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 Crucible' has sinned in some way, except for Rebecca Nurse. The play almost certainly starts off with an element of evil. The people of Salem are puritans, so if it were known that a group of girls were dancing naked and attempting to conjure up any spells in a forest, it would certainly be thought of as evil. This is exactly what Abigail and the other girls were doing, however Abigail did admit to dancing, but she did not admit to witchcraft. Parris is understandably upset, "your punishment will come in its time." He is worried that if this information gets out, his fragile hold on the congregation and his livelihood could disappear, "my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it." While this was going on, Betty is lying in her bed, motionless. Parris is starting to panic, and the thought of witchcraft passes his mind. So when Abigail is one on one with Betty she acts aggressively, by smashing her around the face, she threatens her, "I'll beat you, Betty!" Betty then awakes and starts to whimper and darts off the bed, frightened of Abigail. Abigail then gives her a valid explanation for dancing in the woods, but in an aggressive manner, "I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!" There are 7 deadly sins: · Gluttony · Pride · Sloth · Lust · Envy · Vanity · Greed Abigail breaks three of them: Pride - Abigail was very proud of her name, she took great pride in it, she said to P... ... middle of paper ... ...fter she finds out that he has committed adultery, she found it very hard to forgive. She blamed herself for her lack of affection and having such a, "cold house." She did not feel worthy of John, she says, "forgive me John." If he had not been hanged, it would have worked out. Witchcraft is of course an invisible crime, so how can someone accuse someone of committing it? The people of Salem did not realise that the accuser's were not always, "holy." Sometimes the accuser might have had a completely different motive, like revenge. Abigail certainly accused Elizabeth of witchcraft because of revenge and vengeance. Also the accuser might have been greedy, as in Putnam. He just wanted to kill his neighbours off, to claim their land. This is a prime example of how a tragedy like this can happen, all through evil.
Elizabeth Proctor is a bitter woman who has been hurt deeply by her husband and her pride adds more strain to the already unstable relationship. Her husband, Proctor, only wants her to find complete forgiveness in her heart and to put the incident behind her. She tells him, "...it come not that I should forgive you, if you'll not forgive yourself."
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.
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.
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.
Right when he finds them, Betty becomes sick and won't talk or open her eyes, about this time other people's daughters become sick too. Rumors spread that witch craft is involved in Betty's illness and the development of the plot begins. Important to the major development of the plot is the fact that in the forest, Abigail and the others were just playing like witches. But they were following Abigail because she wanted to try to put a curse on a lady named Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail was in love with Mrs. Proctor's husband, John Proctor, and she wanted to some how get rid of Elizabeth.
Fear, resulting in chaos, and overturned lives affected the personal decisions of John Proctor, thus creating inner conflicts, as well as desperation in the story. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor's stand in a society where opinion drove fate created ignominy towards him and his beliefs. At first he hid his horrible sin inside, fearing the consequences. When he finally did, he was placed in a tangled labyrinth of feelings as to what his next action should be. Lastly, it's Proctor's defiance and integrity in his own self that proved him stronger than the entire community of Salem. Proctor's tremulous feelings and general unease of the situation built up to his defining point of confession. Theocracy came together to take coerce control Salem and it's actions. Proctor saw this and feared, for diabolism was a practice unheard of. Danforth states, "You must understand, sir, a person is either with the church or against it, there be no road between. We live no longer in the dusky afternoon and evil mixed itself with good and befuddled world. Now by God's grace the good folk and evil entirely separate"(63).
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.
After Abigail Williams and the girls are discovered dancing in the forest by Reverend Parris, there are rumours of witchcraft among them, when Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam are found "witched". Once the girls discover this, they become more and more frightened of being accused of witchcraft. Abigail is the first to "admit" to seeing the devil, and all the other girls join in, so the blame will not be placed on them. "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil. I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil. I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil."
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.
Ignorance. When the young and so called “innocent” have the power over the wise and old, they conspire to do all in their power to disrupt life, forget all moral codes, and use imagination to achieve the end goals that they so desire. In the play by Arthur Miller, The Crucible, a chaotic disruption occurs in the peaceful Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. The play commences when a group of girls were found dancing in the forest in the dark of night around a fire. In the morning a few younger children had been found to have a strange coma or“spell-like” quality that came over them. However, as the story unfolds, the town cries witchcraft, a popular belief at the time, which results in an opportunity for many people to take a chance at covering
A crucible refers to a harsh test, and in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, each person is challenged in a severe test of his or her character or morals. Many more people fail than pass, but three notable characters stand out. Reverend John Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor all significantly change over the course of the play.
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.
The desire for power and authority has always been a part of the human nature. Today’s society most often use power to dominate one another and fulfill one’s personal intentions, which can affect other people in many ways. Having power and authority is truly gratifying but it is terrifying if abused and used for selfish acts. The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is an example to illustrate the consequences of abuse of power. The characters Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris use their power over society by manipulating people and using their authority to fulfill their personal intentions, like material gain, vengeance, maintaining social status and reputation, and attention, which eventually lead into a mass hysteria.
ruinously impact a whole community, is very aptly titled. By definition, a “crucible” is “a severe test,” and the challenges faced by Miller’s characters are many. The historical events dramatized in the play reflect how core human values, including truth, justice and love, are tested under life and death conditions. The trials of the characters and the values they hold dearly come when their simple, ordered world ceases to be black and white and easily deciphered, and is turned upside down in the gray shades of ambiguity.