Miller's Presentation of the Theme Of Greed And Envy within The Crucible

Miller's Presentation of the Theme Of Greed And Envy within The Crucible

'The Crucible' was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller in the time of the

cold war, although the play was set in 1692. The play is about a town

called Salem in America and about the witch-hunts that took place

there. Because it was written in this time period there is a feeling

of mistrust, greed and envy echoed in the play. Arthur Miller plays on

these feelings and produces a theme of greed and envy that is critical

to the whole play. I will be discussing this theme further.

Miller first introduces the theme of greed and envy by creating many

social tensions in Act 1. We can tell there are social tensions

because of the way the people speak to each other, such as when Mr

Putnam says to Mr Parris '"No witchcraft! Now look you, Mr Parris -"'

(Pg 10.) This shows us that Parris and Putnam must have a history

between them of unfriendly feelings, as not many people would dare

stand up to a minister. This unfriendliness is confirmed by the piece

of analytical text Miller has included (pg 11) to help us understand

it better. In this piece of text he writes, 'Some time before, Thomas

Putnam's brother-in-law, James Bayley, had been turned down as

minister of Salem.' This gives us the idea that Putnam is resentful of

Mr Parris, because Parris acquired the job Putnam's brother-in-law

would have got.

Another example of social tension is when Mrs Putnam says, "You think

it God's work you should never lose a child, nor a grandchild either,

and I bury all but one?" This is a sarcastic comment from Mrs Putnam

to Rebecca Nurse and it shows that Mrs Putnam is bitter and blames

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...riginal audience would have felt very emotional and would have

been able to relate to the characters because it was first shown when

McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign was at its height. The similarities

between these two events were many, for example, the fear shown in the

play towards witches was the same as the fear shown in real life at

the time between the anti-communists and the communists.

I believe that if Arthur Miller had not made the themes of greed and

envy so strong then the tension would not have been as great and the

play would not have been as interesting. These themes were important

in the whole escalation of the witch-hunts and their dramatic purpose

was to create a vibrant yet serious play. The moral purpose of the

play really affects the audience and creates good tension throughout

'The Crucible.'