Arthur Miller's Theatrical Technique Illustrated on Pages 97-100 of The Crucible
Mary Warren has been drawn in to court by John Proctor to make her
tell the court how the girls were lying. This is in an attempt to save
his wife who is being accused of witchcraft because of Abigail's
games. Abigail then begins to pretend Marry Warren is witching her, as
do the other girls.
Abigail's outburst creates an incident that the audience do not
expect. In this section Arthur Miller's themes of reputation, hysteria
and intolerance are put across using Proctors blunt, monosyllabic
confession, which leads to another of Millers dramatic climaxes.
John Proctor begins his unexpected confession with:
"It is a whore!"
The short length of his sentence puts emphasis on his sudden outburst
of emotion. Proctors use of the word "whore" would have greatly
shocked the many Puritans in the courtroom as they would have been
opposed to such profanity and the audience would have noticed this.
John Proctor has previously refused to say anything about his affair
with Abigail when his wife asked him due to, fears of his reputation
being tarnished. As the play has progressed, the audience have become
increasingly aware of how important Proctors reputation is to him
therefore; they understand how much of a sacrifice he is making. This
makes the audience warm to him. The theme of reputation runs through
out the play. This is important in a puritan society due to the way
they were very judging and if something harmful were said about
someone it would be very hard for them to reclaim their status again.
The stage directions note he is:
"Breathless a...
... middle of paper ...
...'s line:
"Oh God!"
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reflects the audiences' emotion of what has just happened.
As the stage directions state:
"The door closes behind her"
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this comes across, as a striking and symbolic image to the audience as
it represents that there is no going back on what has just been done.
In Salem logic has been replaced with disorder and chaos as Puritans
are accused of having communicated with the devil. Miller, like many
other innocent citizens in America during the 1950's was persecuted
for association with communism. Arthur Miller gives an insight in to
the judgemental ways of an extremist government that allows the
antipathy that its subjects feel towards others to be used as a weapon
to make innocent people such as Proctor the reason for conflict.
Point by Point Comparison In 1953, author Arthur Miller released his newest play, “The Crucible.” Set in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1692 Salem Witch trials, Miller’s play connects the effects of perjury in Puritan Massachusetts to Communist fearing America in the 1950s, a severe crucible for both Puritans and Americans alike. In 1996, a film version of Arthur Miller’s play was released, starring Daniel Day Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor. The release of the film not only further enhanced the original storyline with added suspense and drama, but also enabled the reader to more clearly comprehend the storyline.
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.
Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.
The statement,“The Crucible is essentially about courage, weakness, and truth,” is proven true numerous times, throughout the play. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller, about the true events that happened in Salem, Massachusetts, between the years 1692 and 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of many hangings, lies, and complete mass hysteria. The citizens of Salem followed the religion of Puritanism, and the ideas of predestination. The root of the mass hysteria comes from their belief in the sense that in something happens then it must have been planned by God. In Miller’s portrayal of the story, Abigail Williams was the ringleader of the witch trials, and she used the idea of predestination to cover up her own sins. Abigail was a very manipulative girl and ruined many lives. John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor were just a few of the victims in Abby’s game. John, Mary, and Elizabeth exhibit the traits courage, weakness, and truth, whether it was in a positive or negative way.
After that, we went to Admiralty Court and everyone sat down and watched 1 accused and 5 witnesses. One witness was Sarah, and the judge asked Sarah if she was a pirate and she said no. The judge asked her to say the letter after Q and she said “R” but the judge said louder and she said “ARR” so then the judge confirmed that Sarah was a pirate by the “ ARR”. Later, I was called up for no reason and the judge said that I was guilty for looking guilty. I was not even a witness, everyone was laughing at me and I was confused.
she is innocent, that she did none of those things. Her family comes up with a petition that the
heroic martyr. A man who dies in the name of all of the Salem sins.
...t they are lying, but the other girls who lied claimed that the girls who said the truth where witches too, so the truth tellers said that they are innocent and was saved.
Nine critical approaches are utilized when analyzing a piece of literature in order to appeal to a variety of critics. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible can be interpreted from numerous approaches, but one lens that is unmistakable throughout is the psychological criticism. From a psychological standpoint, one gains access to the mindset of both the author and the characters within. In addition to this, the reader also acquires a greater understanding of the motivations, behaviors, and mental state that each character possesses. Through psychological criticism, one can obtain information on a character’s motivation, the likelihood of their actions, and which behaviors are consciously made.
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.
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.
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, takes place during 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The setting is important because it takes place during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The play begins with the town’s girls, led by Abigail Williams, gathering in the forest and starting to dance around a fire, chanting. Reverend Parris catches them dancing, sending the girls into a panic and causing two of the girls to go into a coma-like state. The townspeople spread rumors that there are witches lurking throughout the the town that have put the girls under their spells. This causes Reverend Parris to send for Reverend Hale, an expert in witchcraft and the devil's work, who hopes to rid the town of all witchcraft. John Proctor, a local farmer, asks Abigail to stop accusing innocent people and start telling the truth about what happened in the forest. Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, excused Abigail from their house because she found out about an affair between Abigail and John. She lies to the court when she is asked about John’s affair to save him from any punishment. In doing so, they were both sent to jail for witchcraft because they knew she had lied. Abigail and the girls continued to lie about people in the town being witches, causing many innocent people to be killed, including John Proctor. Miller shows the dangers of scapegoating when lies that are regarded as the truth, and can kill innocent characters.
Fear holds a great control over any mortal human-being through daunting and restricted words, most commonly seen while anyone is under pressure. While being controlled over fear, you may come to realize that you are being manipulated to the possibilities of a threatened punishment and may also be mislead by lies. Arthur Miller’s classic novel, The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, where a lot of times fear would be used to control anyone to blame another of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller elucidates this through Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren, that fear holds a great torment on the truth.
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.