Examples Of Marxism In The Crucible

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The Crucible is a play which revolves around the Salem Witch Trails of 1692. The play starts with the Reverend Parris's daughter being stricken with a strange illness that leaves her bedridden. Her father suspects it is witchcraft, an idea that the main antagonist Abigail uses to her and her conspirator's advantage. Abigail and her friends (with the help of Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, Thomas Putnam) start to accuse people in the town of witchcraft in order to gain land, power or money. If this play is looked at through a Marxist lens, it is evident that this play is an ode to McCarthyism and how McCarthyism ruined the life of some prominent American's in the 1950's. McCarthyism relates to the actions of a Wisconsin senator named Joseph …show more content…

When the Crucible is looked at through a Marxist lens, this concept isn't wholly accurate for one particular pivotal character. One of the main accusers throughout the play is Abigail, in Marxist terms Abigail would be classed as a proletariat as she holds no position of power and has to rely on a bourgeoisie (Reverend Parris to provide for her). However, in order to gain power, Abigail turns to exploiting her fellow proletariats in order to gain power, thus allowing her later in the play to become a bourgeois. As stated previously, Abigail is the female equivalent of Joseph McCarthy so it would be accurate to assume that McCarthy has been a proletariat who gained power by accusing other proletariats. However, this assumption is untrue as McCarthy has been always a bourgeois who exploited proletarians and bourgeoisie to gain political power and acumen. Acknowledging this information, the Crucible could now be seen not as a criticism of contemporary America where people's political views were put on trial, but as an overview of what people are prepared to do in order to gain power and respect. Abigail was prepared to accuse anyone to gain the power she thought she deserved “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osborn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”. McCarthy accused prominent members of society as he knew this would garner the most attention, although he himself was a well-known senator and didn't particularly need more attention or

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