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The social criticism of the crucible
The crucible: how is it relevant to today's society
The crucible: how is it relevant to today's society
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Characters in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, exhibit notable sociological behaviors and issues that influence their persona. Experiencing certain events impact their fate and destiny in the play. Their morality is also challenged and affected because of their sociological past. Developing sociological aspects into the play such as influencing mob mentality, narcissism, courtship, and dependency helps in moving the plot along.
The people in the community of Salem are constantly divided amongst each other through sociological warfare. They are able to do this using the social expectations in their strict Puritan society. By separating those who are corrupt from obedient, they use each other's secrets as an advantage over the other. Abigail declares sociological warfare on Elizabeth Proctor. She does this to gain advantage over her in order to get what she can't have, John Proctor. Elizabeth is called to court for questioning. Beforehand, she is informed by Mary Warren that Abigail accused her of witchcraft that day in court. In response, she exclaims, "She wants me dead. I knew all week it would come to this!...She wants me dead John, you know it!" (60). Abigail has just declared her sociological warfare on Elizabeth. She hopes by doing so, Elizabeth will be hung for her 'crime', and she will be able to take her place next to John Proctor.
Their cultural background also contributes greatly to the way the community acts, as well as, it's people. The governing religion of Salem, Massachusetts was Puritan. This religion is a form of harsh Protestantism which follows a theocracy, binding church and state, living by strict moral rules everyone was expected to follow. This was also a major contributor to the mass hysteria. Puritans be...
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...blaming Satanic stimuli for unexplained phenomena"(43). Without their cultural and societal influences, it would be difficult for the readers to understand why certain events evolve and under what pretenses. At the end of the play, each person, some more than others, has developed from their sociological experience.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Bloom's Notes: Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, 1996. Print.Gascoigne, Bamber. "Arthur Miller." Twenty Century Drama. London: Hutchinson, 1962. 174- 183. Print.Moss, Leonard. Arthur Miller. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980. Print.
Moss, Joyce, and George Wilson. "The Crucible." Literature And Its Times. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 75-80. Print.
Miller, Arthur. "Act II." The Crucible. New York: Viking, 1953. 49-152. Print.
Siebold, Thomas. Readings on The Crucible. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1999. Print.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, both pride and excessive pride influence the characters throughout the play. Pride is a sense of one's dignity and worth. Excessive pride is being overly confident of one's own self worth. Throughout, pride influences the actions, reactions, and emotions of the characters in such ways to establish the outcome of the story. Three characters are impelled by their pride. Hale, who takes pride in his ability to detect witchcraft; Elizabeth Proctor, whose pride makes forgiving her husband difficult; Proctor, whose excessive pride causes him to overlook reality and the truth.
Proctors Grave Mistake Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity.
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 shows how authority is a characteristic that can easily become a problem throughout a society. Many subjects were addressed in The Crucible such as guilt, hypocrisy, justice, hysteria, and courage. However, the most important subject throughout the play would be the nature of authority. There is a fine line between the concept of having authority and having power. In the book, the authority weakened and led to the antagonist Abigail Williams leading the law as opposed to the law leading Abigail Williams.
There are many themes prevalent in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, with all of them manifesting in the actions and decisions of characters at some point in the story. One of the most outstanding themes in the play has to do with the connection between past experiences and future actions. Individuals lashing out at others because they felt they have been wronged, a guilty conscience causing someone to make a drastic decision, or even a person choosing a path due to possible social repercussions are all examples from the play of someone 's past effecting their future.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history surrounding the Salem witch trials of the seventeenth century, yet is as much a product of the time in which Arthur Miller wrote it, the early 1950s, as it is description of Puritan society. At that particular time in the 1950s, when Arthur Miller wrote the play the American Senator McCarthy who chaired the ‘House Un-American Activities Committee’ was very conscious of communism and feared its influence in America. It stopped authors’ writings being published in fear of them being socialist sympathisers. Miller was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and that human beings were capable of such madness. In the 1950s the audience would have seen the play as a parallel between the McCarthy trials and the Salem Trials.
John and Elizabeth continue to argue. John Hale appears at their doorway. He is traveling to each house, talking to those who were mentioned in court, trying to find out more information about them. John says that he knows that Abigail and the other girls are not telling the truth. Two Salem citizens that have had wives arrested show up and a short time passes before a party comes to arrest Elizabeth.
Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” Humanity is surrounded by change. Whether it is favorable or abominable, change makes an entrance into the daily lives of individuals. Imagine one who wins the lottery. Their entire life turns a corner and they see materialistic happiness waiting for them. They buy a new house or a new car. Early retirement might come next. Slowly, as time passes, their personality changes dramatically. They inherit traits such as cockiness or greediness. All the money in the world belongs in their hands. Eventually, reality catches up to them and they start to lose their valuable possessions. Of course, this is not the case for everyone; however it is a fairly common occurrence in society. Arthur Miller’s controversial play contains some characters who fall victim to various changes which affect their original lifestyle. In The Crucible, Reverend John Hale enters the doors of Salem with a confident urge to find witchcraft, but leaves with the burden of knowing about their corrupt community.
For the last couple of weeks, i have read a book called “ The Crucible.” After reading this book,i think that is is very crazy, some people might have a different opinion, However, I also believe that the crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth. Let me explain why. The crucible is filled with a lot of people, everyone in this story play a very important part.
Thomas Putnam plays a major role in the Salem witch hunt in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Inheriting a handsome amount of property makes Putnam a wealthy person; however, it doesn't seem to satisfy his ambition. After the town terribly rejected Putnam's brother-in-law, Bayley, Putnam's bitterness has increased. Finally his prodigious involvement in the relentless accusations places him in the center of the spot light, making him a salient character in both the play and the indignant period of the American history.
Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.
The play is relevant to any society destroyed by fear, suspicion, paranoia and accusation - other societies where something similar has happened include East Germany under communism after World War 2, Afghanistan under the Taliban and China under the Cultural Revolution when the Red Guards would decry people for being bourgeois reactionaries. In conclusion I think that the ideas of fear and suspicion appear throughout the play. Initially the suspicion starts on a small scale but gradually develops and destroys the community. The fear of the devil at the beginning extends and includes fear of others and neighbours
The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t...
Salem is an isolated village in Massachusetts where power is one of the main driving forces that contribute to the dynamics of the community and how people interact with each other. Authority and power is dominant in two main areas- The Church and the Males.
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.