witness imperfections. The Puritan lifestyle attempted to achieve this unattainable mission by setting strict morals upon the people of Salem, Massachusetts, however they struggled to do so. Salem faced a major change as a result of the Puritan ambition. Because of their thought on the ideal community as a straitlaced society, those who portrayed an imperfect model were to be isolated. Suspicion flooded the holy Puritan town, and led to accusations of innocent people. After a close analysis, it may be relevant to look at the Puritan belief system as a possible catalyst for the events that occurred during the Salem witch trials.
The reputation of a person is very important to their standing in the community, and especially in a religious community. In the play the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows the importance of social standing by religious beliefs and contemporary social dynamics. Therefore, the play was based off of a historical context, witchcraft, some characters represent as a scapegoat while others act as an antithesis of being a witch to meet the society’s standards.
A crucible refers to a harsh test, and in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, each person is challenged in a severe test of his or her character or morals. Many more people fail than pass, but three notable characters stand out. Reverend John Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor all significantly change over the course of the play.
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.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller raises many thought provoking issues throughout the play, including the importance of personal integrity, injustice in society and the rights of the community versus the rights of the individual.
Although a strict society composed of high morality and disciplinary laws may be necessary for safety, it causes internal conflicts within the individuals. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller a theocracy in Salem rules and guides the citizens into doing what is “right”, but eventually backfires due to issues of reputation and jealousy. Society has a lot of influence on the citizens, and with a bad reputation, it is nearly impossible to live in a Puritan society. Salem’s strict Puritanical social structure causes personal struggles for the individuals involved in the events of The Crucible, and then eventually these personal struggles affect the society overall.