The Crucible Theme Analysis

Good vs Evil, Reputation and Injustice, as well as fear and hysteria are all key themes in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Significant events throughout the course of the play were used to highlight and illustrate the importance of these themes within the duration of the play.
The theme of Good vs Evil is portrayed in the first series of events during Act I. This is when ‘the girls’ are seen by Hale dancing in the Forrest, during events that take place before the play itself begins. This scene and the events that take place during it, later lead to widespread accusations of witchcraft. Abigail describes the dancing as “it were sport”. The forest surrounding the puritan’s town in Salem during 1692 was conveyed by Miller, as a place where

the devil lives. The events that take place within the forest are used as a Segway into the plot of the play as well as illustrating the key theme; which is the way people see things as Good vs Evil or black and white. A clear example of this is the way Miller uses the forest as a component to showcase evil which is then compared to the puritans town in Salem, which is revered by all, as being Good. So by Miller having ‘the girls’ go into the forest, the idea of ‘bringing evil into Salem’ is introduced. This significant event leads to the next chain reaction which illustrates the theme of Good vs Evil. This is the accusations of witch craft, specifically that of Rebeca Nurse. Mrs Putnam says that “her baby’s shrivelled in her hands” Rebecca Nurse is used by Miller illustrate the goodness in people but Mrs Putnam’s uncalled for accusation is used to highlight how people can’t understand or see the world in grey, use evil as an explanation for terrible things they can’t understand. Miller uses Rebecca Nurse and the accusations to illustrate the idea of Good vs Evil in The Crucible. The way Good vs Evil is portrayed is similar to the way fundamentalism is shown in the film “In the Name Of the Father”, the radical idea that completely correct or utterly wrong, that you are kind and caring or conspiring the death of babies. The radical extremes of black and white, good vs evil or right and wrong is a key theme illustrated in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible.
Another significant event in the play, The Crucible, is the courtroom scene during Act III, in which Miller uses to illustrate the theme of how hysteria and fear changes the way you act.

During the courtroom scene, hysteria and mayhem break out, as accusations begin flying around , Mary Warrens ‘spirit’ begins to do the same, as she sends out a ‘bird’ in order to taunt Abigail. This sends the courtroom into a downwards spiral, as a hysterical outburst between Abigail and ‘the girls’ erupts. The room fills with fear and tension as the hysteria begins to build; as it reaches its climax as John Proctor blurts out “I have known her” which allows the courtroom to fall into complete silence. Miller uses John Proctor- a known, well respected man within the community- as a way to illustrate how fear and hysteria can suddenly alter our personality and force us to admit to things we never would under normal circumstances. John’s confession of having known Abigail, is his first confession during the play, but is used by Miller to illustrate how easily hysteria affects us. John’s outburst along with the silence that follows allows the audience to understand the impact of what John is confessing to; the hushed tones of voice that trail after John’s hefty confession further reiterate the weight held by John’s confession, which is purposeful on Millers behalf, to help the audience to understand the impact of John’s words. Miller’s use of fear and hysteria in the play, The Crucible, was to illustrate how easily and quickly people will change during stressful moments, as well as the way these confessions or altering of personality can go on to affect you and the way others perceive

you.
The last significant event in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, was John Proctor’s refusal to sign his name. This event complimented Miller’s themes of Reputation and Injustice. John Proctor is supposed to sign his name to an official document which states that he is confessing to the accusation of witchcraft further-more he refused as he believes that since “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” therefore how could he live knowing that he is “not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang”. This idea highlights the role injustice plays particularly during Act IV. John’s acknowledgement of the corruption of the church and the prosecution system allows him to shed light on the idea of him having to lie to save himself, when a large majority of his friends and neighbours were not afforded the luxury. In addition to Johns affirmation regarding his friends and his utter refusal to sign his name grows as he expresses his reasoning as “it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!” The idea that John’s reputation is more important than his life is clearly shown through this quote and is used to illustrate how highly regarded reputation is within the theocracy run town. Specifically through the way John exclaims I cannot have another in my life, which allows the audience to understand how important John’s one and only name is. The idea of importance of reputation over the chance at life is illustrated between the character’s Proctor and Hale consequently clashing the two characters together due to their opposing opinions, as Proctor reveals his unwillingness to sacrifice his reputation for his life in addition to Hale telling Proctors wife that “Life woman, life is the most precious gift”. The parallel between the two contrasting characters opinions illustrates how important the idea of reputation can be to some people and how strongly the idea of having a good reputation, can affect the choices and sacrifices we are forced to make; as well as portraying the weight of an esteemed reputation in Salem,1692. The idea of reputation links directly to the main reasoning behind Miller’s purpose for writing the play, which was to call out those doing McCarthyism. This was a time period in which people were making accusations towards people about being communist while disregarding the need for proper evidence. This accusation of communism would inevitably ruin your reputation during the 1950’s. The possibility of losing your job and having no one willing on hiring you again was relatively high, as the thought of being associated with communism would easily taint your reputation. This furthermore relates to the way Proctor decided to die rather than ruin his reputation, because Proctor believes that he couldn’t teach his sons to walk like men in the world, when he has blackened his name, with it pinned to the church for the entire village to see.
The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller consists of multiple themes that coincide with significant events throughout the course of the play. These themes are used to illustrate the effect on the people of Salem and those caught directly in the cross fire of accusations.