Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is set in Puritan Salem, where people are deeply religious. The Puritans believe God is the creator of all things and if the Bible does not explain their questions or doing, they are the devil’s work. Also during this time period, the Puritans closely watch their neighbors to see what they are doing. In the beginning of the story, the protagonist Abigail and a bunch of girls are performing witchcraft in the woods, which is against the Puritans’ laws. When Abigail’s Uncle Reverend Parris found out, he needs to protect his repetition, so he demands Abigail to cover for him and stop the rumor that has been spread across Salem about the girls committing non Puritan acts out in the woods. As a result, Abigail, along with the girls, started accusing others for to cover up their wrong doings. The fear of witchcraft gives those who are weak and powerless individuals’ control over Salem, and they abuse that power to their advantage and benefit themselves, proving hysteria can cause madness to extremely religious people like the Puritans in Salem.
Abigail and the girls were in the woods performing witchcraft for their own purpose. Abigail’s goal was to place a spell on Elizabeth, wife of John Proctor, and Abigail and John Proctor recently had an affair. Now, Salem is spreading the rumor of witchcraft, Abigail takes the opportunity to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft so she and John can be together. Abigail has a perfect opening to implement her plan when she saw Mary Warren, one of the girls in the woods dancing, making a doll and stabbing the needle in the doll’s stomach two inches deep; therefore, Abigail employs this exact same thing. “She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight, and without wor...
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...urt system and the judges into believe that everything can be witchcraft, as long as the girls pretend it.
Ultimately, in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, hysteria brought terror to the people of Salem because due to people’s curiosity they needed an explanation to the rumors spreading around in Salem about witchcraft and the result was townspeople accusing others for personal benefits and placing fear to the people of Salem. Like Abigail using the rumor of witchcraft in Salem to frame Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and getting closer to being with John Proctor and Mr. and Mrs. Putnam use the rumor of witchcraft and accuse Rebecca Nurse of murdering their babies to their advantage for revenge. Lastly, Mary Warren, Abigail and the girls from the wood manipulate the court and the judge into believing there are witches in Salem for their own personal benefits.
In conclusion, the theme on how hysteria can occur and corrupt the entire community is displayed in The Crucible. Miller depicts how people can become hysterical over nonsensical things and that hysteria can ruin many people's lives. The reader should understand this theme to be aware of how much we can get swept up in hysteria. Without this hysteria a teenage girl had no power until she cried out witchcraft, a man was not able to act on his revenge until accusing someone else. Fear caused the townsfolk to believe the crazy accusations that someone could actually be a witch. All they were hearing was lie after lie. It’s sad how they actually could believe them. Make you think twice when you hear of a rumor, doesn’t
In “The Crucible”, the author, Arthur Miller, conveys what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true. In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch.
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
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.
“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion, and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.” – Elia Kazan. In the crucible, Arthur Miller describes the witch trials and the hysteria that was caused by it. The fear of the devil overwhelms reason and makes the town of Salem even more afraid. In the story, Marry Warren falls under hysteria and through her, Arthur Miller explains that fear causes people to leave behind all their logic and reason.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is set in Salem village where an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust has been created through the conflicts and disagreements many villagers experience throughout the play. Many of these are caused by or, similar to the conflict between Parris and Proctor, are inflated by the many accusations of witchcraft occurring in the village.
It was easier for them to blame the devil for the problems of society than fix the problems of their own strict way of life. So the girls involved with Abigail, like Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren, named many people in the town as witches. These people were put in jail and would be hanged if they did not confess to the crime of devil worship or witchcraft. Another part of the developing plot is that John Proctor knows Abigail and her friends are lying, but he is afraid to say anything because eight months before he had an affair with Abigail and did not want to be seen by the town as a lecher, which means wife cheater. So, Mr. Proctor has to fight with himself to come out and tell the truth, or his wife might die because of Abigail saying she was a witch.
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.
...ong after John Proctor and other accused members of the town attempt to debunk Abigail’s act, she mysteriously “[vanishes]…she does not return and… [has] robbed [her uncle]” (126). Her blatant disregard for important aspects of Puritanism shows her lack of reverence for God; and although Abigail manages to escape prosecution in her hometown of Salem, she is no safer from hell than a true witch.
“Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away from.” by Arthur Miller. All great works provide a way to reach in and grab the audience through the reoccurring themes like, greed, jealousy, reputation and hypocrisy. Arthur Miller had one of those great works and it was called “The Crucible”. The play was based off of the witch trials that happened in Salem in the year of 1962. Some of the characters were actual characters involved in the witch trials. Arthur Miller wrote this play during the time of the “Red Scare”. Miller wrote The Crucible because he wanted to turn the The Salem Witch Trials into
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller. This play centers around the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In Act II, Abigail and her friends accuse several innocent people of witchcraft. Once they leave the court, Reverend Hale goes to John Proctor’s house to inform Elizabeth Proctor that people in the court have mentioned her name. Then officials of the court, Herrick and Cheever, arrive at the Proctor’s house. They claim to have a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest because the court declares she practices witchcraft. After, Herrick and Cheever take Elizabeth to jail. Injustice in Act II prevails because of the inability to see the truth. Reverend Hale and John Proctor illuminate the theme that closed-mindedness
In The Crucible, the mass hysteria surrounding the witch trials caused paranoia amongst the people of Salem. Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a symbol and allegory of the fear surrounding the spread of communism during the 1950s in America. The community’s sense of justice was blinded by the mass hysteria and for some, a desire for vengeance and personal gain. The Putnams
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
The year is 1692 in Salem, a small town in Massachusetts, and the Puritans community is in serious trouble. In the story “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the Puritans community is in the Salem court where John Proctor admits to committing adultery to Abigail Williams who at the time was very young. Abigail Williams is where the court started after she is involved in the case where John Proctor is accused of committing adultery with her. Abigail also lead the girls and their witchcraft accusations in court. Abigail truly believed that John Proctor still had love for her.