Feminism in The Crucible

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In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, feminism was not only allowed, but encouraged. This book demonstrates countless examples of feminism, and displays life as a puritan woman during the Salem Witch Trials. The definition of feminism is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.(Feminism-Webster) During this time, women were treated unequal to the men, and looked down upon. They were held to very high standards, and had a lot expected from them. No women was allowed to have opinions, or feel emotion about anything. This is feminism at its best.

The life of a Puritan woman in The Crucible was very simple. She was the keeper of the home, and the children. Woman weren’t allowed to get jobs like the men had because they weren’t considered qualified enough, or as good at the job as the men. There were certain expectations that a Puritan woman had to live up to. One of them being the “perfect” housewife. As a housewife, the woman was responsible for everything at the home. The man would go to his job, and she would stay home and take care of the kids all day. When the husband got home from work, she was expected to have dinner on the table ready to eat, the house to be sparkling clean, have the kids taken care of, and make sure her husband was happy.(Miller 47) This was a daily routine for basically all Puritan woman during the Salem Witch Trials.

In The Crucible, women were not as respected as the men were. One example of this is Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca was considered the “perfect” puritan. She was one of the most respected people in Salem, and rarely did anything wrong. Even though Rebecca was all of these things, the men still didn’...

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...e trials started was because of revenge.“The wickedness of a woman is all evil. There is no anger above the anger of a woman. It will be more agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon, than to dwell with a wicked woman, from the woman came the beginning of sin, and by her we all die.” (Schissel 2) Abigail Williams had so much revenge in her heart that she thought it okay to lie and kill people. Another reason someone could say why these trials started was because of boredom. “Woman enjoys that incomparable privilege: irresponsibility. Suffocating and unfulfilling, life as a wife or mistress”(De Beauvoir 757). This is saying that the women relied on men for everything in Salem, like Abigail relying on John, and not being able to get over him. The Crucible demonstrates countless examples of feminism, and displays life as a puritan woman during the Salem Witch Trials.

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