Arthur Miller's Skill in Revealing Character, Plot and Theme in The Crucible

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Arthur Miller's Skill in Revealing Character, Plot and Theme in The Crucible A crucible is a container in which metal and other materials are heated so as to separate the pure metals from waste and impurities. The crucible in the title is a metaphor for the town of Salem and the period of witch-hunt madness. In the 'fire', some victims survive the temptations and fears and emerge as better and stronger people. Also two other books have been based on the seventeenth-century witch-hunts: The Lancashire Witches and the Mist over Pendle In the 17th Century, God was perceived as male and men were seen as the natural enforcers of God's will. Women were seen as unstable because of the biological function. This was a time when peoples role's in society were dearly defined by gender; Men needed to be physically strong to build, farm and fight off the savage American native Indians. Women had to be fertile; their role was domestic and some light farming chores (unskilled).The mans job was to keep his wife and daughters under control. i.e. always wearing a bonnet, they had to be decent on Sunday which entailed wearing gloves and having their prayer books, they also had to keep there eyes down when walking past a male other than her fiancée or husband. There is a tension that builds slowly and dramatically throughout the play to a fitting climax when Proctor tells his confession and we know that he has chosen to die. "If it is a lie, I will not die for it". This quote quantifies that Proctor is willing to die for his errant way. The audience feels gradually more involved as the play continues and we get to know their persona... ... middle of paper ... ... this reveals that Parris is a pompous, vain man and that he is extremely selfish in his approach to life in general.Abigail has a passionate nature that is revealed in her utterances, this to the girls and to her wannabe lover John but the most strange is Elizabeth who has an ability to control her feelings but this makes the girl seem old and unloving. This is shown in the quote "Would freeze beer" Although a deeply religious protestant community they did not as a group of people practise forgiveness and Christian charity. This led to a culture of blame which made it easy for people to reject criticism of them and to push the blame for events on to others. Miller uses these people as a parallel to events in America in the 1950's when the McCarthy 'witch hunts' condemned people as communists, the new 'Devil'

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