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The history of the play the crucible
Essay on the crucible play
Relevance of the play crucible
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In the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, evokes a deadly mixture of unlawful sexuality, terror of devil-worship, and political administration. The Play develops after Parris witnessed his own daughter and niece along with numerous of other girls from the town dancing in the woods. After being terribly startle, Parris daughter, Betty falls into a bizarre illness no doctor could cure; her illness was what initiated the fuel to the first rumors of witchcraft. Frightened, terrified and willing to do anything to save themselves, the girls began to blame innocent people from the town to be witches and/or practice witchcraft. Due to these falsely accusations, nineteen innocent people were hanged, and many people’s lives were ruined. …show more content…
Just as terrified and desperate to save his own life as the girls from the crucible, McCarthy began to accuse innocent people and not only ruining their career but also their lives. They were both being unfairly suspected and marked guilty for being a communist or being a witch, and having to suffer for other people’s actions. Another way novel connects to an aspect of the author’s life is that he can relate to John Proctor, who, in spite of a flawed character, was able to fight the insanity that surround him. Both, people in the play The Crucible and Miller’s involvement with McCarthyism experienced mass hysteria. In societies from centuries ago, such as puritan Salem in 1692, fear ran all over the town when dozens of innocent people were accused of witchcraft causing nineteen people to be killed. When fear and rumors becomes prevalent and delusional as it had in Salem, it could be designated as mass hysteria. due to the reason that it is no longer just fear, it can be used as a contrivance for self-gaining; bludgeon to benefit in a political statues; and it can also be used as a weapon for revenge. In Arthur Miller’s well-known play The Crucible, mass hysteria lead to terrible events. Thomas Putnam fits
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.
Another association between McCarthyism and the play is that after Miller wrote The Crucible, he was called to answer some questions about the names of person who had been seen in the meetings of Communist Party. (Burns). However, he refused to do it. This is very similar to the fourth act of the play when Proctor is asked who the devil when he saw him and he do not said any names of his friends. He just reveals his sins.
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
Hysteria is characterized as an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality. Wherever hysteria takes place, it seems to condone distortion of the truth, unfathomable actions, and illogical accusations causing communities to rip apart. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they grown to trust, do things that one would normally find anomalous. People who died in the haste of fear and uncertainty were often unnecessary because fear clouds the judgment and perception of a person.
Through time it can be seen that the world’s history has a nature of repeating its self. Author Miller, was aware of this as he experienced a repitition of history of society’s flawed government. In the text The Crucible, the writer, Author Miller has identified and illustrated the problems society faced during the 1950’s setting by drawing parallels with the setting of the 1962 Salem witch hunt. This setting helps readers to understand the characters of John Proctor and Giles Corey.
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.
In Arthur Miller's famous play The Crucible, innocent people are falsely accused of witchcraft and are killed as a result. Even the thought of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600s would put the whole village into mass hysteria. Mass hysteria refers to collective delusions of threats to society that spread rapidly through rumors and fear. This is the main reason why so many people were arrested and killed for witchcraft. One way people could save themselves was by falsely confessing to having performed witchcraft.
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.
...ations were accused without solid information that could not be proved in any way. These events in history affected people by basically destroying their lives. McCarthyism affected people that were put on those black lists. Once they were put on those black lists it was almost impossible for them to get a job that would help support them and pay for all of their bills that they had. During the Salem witch trial the event destroyed john procter’s family and forced his children to live without a father. Although McCarthyism was mostly bad the good was that the idea of McCarthyism destroyed it self and ended the rise of communism in the United States of America. Due to hysteria in the 1950’s America and the Salem witch trials both resulted in corruption and the destruction of people’s lives. “The Crucible” was written in response to this hysteria in the 1950’s.
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, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.
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.
In society hysteria and fear can be the biggest emotional factor to push people to conform. In the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller the characters Parris and Mrs. Putnam both use hysteria and fear to manipulate others to conform, and fear it being used against them. This is evident in their interactions with others regarding witchcraft. Parris is speaking to Abigail about Betty's mysterious illness that may supposedly be witchcraft. He shows that he understands the power of Hysteria and Fear because “If [Abigal] trafficked spirits in the forest [he] must know it now, for surely [his] enemies will, and they will ruin [him] with it” (Miller 10). Parris knows that If his enemies find out about Betty they will use people's fear of witches to
Human nature is a fascinating concept that is exhibited through many kinds of situations. One situation might concern someone being absolutely certain that they are correct and genuinely wanting to spread their ideas with others. Another situation might involve someone’s natural tendency to demand and crave more of whatever they desire. Additionally, a situation might call for the need to pursue a specific objective in order to maintain self preservation. These situations may lead into an assortment of other paths, but one distinct path from all three is the ascension of mass hysteria. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, the confidence, greediness, and persistence of certain characters such as Reverend John Hale, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail