Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Themes in the crucible
Three major themes in the crucible
Three major themes in the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Source of Corruption According to Aung San Suu Kyi “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” The issue of corruption causes controversy all over the world. Many will argue with Aung San Suu Kyi’s statement, however, no matter the argument, corruption is inevitable in any society. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller multiple characters abused their authority in fear of losing something precious or dealing with the consequences. Out of all the corrupt people in The Crucible, Abigail abused her power the most. Even though she was only a child, she was feared, followed and trusted by adults. This gave her power, which she abused several times in fear of getting in trouble and dealing with the consequences and losing her love, John Proctor, to his marriage and love for his wife Elizabeth. “She comes to me while I sleep: she’s always making me dream corruptions” (Miller 44). Abigail and the girls did something atrocious and to avoid the consequences, she uses her authority to accuse Tituba of witchcraft, blaming all of their improper actions on her. She accused Tituba of something so heinous, it can get her killed. …show more content…
She explains that the public must fight, and do everything in their power to try and fix the problem, but also states why many victims don’t do anything about it. “As long as police corruption is directed toward poor minorities, middle- and upper-class Americans will continue to allow innocent people to be abused by police” (Sarabyn 1). The author says that a major reason why many who is victims of police corruption, don’t do anything to fix this problem is because they don’t have the power to. The problem of police corruption is that the majority of the victims are poor minorities. Police corruption is a
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
Fatal flaws are personality imperfections found within characters. Tragedy was a common occurrence in The Crucible. Many of these great tragedies happening in The Crucible, were a result of a tragic flaw or flaws like lust and pride embodied by John Proctor during the play.These flaws could also be seen as noble qualities at times, and play a crucial part in his downfall and death.
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. At the instant that Abigail was granted authority over the townspeople she acted on it in order to have power. Not only is there power that comes with authority, but there is also responsibility which was demonstrated
When faced with a problem, humans usually try to find the easiest, fastest, and most convenient way out of the issue. In order to overcome problems, motivation is needed. However, motivation comes from different places within a person based on the individual’s desires. When looking back to 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts the problem during this time period was witchcraft, and "to be accused was to be assumed guilty, to accuse was to avoid punishment" (Jimerson 37). Fear of punishment causes people to accuse the innocent, and the innocent has no redemption for they were automatically guilty. No one was safe at this time as the cycle continued on and on. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren is motivated by fear that transitions from Abigail
Oppression; an extended treatment of cruelty or injustice towards an individual or a group of people. If looked for, it can be found in every society expressed in a number of different ways. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, puts it in a way that is easy to understand. "It is still impossible for man to organize his social life without repressions." This is evident in his play, The Crucible, demonstrating that within a society, oppression will always be present due to personal motives, disputes and misuses of power, as well as distorted religious beliefs.
"Power tends to corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" - Lord Action. In "The Crucible" composed by Arthur Miller control, power, fear and greed were the main factors that began the Salem witch trails. Power brings out the true nature of a person and we see that happening to Abigail throughout the play. That brings me to my next point fear, Abigail used the fear of accusing people of being witches to gain power and control. It all started with Abigail misunderstanding lust for love. John Proctor thought softly of her and she began dreaming of replacing his wife willing to go to any needs necessary.
The author of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, created many themes to go along with his story. It is the character’s personalities and the drama’s events that form each of the themes. One of the most noticeable themes is the presence of ruining of virtuous acts. Since most of the characters are conceited and looking for a way to climb up the social ladder, not many examples of pure acts of virtue make themselves known in The Crucible. Throughout the drama, the characters and events spoil acts of virtue or of piety for their own profit or selfish advance.
The Crucible is a play with many underlying messages and themes. One of which is the idea of power. Power is a very important term in this play in that whoever holds the power, holds the fates of others. The hysteria within Salem has directly effected society. Everything has turned upside down and has gotten distorted. Arthur Miller is telling us that all the power in Salem is given to those who are corrupt and their abuse of it is directly shown through: the actions of Abigail throughout the play, the corruption and desires of Parris, as well as the witch trials held by Judge Danforth.
Explore Miller’s dramatic presentation and development of the theme of power and authority. Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court
A thirst for power and dominance are natural traits of all humans- Some can control this thirst, but others cannot- and this desire can be detrimental to not only the individual, but to society as well. As people we search for one thing in general and that is power; to rule over others, control the actions of others, and to destroy all opposition, and prestige; that no one may question your authority, and not have their motives ridiculed. Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, as well as Edward W. Said’s Orientalism, and C.S. Lewis's, The Rival Conceptions of God highlight how a craving for dominance are related to one’s en/unenlightenment, and it is easy to see this when we put it in the scope of power and prestige and even easier to relate to.
As the world changes and evolves, the modern court system does as well. More now than ever, today’s courts aspire to be the epitome of justice and liberty. However, corruption by court officials, such as accepting bribes and breaking the law themselves, continues to plague the justice system, and in fact, creates speculation in society of whether the court of law is ruling in the people’s favor or its own. In historical fiction, such as The Crucible, the characters mimic this current-day situation; authorities, like Danforth and Abigail, take advantage of their power by silencing the townspeople, ultimately crumbling the foundations of their society as well as the breaking the peace that was once present in Salem. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, religious officials’ belittlement fosters
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it appears to be that Abigail is a victim of her society. She was, in a way, pressured to do what she had done. Many things may have influenced her behavior. That much is obvious. However, she should not be excused for what she did.
Friend turn on friend, and neighbor turn on neighbor no one is safe in the small town of Salem. In Arthur Miles novel The Crucible a great deal of people are being accused of witchcraft. In Salem if you didn’t like someone you can just accuse him or her of witchcraft and they will die. The characters the in the story that have conflicts with each other are Jon Proctor, Elizabeth, Abigail Williams, and Mr. Putnam, and Mrs. Putnam. Miller shows in the novel that unresolved conflicts between people can have tragic results.
The danger of ideology within The Crucible is all throughout the novel. Ideology is a firm set of beliefs that clarifies what an individual or a group within the community thinks. Within the government of religious authorities, the people of the community believe that the government's decisions are found to be “good,” also considered to be approved by Heaven. Throughout The Crucible, Judge Hathorne and Deputy Governor Danforth believe the man upstairs, which means that everything they rule must be right, makes all their decisions. They also believe everything they believe in is to be true.
Abigail consistently intimidated the village girls. One night the girls were caught dancing in the woods naked by Reverend Parris. Abigail threatened the other girls she would kill them if they ever said what they were actually doing, which was conjuring spirits. Abigail was the one who had done most of the wrong dong including drinking blood. Because of this event the start of the whole witch hunt and hysteria can be accredited to Abigail. Whenever she would be accused she would make up a lie, and threaten the other girls to say it was the truth. Even getting the girls to perform acts in public, as if they were under the influence of a ...