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Reflections on the crucible by arthur miller
Puritanism in the 17th century at salem
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Have you ever been accused of witchcraft and threaten with death? I have not myself but the people of Salem in 1692 have. I believe that The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for The Cold War that took place in 1947-1991. My evidence for this is in Salem Massachusetts where the crucible takes place they were really religious and afraid of “witches” which were associated with the devil. This is an allegory for The Crucible because the so called “witches” are a symbol for communist during The Cold war and the devil is a symbol for Russia. People were afraid of being accused of being a witch and or communist because it resulted in death because people were afraid of treason and people going against the religion. Towards the beginning of The Crucible on page 15 it says (The Salem tragedy… developed from a paradox… Simply, it was this: for good purposes, even high purposes, the …show more content…
people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies. It was forged for a necessary purpose and accomplished that purpose. But all organization is and must be grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition, just as two objects cannot occupy the same space… The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom.) This is apart of explaining the setting of The Crucible and of their religious beliefs and what lead to a tragedy like the Salem. This is basically the idea that religious passion, taken to extremes, results in tragedy. On pages 277-292 There is a conversation between Hale and Proctor. (HALE: You surely do not fly against the Gospel, the Gospel—PROCTOR: She believe in the Gospel, every word! ELIZABETH: Question Abigail Williams about the Gospel, not myself! Hale stares at her. PROCTOR: She do not mean to doubt the Gospel, sir, you cannot think it. This be a Christian house, sir, a Christian house. HALE: God keep you both; let the third child be quickly baptized, and go you without fail each Sunday in to Sabbath prayer; and keep a solemn, quiet way among) The Group of girls caught dancing in the woods are avoiding being charged with witchcraft they other people like people did during The Cold War they said these other people were communist to get the attention off of them. The Conversation is Hale basically saying there is no way they can prevent Elizabeth of witchcraft. In Act 3 on page 266-269 there is a conversation between Danforth and Abigail were Danforth says (DANFORTH: These will be sufficient. Sit you down, children. (Silently they sit.) Your friend, Mary Warren, has given us a deposition. In which she swears that she never saw familiar spirits, apparitions, nor any manifest of the Devil. She claims as well that none of you have not seen these things either. (Slight pause.) Now, children, this is a court of law. The law, based upon the Bible, and the Bible, writ by Almighty God, forbid the practice of witchcraft, and describe death as the penalty thereof. But likewise, children, the law and Bible damn all bearers of false witness. (Slight pause.) Now then. It does not escape me that this deposition may be devised to blind us; it may well be that Mary Warren has been conquered by Satan, who sends her here to distract our sacred purpose. If so, her neck will break for it. But if she speak true, I bid you now drop your guile and confess your pretense, for a quick confession will go easier with you. (Pause.) Abigail Williams, rise. (Abigail slowly rises.) Is there any truth in this?) This is important because the court cannot prove the supernatural world or if there actually witches this is the same for the communist they can not be proven as them they just have to take the word of the people that accused them. My final quote is from act 4 on pages 284-295 and it's a conversation between Proctor and Danforth (PROCTOR: I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends? DANFORTH: You have not sold your friends— PROCTOR: Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence! DANFORTH: Mr. Proctor, I must have good and legal proof that you— PROCTOR: You are the high court, your word is good enough! Tell them I confessed myself; say Proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman; say what you will, but my name cannot— DANFORTH, with suspicion: It is the same, is it not? If I report it or you sign to it? PROCTOR, he knows it is insane: No, it is not the same! What others say and what I sign to is not the same! DANFORTH: Why? Do you mean to deny this confession when you are free? PROCTOR: I mean to deny nothing!
DANFORTH: Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why you will not let— PROCTOR, with a cry of his whole soul: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name! DANFORTH, pointing at the confession in Proctor's hand: Is that document a lie? If it is a lie I will not accept it! What say you? I will not deal in lies, Mister! (Proctor is motionless.) You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope. Proctor does not reply. Which way do you go, Mister? His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumples it.) This is also important aspect of The Crucible being and allegory because proctor did not want to admit to witchcraft because it would get his friends question because they were witches the same for the people who accused of communion because if they were accused they expected your friends to be Communist
too. My final conclusion is that The Crucible is an allegory for the cold war. People were so afraid of being accused they would blame others to get out of death. The Crucible did an amazing job of being an allegory and using all that symbolism and the contrast between the two it's an overall good book.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, describes the hysteria that took place during the witch trials. The Crucible shows us how manipulation can easily cause human minds to support and condone a terrible tragedy like that of the witch trials. The Red Scare, meaning the fear of communism, took hold in America during the Cold War and caused a very similar kind of hysteria, thus, making events like these seemingly repeatable and not as rare as hoped. Moreover, this frenzy described in the play is one expected to repeat itself throughout American history.
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.
“Danforth:... You will sign your name or it is no confession, Mister! His breast heaving with agonized breathing, Proctor now lays down the paper and signs his name… Proctor has just finished signing when Danforth reaches for the paper. But Proctor snatches it up...His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears the paper and crumbles it, and he is weeping in fury, but erect.” Not once in his time from that moment in the court, or jail, or at Gallows Hill did he confess to witchcraft, despite Reverend Hale’s attempts to persuade him otherwise. Proctor stood against the court, the girls, and some of the townsfolk, and although he was in the right, and his claims were accurate,...
In this act he finds the goodness in himself to take responsibility for something he did not do just to make up for his sins. He says to Elizabeth, “Spite only gives me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs…” (4.136) He wants to confess, but he has to find the courage in him to confess it. He has to swallow his pride in order to confess of something he did not do. After he finds the courage to confess, Danforth makes him sign a confession statement, but he cannot. In support of this Proctor says, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!” (4.142) Proctor has already confessed and he feels as if that is already enough, but he has to sign the confession or he will be hung. He finds the courage to sign it but then rips it apart before it is hung upon the church, and he could not build up the courage to re-write it. This leads him to being executed. Henry Popkin once again helps support my sources by stating, “The real, the ultimate victim in this play is John Proctor, the one independent man, the one skeptic who sees through the witchcraft "craze" from the first…This is a climactic moment, a turning point in the play. New witches may continue to be named, but The Crucible now narrows its focus to John Proctor, caught in the trap, destroyed by his effort to save his wife, threatened by the irrationality that only he has comprehended.” (143) Abigail’s idea did not go as planned because Proctor rebelled against her. Therefore Proctor was accused and died because he was not going to let Abigail ruin the pureness of his
Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, lived during the Red Scare, which was anti-Communist as the Salem witch trials were anti-witches. The whole book is a symbol of two events that happened in history. The Red Scare and McCarthyism both serve as symbols of the Salem witch trials, which makes it an allegory. Although the play is based off of the witch trials during seventeenth century New England, the author meant for it to address his concern for the Red Scare in an indirect way. For example, just like the witch trials accusing people of witchcraft, Americans during the Red Scare accused others of being pro-Communist. The same widespread paranoia occurred as a result.
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
A very famous man once said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933). This is certainly true when it comes to Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. Arthur Miller lived through the Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism. After living through this era and being one of the accused communists Miller wrote the book titled The Crucible in 1952. This book told the story of the Salem witch trials with some modifications to make it more relevant to the current situation. The book ultimately became an allegory devoted solely to McCarthyism. In The Crucible it uses situations such as the actual trials; direct comparisons of the characters in the book to those that participated in the McCarthy trials and, the atmosphere of the two events were almost identical.
Events have played out in history that made people realize the inhumane acts of people and the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era were two of them. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were almost 260 years before the McCarthy “witch hunts” in the 1950s yet there are similarities between them. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is about the Salem witch trials and is an allegory to the practicing of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare in the United States, which Miller was a victim of. Although there may be differences between “The Crucible” and McCarthyism, ultimately the anger, lack of evidence, and the people were alike in both events.
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 play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller was written in response to McCarthyism in the 1950’s. In 1692 and 1693 the Salem witch trials took place in Salem Massachusetts. Girls believed to be involved in witchcraft were responsible for these trials. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s senator McCarthy came to office. Senator McCarthy and some of his allies were responsible for hysteria in the United States of America in the 1950’s. The scare was also in result of a communist scare after World War II and leading to the cold war. The behavior of the people of the Salem witch trials and Americans in the 19050’s resulted in a big scare in reaction to hysteria.
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 Crucible is a play with many underlying messages and themes. One of which is the idea of power. Power is a very important term in this play in that whoever holds the power, holds the fates of others. The hysteria within Salem has directly effected society. Everything has turned upside down and has gotten distorted. Arthur Miller is telling us that all the power in Salem is given to those who are corrupt and their abuse of it is directly shown through: the actions of Abigail throughout the play, the corruption and desires of Parris, as well as the witch trials held by Judge Danforth.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.
During act 4 Proctor feels ashamed of himself for having sign a paper of him confessing to witchcraft but danforth want to nail that confesion to the church doors and Proctor to ashamed with himself does not give back the confession and says “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name, God knows how black my sins are! It is enough.”(the crucible act 4 Arthur-miller) here shows that proctor trying to keep his name is too ashamed to have it posted for all to see then he says “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life. Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul, leave me my name!” showing that he wants some dignity when this is
The Crucible published in 1953 by Arthur Miller. However, the setting of the play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. Miller had a purpose to write the ‘The Crucible’; he wanted to share with everyone his view of Communism. He wanted to give knowledge to those who did not know about how people around the world were falsely accusing each other of being Communist during the 1950’s in America. Mccarthyism is falsely accusing someone of being communist and they would often be hanged. There were many people that were innocent, but still they were accused for contempt of court, spying, and being a communist during the Red Scare. In The Crucible, many people were being accused of witches and in the Red Scare, they were falsely being accused of being a communist. The Crucible is an allegory between the Salem Witch Trials and the tension that occurred in the Red Scare/ McCarthyism. There are three characters Abigail, John, and Elizabeth who are in The Crucible that are worried about keeping their reputation.