Intro: In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, religion is used as a form of government, represented by the bourgeois who instill capitalist and religious ideologies onto the proletariats, creating an authoritarian social dynamic that is fueled by the exploitation and manipulation of the working class. My argument (2nd) Secondly, the power difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats in Salem creates a capitalist society of oppression and manipulation, where the bourgeoisie act solely in their own interest. Topic sentence: The social structure of the proletariats and the bourgeoisie in Salem. Paragraph Intro/thesis: With their large collection of wealth and land, the bourgeoisie overpower the proletariats, they maintain control through …show more content…
Proof: “False consciousness denotes people's inability to recognize inequality, oppression, and exploitation in a capitalist society because of the prevalence within it of views that naturalize and legitimize the existence of social classes”(Britannica 1). Question: How does false consciousness relate to the proletariat's involvement in the Salem witch trials? Comment: The bourgeoisie utilized the hysteria created by the witch trials as a means to maintain their power over the proletariats. The proletariats are consumed by a false consciousness and are too focused on blaming each other for witchcraft, oblivious to the injustices they face under the bourgeoisie. This is the exact societal structure the bourgeoisie aims to maintain. However, John Proctor represents a challenge to this existing structure. Proof: John Proctor speaks out against the trials, defending the accused; he creates a petition opposing the court's decisions, “The people signing it declare their good option of Rebecca, and my wife, and Martha Corey”(Miller 93). Hale tries to warn John about the consequences of speaking out against the bourgeoise, “Man, you will be hung! You Cannot!”(Miller …show more content…
His assumed eventual execution exemplifies how the bourgeois manipulate and hide information from the proletariats to maintain their control and power. Resulting in the continuous dominance and control of the bourgeoisie. Point: Finally, in a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie represents a selfish group of people who care for nothing more than their own wealth. Proof:In court, Giles Corey testifies that Thomas Putnam orchestrated the trial for personal gain. Stating, “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeits his property - that’s the law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy such a great piece. This man is killing his neighbours for their land!”(Miller 96). Comment: Thomas Putnam, a wealthy landowner, holds one of the highest statuses in the town. He utilizes the witch trials as a means to exploit the proletariats. The accusations Thomas makes against Giles Corey represent how little remorse the bourgeoisie shows for others. Proof: The idea of selfishness represented by Thomas sabotaging the lives of others for personal gain is reflected in Michael Rosen’s paper on the Marxist critique of morality, “It is true that capitalism promotes egoism and selfishness” (Rosen
The inhabitants of Salem village were Puritans who left Great Britain to pursue their religious freedom. However, their search for the sacred land was merely a dream; as they set foot on the new land, they faced numerous challenges. In the article, Boyer and Nissenbaum point out, “problems which [confront] Salem Village … :the pressure of commercial capitalism and the social style that [accompany] it; the breaking away of outlying areas from parent towns … the shifting locus of authority within individual communities and society as a whole” (Text 194). These social and economic problems created a conflict between Salem village and Salem town - in other words, the gap between the poor and the wealthy, “a community … that its inhabitants experienced two different economic systems, two different ways of life, at unavoidably close range; and so structured politically that it was next to impossible to locate” (Text 195). These differences were directly responsible for socioeconomic tensions. However, socioeconomic problems weren’t the only reasons of the tension as the authors believe factionalism play a role as well. According to the authors, “[t]he charges against Daniel Andrew and Phillip English, for example, followed closely upon their election as Salem Town selectment” (Text 195), therefore, these charges were merely a reason to eliminate political opponents. Yet that wasn’t the worse part, the population of the village was divided into two factions: pro-Parris and anti-Parris. After analyzing many different cases, the authors conclude, “supporters of the trails generally belonged to the pro-Parris faction, and opponents of the
Gretchen A. Adams, the author of the journal, describes how the stereotype and image of colonial puritans were portrayed as hasty prosecutors, and victims to mass hysteria. “In fact, Salem’s witch-hunt…operated under the influence of “hysteria, witch hunts, or vigilantes”, this excerpt talks about how even in the mid-20th century people were using the Salem witch trials as an example of hysteria and prosecution (Adams p.24). In ‘Escaping Salem’, Godbeer talks about how even the people of Stamford also went into a panic, “Once the Wescots…had to be willing to speak out” (p.10). This shows that even when Stamford witch hunt was mild compared to the Salem hunts, people still can assume the worst when a conflict happens. The article later mentions how Americans in the 19th century were exaggerating the witch trials as a means of propaganda against the northern politicians, “In the 1850s… uniquely suited to derive the maximum emotional reaction from its intended audience” (Adams
Playwright Arthur Miller wrote a play about the Salem Witch trials, and he was able to refer to the similarities between America during the 1940’s and 50’s. While writing the script, Miller visited Salem in order to grasp a sense of the scenery. In the Salem Courthouse he saw the red-hunt of the 1950’s as he had in mind the trails that occurred during the 1960’s. The Salem Witch trials and the anti-communist trials have some similarities and differences. During the 1690’s, people in Salem would accuse others of witchcraft; similarly, testifiers and informants would say the names of communist members.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, a proud and frustrated farmer of Salem, chooses to die rather than to give a false confession to witchcraft. Many might view this act as that of a selfless martyr; on the other hand, it can more readily be seen as the height of human stupidity in the face of vanity and pride.
Marx states that the bourgeoisie not only took advantage of the proletariat through a horrible ratio of wages to labor, but also through other atrocities; he claims that it was common pract...
For example, Ann Putnam wants healthy children and envies Rebecca Nurse for all the healthy children she bore. She accuses Nurse of killing most of her offspring using witchcraft. In fact, the official warrant for Rebecca Nurse’s arrest is issued “[f]or the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam 's babies”(67). Ann Putnam does not care if one of Salem’s most devout families is torn apart so long as its members suffer for their happiness. In addition, Thomas Putnam’s desire for more land causes him to make his daughter accuse an innocent man of witchcraft since “[t]he day [she] cried out on Jacobs, [Putnam] said she’d given him a fair gift of land”(89). His greed for land surpasses his care for the other residents of the town. Both Ann and Thomas Putnam are willing to destroy other families for their own benefit, and they succeed because the townspeople’s fear of witchcraft clouds their common sense that the accusers may have ulterior
Thomas Putnam profits remarkably in the Salem witch hunt . The person who initiates the event receives all the benefit. Is it a coincident? It is not. Thomas Putnam must have a plan. At the beginning of the play, the argument between Putnam, Giles, and Proctor shows contentions between people over land. 'The tract is in my bounds, it's my bounds, Mr.
The issues of power, that Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, portrays are concerned with, who has the power, the shifts of power that take place and how power can consume people and try to abuse it, for either vengeance, jealously, material gain or sexual desire.
Salem in the 1600s was a textbook example of an extremist society with sexist norms and no separation of church and state. Because it had no laws, only people considered authorities on law, it was always a society based on norms laid down by the first settlers and severity on the verge of madness. The power was imbalanced, focused subjectively in the people who had means to control others. Some people attempted to right the wrongs of the powerful, as people are wont to do eventually. Because of them, change indeed came to Salem, slowly and after excessive ruin and death. Before the rebels’ impact took hold, Salem’s Puritan society was a religious dystopian disaster, a fact illustrated excellently by Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. This religious dystopian disaster carried many flaws and conflicts that can be seen in other societies, both historical and modern.
The bourgeoisie rule the material forces of society, they have access to material production and control the means of mental production. “The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas;...” (p.173). Being in control of production allows the bourgeoisie’s the power to construct ideas and have the proletarians follow them. This means generation after generation continue to follow these ideas and keeps individuals in the social class they belong according to the bourgeoisie 's. This historical method humans followed allowed division of labor to
John Proctor, whether consciously or not, constantly determines the path to his fate through his actions, choices, and judgment. Though overall he is an honorable and principled man, he is flawed by one crucially harmful past deed to his reputation—his committing of adultery with seventeen-year-old Abigail Putnam. In a final attempt to save his wife from the accusation of witchcraft, he admits to his crime of lechery, by which he plans to unveil Abigail’s true motive for accusing his wife Elizabeth: “A man will not cast away his good name. You surely know that…She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it, I set myself entirely in your hands” (Miller 113). This merely warrants him harshly disapproving views from his puritanical peers, and not even this act of utter honesty and sacrifice can reverse the witch trial hysteria that his affair with Abigail sparked. Both he and his wife Elizabeth are jailed, he is hanged, and Abigail maintains po...
In the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows us how fear and suspicion can destroy a community. As the play develops, Miller shows us how fear and suspicion increase and destroy the community. Throughout the play it becomes apparent that the community gets more and more divided as time goes on. In the beginning there were arguments about ownership of land between some of the villagers. As the story progresses people fear for their own safety and begin accusing their neighbours of witchcraft in order to escape being hanged.
Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court they are essentially breaking their relationship with God. Like everyone else in Salem, Danforth draws a clear line to separate the world into black and white. The concurrent running of the “Crucible” image also captures the quintessence of the courtroom as Abigial stirs up trouble among the people that have good reputation and loving natures in society. In a theocratic government, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil.
“Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away from.” by Arthur Miller. All great works provide a way to reach in and grab the audience through the reoccurring themes like, greed, jealousy, reputation and hypocrisy. Arthur Miller had one of those great works and it was called “The Crucible”. The play was based off of the witch trials that happened in Salem in the year of 1962. Some of the characters were actual characters involved in the witch trials. Arthur Miller wrote this play during the time of the “Red Scare”. Miller wrote The Crucible because he wanted to turn the The Salem Witch Trials into
In ancient, filial piety, as an important criterion for judging personal thought was the correct example of the correctness of the conduct whether noble or not, and the best example that was held up a people whom is treat elders well to an official in ancient Chinese system. China's filial piety culture has a dual meaning both in family and social significance. In the family, it is mainly reflected in that parents have unlimited authority at home in the implementation of despotism. Obey the parents is regarded as a manifestation of filial piety. The social significance of filial piety lies in maintaining a social harmony, that is, respect for the elders and the ruling order and obedience based on awe.