The Crucible Narrative

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play of the historical fiction genre that is based on the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the 1690s. It tells the story of a man named John Proctor who is a villager of Salem during these trials. The trial starts when a group of young girls start to accuse other citizens of Salem to benefit themselves from it. Abigail Williams, the leader of these girls, was involved in an affair with John Proctor, and wanted to get rid of John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and wanted to use her new deceitful power to do so. The majority of the play shows the struggle of John Proctor as he tries to expose Abigail and her group of girls and save his wife, who is eventually accused of witchcraft by Abigail. In an attempt to clear his wife’s name of any wrong doings, he admits to the judges of his affair. John was eventually sent to jail after his household helper accused him of

making her sign the Devil’s book. When Elizabeth and John have a chance to be together, they ask each other for forgiveness, which gives John hope in the sense that they would live. He then verbally confesses to the Judges that he has committed witchcraft.

When brought a written confession for him to sign, John Proctor refuses to do so in order to not shame his family name and accuse others wrongfully. As a result, John Proctor was ultimately put to death shortly after. Aside from the historical context of the play, The Crucible was seen as very relatable to the events going on in American society when the play was first written in 1953. During this time, there was a huge fear and paranoia of communism spreading throughout the country. As a result, people started to accuse other of being communist with very little or no evidence at all, creating a huge outrage across the country, similar to the behavior seen during the Salem Witch Trials through The Crucible. This was known as the Red Scare. Compared to the Salem Witch Trials, the Red Scare occurred on a much larger scale. These actions were occurring throughout the whole nation compared to the witch trials, which only occurred within the town of Salem,

Massachusetts.

From a critical standpoint, Arthur Miller does a great job at presenting a story that depicts the Salem Witch Trials. As a play, it is well done and is entertaining to read. The epilogue helps close it in a way that leaves you satisfied when you finish reading it. However, I do feel like the argument being made has been dumbed down a little compared to its historical context. The major theme of hypocrisy does feel present when reading the play. Historically, the Puritans came to America to avoid religious persecution and the Salem Witch Trials is one of the biggest examples of religious persecution in American history. Although drama that occurs within the play such as the affair between Abigail Williams and John Proctor fits the play rather well, I feel like it sort of steers away from its seriousness when looked at within the bigger picture. To me, this is not a shortcoming at all being that it is a play and it is natural for a play to contain drama such as what is presented in The Crucible. To coincide with this, it also did not help that John Proctor was portrayed in a way in which he seemed to be a generic tragic hero such as the ones seen in William Shakespeare plays such as Othello and Hamlet. Aside from that, Miller does create a story in which his argument is rather clear.