Arthur Miller's Skill in Revealing Character, Plot and Theme in The Crucible

Arthur Miller's Skill in Revealing Character, Plot and Theme in The Crucible

A crucible is a container in which metal and other materials are

heated so as to separate the pure metals from waste and impurities.

The crucible in the title is a metaphor for the town of Salem and the

period of witch-hunt madness. In the 'fire', some victims survive the

temptations and fears and emerge as better and stronger people.

Also two other books have been based on the seventeenth-century

witch-hunts: The Lancashire Witches and the Mist over Pendle

In the 17th Century, God was perceived as male and men were seen as

the natural enforcers of God's will. Women were seen as unstable

because of the biological function. This was a time when peoples

role's in society were dearly defined by gender; Men needed to be

physically strong to build, farm and fight off the savage American

native Indians. Women had to be fertile; their role was domestic and

some light farming chores (unskilled).The mans job was to keep his

wife and daughters under control. i.e. always wearing a bonnet, they

had to be decent on Sunday which entailed wearing gloves and having

their prayer books, they also had to keep there eyes down when walking

past a male other than her fiancée or husband.

There is a tension that builds slowly and dramatically throughout the

play to a fitting climax when Proctor tells his confession and we know

that he has chosen to die.

"If it is a lie, I will not die for it".

This quote quantifies that Proctor is willing to die for his errant

way.

The audience feels gradually more involved as the play continues and

we get to know their persona...

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... this reveals that Parris is a pompous, vain man and that he is

extremely selfish in his approach to life in general.Abigail has a

passionate nature that is revealed in her utterances, this to the

girls and to her wannabe lover John but the most strange is Elizabeth

who has an ability to control her feelings but this makes the girl

seem old and unloving.

This is shown in the quote "Would freeze beer"

Although a deeply religious protestant community they did not as a

group of people practise forgiveness and Christian charity. This led

to a culture of blame which made it easy for people to reject

criticism of them and to push the blame for events on to others.

Miller uses these people as a parallel to events in America in the

1950's when the McCarthy 'witch hunts' condemned people as communists,

the new 'Devil'