The Moral of Arthur Miller's The Crucible In the 17th century a group of Puritans from England immigrated to America to escape persecution for their religious beliefs. The white settlers arrived in New England in 1620, and Salem, Massachusetts had been in existence for about forty years by 1692. Salem developed as a theocracy. This was based on the coexistence of religious prayer and hard work. Entertainment, such as dancing, or any enjoyment at all was perceived as a sin. The isolation of the Puritan society created a rigid social system that did not allow for any variation in lifestyle. The Puritans felt insecure with the knowledge of the Native Americans in the forest. They felt persecuted and constantly under attack. Abigail mentions her past when she says that she witnessed, ‘Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine’. Throughout the play it is apparent that the community becomes more divided. In the beginning there were arguments about ownership of land between some of the villagers. As the story progresses people fear for their own safety and begin accusing their neighbours of witchcraft in order to escape being hanged. HALE 'They have confessed it.' PROCTOR 'And why not, if they must hang for denyin'it? There are them that will swear to anything before they'll hang; This is like when Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft so that she will know that there will be a clear path to John Proctor whom she had an affair with and now is in love with. Salem becomes overrun by the hysteria of witchcraft. Mere suspicion itself was accepted as evidence. As a God-fearing community, they could not think of denying the evidence, because to deny the existence of Evil ... ... middle of paper ... ... storm.' This atmosphere leaves the audience to contemplate the play and particular characters and their relevance to the title. The light that shines through the window at the very end of the play makes the ending symbolic. The word 'new' almost lets us forget all the tragic events that have just passed and that the best solution would to start afresh. It leaves the audience thinking that there is hope for the people of Salem especially with the presence of light. I believe that The Crucible was written with a moral. Arthur Miller, by writing The Crucible, warned us that if we did not become aware of history repeating itself, our society would be in danger. Such as has been seen during the McCarthy era. As the witchcraft hysteria took place in one of America's wholesome, theocratic towns, it makes the miscarriage of justice such a mystery even today.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, focuses on the inconsistencies and injustice of the 1692 witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. The restrictive Puritan society of Salem in the 17th century was based upon religious intolerance, where faith was demonstrated through physical labour and by strict adherence to religious doctrine. Material, physical and sexual desires were considered the Devil’s work and a threat to the very fabric of society. In summary, it is said that Puritanism discouraged individualism on all levels. The literal way in which the Bible was interpreted by the Puritans, provides a paradox within the play. This is because although the Bible says “thou shalt not kill,” the people of Salem are willing to sentence innocent people to death without trial or proper evidence. The play explores the extreme behaviour that can result from desires and hidden agendas within the Puritan society of Salem. In the context of the play, the title, The Crucible, takes on a new meaning. It is defined as a severe test, one which is designed to reveal an individual’s true character. The wit...
Context: This part of the text is included at the beginning of the drama, telling the audience about Salem and its people. The author explains how a theocracy would lead to a tragedy like the Salem witch-hunts. This is the initial setting and is based on the principle that some people should be included and some excluded from society, according to their religious beliefs and their actions. This is basically the idea that religious passion, taken to extremes, results in tragedy. Miller is saying that even today extremes end up bad- communism, like strict puritans, was restrictive and extreme. It only made people suffer.
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
down, and tries to make out that she is the innocent victim in all the
The Salem Witch Trials, Who is Really Guilty? After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded, a total of 20 people were hanged, all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft.
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.
A group of teenage girls were secretly dancing in the woods with a black slave, named Tituba. When they were discovered of what they were doing, the girls started accusing certain individuals in the village of dealing with witchcraft. Within a blink of an eye, the entire village is controlled by a devil that exists within the fear of each person. A drama of suspense and impact, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, explores through the individuals' vengeance, fear, reputation, and quest for power.
During the 17th century, the Massachusetts Bay colony is notorious for being plagued with witch-hunting hysteria. This event in history is now recognized as the Salem Witch Trials and has lead us to truly reflect on the themes presented by the actions of people involved. The Crucible (1953) is a play written by Arthur Miller, in which he powerfully and poetically suggests, through the scenes in the novel, that one should never compromise their morality. He does this by introducing the leading character, John Proctor, who faces an impossible situation under the circumstances of morality or death. Thus, Miller poses the idea that it is better to die with your integrity, rather than living but falsely confessing to consorting with the Devil.
The Theme of Evilness in The Crucible by Arthur Miller In any type of society, there is evil. Evil lives amongst us all. sometimes in the people you would least suspect. Everybody in the 'The Crucible has sinned in some way, except for Rebecca Nurse. The play almost certainly starts off with an element of evil.
The question that I will be answering is a very dark yet interesting question that can add and or take away from the story. The Crucible is very dark and talks about a very deep subject and is based on true events in history. This is a story about a girl named Abigail Williams who was caught dancing in the woods and was blamed for summoning demons with other girls. She also lost a guy that she loved named John Proctor due to him marrying a wife. She blamed her servant Tituba and she was going to be killed unless he confessed to being with the devil. She didn 't want to die so she confessed this caused all the girls to start to scream names to save themselves as well. This caused people to get prosecuted because of the girls lying due to the sense of the revenge in Abigail. People were later hung because of the girl 's selfish ways saving themselves. The title of the book I will be using as a reference from is The Crucible and the author of this book is Arthur Miller. Revenge to me in this story is very strong and crime is even stronger. Revenge in this story is how Abigail William 's wanted John Proctor back so she tries to kill Elizabeth Proctor throughout the whole story. Crime is
The Crucible is one of the most bizarre accounts of a historical event to date. The naïveté of the townspeople leads them down a road of madness and confusion, led by a shameless Puritan girl. Abigail Williams was a ruthless girl who showed no mercy upon accusing her victims of witchcraft. Knowing the entire town of Salem would believe her and the other girls, she would not hesitate at charging anyone she wished with the crime of the Devil’s work. However, a challenge arose to Abigail when she decided to accuse Elizabeth Proctor, and eventually her husband John, of witchcraft. The Proctor marriage was not just any simple marriage; it had its times of cold shoulders, heartfelt truth, and undying love.
Most humans are known as the most selfish people on earth. Some people are scared, scared of other’s opinion, losing their wealth or either scared of losing their pride. But some want revenge, revenge for cheating and revenge for pride. In the Salem witch trials, 19 people were hanged, when they were found guilty for performing witch craft. In Arthur Miller’s novel, The Crucible, Miller explains the concepts of revenge and fear through the Salem Witch trials. Abigail Williams is the main person to blame in the novel because she wanted revenge. Danforth and the townspeople demonstrate the concept of fear, since they are scared of what Abigail will do to them.
Parallels between Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, and his article Why I wrote the Crucible, can easily support Miller’s reasons for writing this classic play. Miller’s purpose in writing both the play and the article was to emphasize the similarities between the 1692 witch hunt and the 1950’s Red Scare. Miller simply wanted to convey the message of fear over reason, express himself in a new language of old English, to warn of mass hysteria, and most importantly compare his life in the 1950’s to the irrational trial in 1692. Miller’s reasons are numerous, and while they are all stated flat out in his article, they are also clearly stated and understood in the play.
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.
Although a strict society composed of high morality and disciplinary laws may be necessary for safety, it causes internal conflicts within the individuals. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller a theocracy in Salem rules and guides the citizens into doing what is “right”, but eventually backfires due to issues of reputation and jealousy. Society has a lot of influence on the citizens, and with a bad reputation, it is nearly impossible to live in a Puritan society. Salem’s strict Puritanical social structure causes personal struggles for the individuals involved in the events of The Crucible, and then eventually these personal struggles affect the society overall.