The Crucible by Arthur Miller

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Recommended: Modern relevance of the crucible

The Crucible was based in 1692 in and around the town of Salem,

Massachusetts, USA. The Salem witch-hunt was view as one of the

strangest and most horrendous chapters in the human history. People

that were prosecuted were all innocent and their deaths were all due

to false accusation of people’s ridiculous belief in superstition and

their paranoia. The Puritans in those times were very strict in

personal habits and morality; swearing, drunkenness and gambling would

be punished. The people of Salem believed in the devil and thought

that witchcraft should be hunted out. The play can be seen as a

general statement on the effects that fear and fanaticism can have on

human beings and how one person can cause such catastrophe.

It is a purely a controversial play, so why write a play knowing

the danger you were putting yourself in? Arthur Miller wrote the

play because he was accused of being a communist; Miller attended

meetings between communist writers. He was fined and given a suspended

prison sentence. When he wrote the play, he focused on a series of

true events, which took place in and around the town of Salem. As

Miller saw what was happening around him at the time, he realised that

he himself could not take any direct action, or speak out against the

act of McCarthyism because he could put himself in danger. He did,

however, realise that he could make other Americans see how they were

acting towards each other and how paranoia were the main cause to this

widespread hysteria. Realising that he has to prevent this hysteria

from developing further was to write a play, in hope that the audience

would see what the hidden meaning and message he was trying to

portray, instead of being 'just a play'. Many thi...

... middle of paper ...

...s and McCarthyism have similar beginnings and

similar results. Such hysteria came about because of the excessive

suspicion that was planted in the people's minds, by Parris and

McCarthy. Despite this, it was Parris and McCarthy who primarily rise

the hysteria that occurred. Such hysteria may occur today, dealing

with the issue on terrorism. Racial profiling and accusations may be

prominent in our country once again! If the right events and the right

people trigger such a scare, our country could be in a state of mass

hysteria as it was two times already. Despite the age of The Crucible

there are many issues included in it that are still very relevant in

the modern world to day. Due to Miller’s clever plot and distinctive

techniques, he was able to bring the history to life. This play turned

out to be one of the most relevant plays of the past and of today.

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