The Crucible Compare And Contrast Essay

We’ve all heard at one point that the book or play was better than the movie, but that’s not always the case. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible was an outstanding play that won the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Tony for best play. The movie on the other hand was phenomenal production that won more awards than the play such as the BAFTA Award, Critics Choice Award, Empire Award, and SEFCA Award. The movie even had 24 nominations, far more than the play had. The play also didn’t give the full effect such as the movie did. The movie gave a more realistic view and aspect to it all in ways the play couldn’t. Characters especially had a lot to do with how we interpreted it.
In the movie, Abigail Williams and John Proctor's relationship is far more significant than in the play. The movie takes more time an effort to build and show us how much Abigail is infatuated with John by making scenes that weren’t originally in the play. For example, in the play we find out Abigail flees Salem through reverend Parris, but in the movie it depicts Abigail visiting Proctor in jail telling him she didn't mean things to end this way and trying to convince him to come with her before she left.

This makes a big difference in how we interpret Abigail’s character because it shows that she felt guilt for what she had done and apologized. In the play it made her seem cold-hearted and that she left the town careless of what was going to happen to Proctor.
The movie added multiple scenes that were not originally in the play and altered a few others to make the story line more affecting to the audience.

One major adaptation in the film was the scene at the beginning of the girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. In the movie the scene was more chronological and was used as foreshadowing, but in the play it were only a flashback. Adding this scene to the beginning of the movie gave us a better understanding of why the girls had such strong motives to cover up what was going on with witchcraft. It also helped us make sense of why Betty was acting the way she was. The mood of the story was set from the beginning instead of flashing back to it to grasp what was going on and why the characters acted the way they

did.
Some people see the play as better than the movie because they can interpret the characters and situations how they like. This is because scenes in the movie are different from in the play and give us a visual effect, making us feel more positively or negatively about a character. Such as how the movie favors John Proctor and makes him out to be a hero, but in the play it’s up to our discretion whether he is or not giving the reader the ability to use their imagination. However, people could say the movie portrayed the characters as they were meant to be. Such as John Proctor being the hero because although he wanted to live, he was already damned and if he agreed to confess he would be damned again. Elizabeth's forgiveness allowed him to forgive himself and he decided to die with his good name and integrity then to live off a lie. The movie portraying him as a good person was how we were suppose to see him as a character because he did what was morally right at the end of the play.
The Crucible was excellently executed as a play and a movie and both won many awards, but the movie did a better job at telling the story. The play didn't get you as emotionally attached as the movie did. One of the main reasons for that is because with the play you didn’t see the emotions and reactions like you did in the movie. The movie did a great job at making you feel like you knew the characters and their motives. There were also scenes that weren't in the play that made you relate better and understand what was going on. Many movies have been based upon famous books or plays, and although many people say the book or play is better, I think the movie was prominent in this case.