Stereotypes In The Crucible

“He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him” Goody Proctor, Act 4. Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible” in 1953. It written about the Salem Witch trials. The trials lasted from February 1692 to May 1693. The setting of the play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. There are many examples of propaganda found in this story. Some types that are found in “The Crucible” are stereotypes, fear, and bandwagon.

The first type of propaganda is stereotypes. Stereotypes is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified or idea of a particular type of person or thing. A excellent example of how it is used I the play is how Goody Osborne is accused of being a witch just because she is poor. In act one Tetuba was accused of being a witch and when she realized that she was not going to change Parris’s mind, she accused two people that did not have a lot of money or friends. Those two were Goody Good and Goody Osborne, and Parris believed her because he assumed that it was truth just because they were poor. Another example of stereotyping is how women don’t really have jobs they just do house work and really only talk to

their husbands. When you see Goody Proctor she is either in the house or in the courthouse getting prosecuted. Stereotyping was very effective in this play because it was the reason why a lot of people succeed in being accused of being a witch. Stereotyping wasn’t the only type of propaganda in “The Crucible” there was also fear used.
Fear was used a lot in “The Crucible” to make people do things they didn’t want or keep their mouth shut. Now fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. A wonderful example of fear in “The Crucible” is when Abigail is telling the girls that she can make them wish they never seen the sun go down in Act one. The reason she said this was because she was worried that the girls were going to confess to what really happened in the woods the night they received a catching. Then that would have saved a lot of lives and time on this dumb witch stuff. Abigail also had the fear cards turned on her when John was yelling at her saying that she was a whore and that she was lying just to get out of trouble. You can tell because in the dialogue, it says that Abigail is supposed to respond with a slightly afraid response. You could also tell in the movie when her body posture changes and she seems to become shakier. The way fear worked throughout the play is unreal, because it is basically the reason why the witch calling didn’t get stopped right in its tracks. Now if there are stereotypes and fear in this play, first you shouldn’t be surprised that there is also bandwagon in this play, which is the last type of propaganda in “The Crucible”.
The last and probably the biggest type of propaganda in “The Crucible” is bandwagon.

Bandwagon is best defined as a particular activity or cause that has suddenly become fashionable or popular. Oh boy, what could be use as an example of bandwagon from the play? The clear example is how everybody is calling everybody witches! Goody proctor is a witch because she had a doll with a needle in it, accuser was Abigail. Goody Osborne is a witch because she is poor, accuser Tetuba. That’s not the only example of bandwagon, another one is how when you are accused of being a witch you accuse other people to get out of being hanged by the court. Abigail accuses Tetuba to get out of trouble in act one. Mary warren accuses John Proctor therefore she will not need to be hanged for being a witch. The three main parts of propaganda was fear, stereotypes, and

bandwagon.
The examples of propaganda were fear, bandwagon, and stereotypes. The example of fear was Abigail threatened the girls with them wishing the sun would never do down. The great example for bandwagon was everybody crying witch, witch. The last example for stereotypes was how some people were accused just because of their social class and their wealth. “There is a misty plot afoot, so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships.” - Reverend Hale to Francis Nurse defending the witch trials in the face of the outrageous arrest of Rebecca Nurse. Act II (page 71)