The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history

surrounding the Salem witch trials of the seventeenth century, yet is

as much a product of the time in which Arthur Miller wrote it, the

early 1950s, as it is description of Puritan society.

At that particular time in the 1950s, when Arthur Miller wrote the

play the American Senator McCarthy who chaired the ‘House Un-American

Activities Committee’ was very conscious of communism and feared its

influence in America. It stopped authors’ writings being published in

fear of them being socialist sympathisers.

Miller was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and that human beings

were capable of such madness. In the 1950s the audience would have

seen the play as a parallel between the McCarthy trials and the Salem

Trials. A 21st century audience would look at the play from the

perspective of needless hysteria and accusations and would be amazed

that human nature when put into these situations reacts the way it

does in the play. In modern time we are able to appreciate the play

without being concerned with the parallels of McCarthyism.

Although my selected scene is only three-quarters way through the play

it is very conclusive in the way that it shows the ability of the

court to accept the condemnations of people looking for vengeance and

the girls’ lies throughout the trials.

The historical background to the play, although quite old still

relates to human life and behaviour. It shows the willingness of human

beings to blame anyone but themselves. It enforces the belief that

humans are not ready to take responsibility for their actions and

would rather find a scapegoat than be righteous.

The key scene i...

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...willing to do to get her

way. Only the girls, Mary and Proctor know to what extent Abigail can

manipulate a situation in her favour as well as people.

Even when she appeals for help from Danforth they continue to echo

her. E.g. Mary: “Mr. Danforth!”

Abigail and the girls: “Mr. Danforth!” This may be because Abigail

does not want Mary to tell Danforth the truth and Abigail’s plot. This

therefore prevents Danforth from finding out about Abigail and her

manipulation of the other girls.

Mary has to show great willpower to oppose Abigail; e.g. “I have no

power.” In the stage directions it shows Mary summoning all her

determination from within to stand up to Abigail.

In this scene we can see how powerful Miller’s characters can be.

Our first impression of Abigail is accurate because she is clearly

capable of sending people to death to save herself.