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The crucible as a social tragedy
The crucible reflecting the character of a society
The crucible as a social tragedy
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The Crucible relates the infamous incident of the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory to the McCarthyism era of the twentieth century. Although the play was written to criticize the negative effect that mass hysteria on the lives of many Americans, it also comments on the different social status of men and women. Specifically, as Joseph Valente has said, The Crucible makes the women the scapegoats of the play while using male privilege to excuse the behavior of men. When the play is analyzed through a feminist lense, the role of women and their relationship with the male characters serve to subjugate them under the more prominent and lenient status that men enjoy.
Throughout the play, women are shown as being domestic figures, whereas men play the important roles in society. For instance, after John Proctor discovered Mary Warren in Parris’ household, the readers find out that Proctor had “forbade [her to] leave the house.” Although Mary Warren was Proctor’s servant, the image of a dominant male figure dictating the life of a
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The acceptance of the stricter codes that women must live by increase the pressure and ease with which women are accused. For instance, towards the end of the play, Elizabeth Proctor accuses herself of John’s crime of adultery, saying that it requires a “cold wife to prompt lechery.” Elizabeth’s guilt stems from her deviance of being the angel in the house. Instead of being a mother who devoted herself to her kids and husband, she thinks of herself as a cold, detached wife who left her husband with no choice but to commit adultery. The accepted subjugation of women to men leads to women feeling guilty and accusations themselves of the crimes of others, which allows for women to be easily falsely accused. On the other hand, the portrayal of men being noble, pure characters illustrates male privilege excusing men from their own crimes and
The focus of Miller’s The Crucible is an appalling witch trial that morfs the once-peaceful town of Salem into a cutthroat slaughterhouse. As a lucrative playwright and a not-so-subtle allegory author, Miller is a seasoned wordsmith who addresses people akin to himself, and is not secretive about that information. The Crucible best serves its purpose as a learning device and a social statement, especially at the time of its publishing. Miller‘s piece showcases the appeals in an easy-to-identify manner that is perfect for middle or high school students who are new to the appeals, or for English majors who have no problem pinpointing them, making this play ideal for a classroom setting.
In “The Crucible”, the author, Arthur Miller, conveys what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true. In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch.
Elizabeth Proctor was a stay at home wife and mother and was very loyal to her husband John Proctor. Although John had cheated on her in the past she didn’t let that interfere with the love she had for him. Elizabeth represents the frigid wife in “The Crucible”. Even though she loved her husband that didn’t keep her mind from wonders of evil thoughts. “Even seven months after Proctor’s confession of adultery, Elizabeth is unable to
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
Many people look back on the events of the Salem witch trials and laugh at the absurdity of the allegations. It seems crazy that society could be fooled into believing in things like witches and deal with the events in such an extreme manner. It is a common belief that witch hunts are things of the past. Many people would agree that they no longer exist today; however Arthur Miller, author of the play, "The Crucible", points out that society has not come very far from the days of the Salem witch trials. In his play, he used the Salem witch trials to represent the McCarthy Era because he saw that the nation was facing the same events that Salem went through back in the late 1600's. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" in an attempt to create moral awareness for society. He did so by making a few small changes to the history and creating parallels in the play with racism, human tendencies, and H.U.A.C.
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
to be a whore. He adds this to strengthen who Abigail is. Miller demeans Abigail
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.
In The Crucible, the main struggle of all women is to be a perfect Puritan, wife, or friend, while the men struggle to uphold their reputations without sullying anyone else’s. Elizabeth Proctor is a prime example of a Puritan woman who strives to be the perfect wife. She demonstrates this by cooking for her husband and putting effort into cooking for him. When he compliments her food, she blushes, which exemplifies her desire to please him and to be a good wife for him. Elizabeth also forgives John for having an affair with Abigail. Even though John accuses her of judging him for his affair, Elizabeth maintains that she does not judge him for those actions. When he continues to claim that she has not and will not forgive him, she says, “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery” (Miller 137). By saying this to John, she is telling him that she sins too and that she has things other than his sins to worry about. She appears to be hurt by his blame and lack of trust in her. John
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
This play dates back to the Elizabethan era, a time when men and women lived in a patriarchal society. Under those circumstances, men were molded by traditional beliefs; their loyalty and their social ranking depended on honor, comradeship, and authority over women. Because men were viewed as the better sex, it was thought that women needed to be protected by men their entire life. In the case that a woman was unwed, the father, brother or another male relative was to care for her until a male companion showed up.
“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says ‘it’s a girl’.” – Shirley Chisholm. In the book, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem is dominated by men. Throughout the Jamestown colony women held no jobs with any real power and were treated lesser. Women were expected to care for the children, the home, and ultimately her husbands. During this day and age women were controlled by men. Miller conveys his message of female stereotyping through the archetypes of Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor.
“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble” ~Yehuda Berg. Throughout history, women have strived, even struggled to have a voice, trying to get some type of power in society. This was very evident during the Puritan time period. Puritan women were seen as weak, easily swayed, and had no real say in the town. This is brought to light in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, when one of the main female characters, Mary Warren, undergoes many changes as she battles with finding her own
Shakespeare and the members of the Elizabethan era would be appalled at the freedoms women experience today. The docility of Elizabethan women is almost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture. Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as undesirable and even evil.