Puritanism and The Crucible

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller talks of a group of Puritans who believe that witchcraft and wizardry is the Devil’s work. There was a story of the Puritans not being able to dance or sing because it was considered witchcraft, but it was a myth. Puritans were allowed to dance and sing. The characters within The Crucible were shown as the strict and precise Puritans who cared about their religious lives, more than their social lives, after their movement to Massachusetts. Even though there were several religions that were considered to be Puritans, they were all extremely precise when it came to their religion being questioned.
Puritans, whether they are Presbyterians or Congregationalists, believe in the thought of predestination and Reverend Parris was an example of a priest who encouraged this belief in his church. Although it was not spoken directly, Parris refused to believe that witchcraft was the cause of the deaths of babies. Parris knew that “all features of salvation were determined by God” (Campbell). To Puritans, everyone was “innately sinful” because of the “original sin of Adam and Eve” (Heyrman). This gave Parris a reason to keep the thoughts of witchcraft affecting people to a minimum, until later in the play. Even when witchcraft was in question, to the Puritans, there was always a way to “go to God for the cause” (Miller 29). In their eyes, there are “certain ideas … emotions and actions” (Miller 35) that God puts in their minds. Reverend Parris is believed to have “the light of God” (Miller 69), which would mean that he was most likely the messenger. He would tell the townspeople of revelation and help them down the path that God created for them before they were born. This could explain why some of the townspeop...

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...ate. Arthur Miller managed to portray his characters as real-life people. Puritanism was not a religion and neither were the Puritans. They were religious movements from a greater church. The characters of The Crucible lived the righteous lives of the Congregationalists and they stood their ground as they were accused, just as the real people did.

Works Cited

Campbell, Donna M. “Puritanism in New England.” Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 04 Jul 2013. Web. 02 Dec 2013.
Heyrman, Christine Leigh. “Puritanism and Predestination.” Diving America, TeacherServe©. National Humanities Center. Jan 2008. Web. 04 Dec 2013.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Evanston: McDougal Littell Inc. 1997. Print.
“Puritan Life.” U.S History Online Textbook. ushistory.org. 2013. Web. 04 Dec 2013.
“Puritanism.” 2013. The History Channel Website. 03 Dec 2013.

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