“You’re pulling down Heaven and raising up a whore!” (Act 3) The Crucible is a play written in the late 1600’s by Arthur Miller. The play is based off of the Salem Witch Trials, in which a bunch of people accused others of being witches. There are many types of propaganda and also many examples of these types of propaganda in The Crucible. Some types of propaganda found in The Crucible are fear, testimonials and bandwagon. The first type of propaganda used in the story was fear. Fear is used when someone tries to install fear, or anxiety into someone in order to get them to do their bidding. The first time fear is used in the story is when Abigail tries to scare the girls into following her lead during the first act. This is an example because Abigail is trying to get the girls to follow her lead and she threatens to kill them if they don’t. The other good example is when the judges and the reverends try to get all the people accused of witches to admit that they are witches or they’ll hang. They try to convince them to admit that they are and give names of other witches or they will be hanged and die. Fear was …show more content…
Testimonials are when a person makes a statement about something to try and sway the person they are telling it to. The first time testimonials are used in this story is when Mary Warren tries to testify against all the other girls. She tries to do this because she knows it’s right instead of lying about it like the other girls. The next time is when Elizabeth testifies about John being an adulterer. John already admitted to having committed adultery, but Elizabeth told the court that John wasn’t an adulterer. Therefore, the court didn’t believe John and instead chose to believe Elizabeth. Testimonials was a good type of propaganda because many people were brought into the court to testify about or against other people. The last main type of propaganda in The Crucible was
The Crucible is a play that is based on a true story by Arthur Miller.
The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, is a chronological narrative including a large cast of characters with a constantly moving setting.* The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and an allegory of the McCarthyism period. Throughout the play, Miller explores the destruction of freedom by the ignorant and tyrannical society in which his characters live.* By exhibiting how easily a member of the community can become an outcast, Arthur Miller displays social criticism in the Puritan society as well as in today's society in The Crucible.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was a historical play written about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. The Salem witch trials created mass hysteria throughout the entire village of Salem, which was also mainly inhabited by Puritans. Puritans had a set ideal of firm beliefs that managed how they lived. Essentially, they were living as an elect, which meant they (referring to the Puritans) had a place in heaven for the righteous acts they have done in the physical world. Meaning, any sinful acts could potentially hinder the chances of entering heaven as an elect. The Crucible, questioned everything the Puritans abided by. It questioned the basic morals of a pure lifestyle, adultery and
The crucible provides evidence of scapegoating due to the false accusations of witchcraft witchcraft toward innocent citizens of salem. The Salem witch trials was when accusations were made towards the citizens of Salem involving witchcraft. These accusations led to nineteen killings and many more people jailed. An example of scapegoating in the crucible is seen in the following quote, “Oh Mary it is black art to change your shape...No I cannot, cannot stop my mouth; it is God’s work I do”(120). This quote describes a “scapegoat” because instead of Abigail accepting that she had been caught in a lie, she turns to please Mary Warren under blame. This showed Abigail was only in judgement of herself and did not care about the way Mary Warren was perceived by others. The quote proved to be as scapegoat because the fault was shifted to Mary to Abigail in the clear. Another example of a scapegoat from “The Crucible” was when Mary Warren accused John Proctor of being a witch. This is seen
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible focuses on the Salem Witch Trials along with the pointing of fingers that went along with it. Miller wrote this to reflect upon what was occurring during the Red Scare in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The Crucible is written in an ironic and cynical tone mocking the Red Scare.
From the Cold War Museum it says “These people on the list were in fact not all communists” Everyone was so scared they had no reason to question it and they just wanted to make sure communism would not start. This started the Red Scare and caused anyone they have seen could be a communist with how many people McCarthy had found. This is also relatable to the crucible and the girls from salem. Abigail and the girls started pretending to be possessed and blaming people all over for witchcraft. Everyone was so scared that they believed everything the girls said and got rid of anyone the girls called out. In the Crucible Abigail says “Why do you come, yellow bird?” Abigail and girls talk about a yellow bird that only they can see that Mary Warren sent to hurt them, most people in the court believe the girls even if none of them can see it. Arthur Miller made this book as an allegory to show how easily you can destroy someone's life by blaming them for something.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller; which gave a detailed description of the Salem Witch Trials. “The story concerns a group of young Puritan girls who are caught in a forbidden act, i.e., dancing and cavorting in woods, In order to evade punishment, the girls accuse an ever growing number of their neighbors of having bewitched them”(Dector 1). This shows the basis of the story the girls broke basic Puritan law in Salem, which then starts the witch trials. The only way the convicted could save themselves
The play The Crucible, was written by Arthur Miller in 1953. It is a story he wrote after his own experience being accused of communism. This affected a lot of well-known people in the United States during this time, and was considered a witch hunt similar to the Salem witch hunts. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible about a man, John Proctor, who has an affair with Abigail Williams. She catches feelings for him and tries to cast a spell on John Proctor’s wife to kill her; this gets out of hand when Abigail’s uncle catches her and some other girls dancing during the spell in the woods. Suddenly, the whole town is living in fear of who is practicing witchcraft, who could be a witch, and innocent people are killed if they don’t confess to being witches. Overall, mass fear and panic, and false accusations are seen over and over throughout the play.
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.
The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller written in the 1950’s. It was set in the 1690’s in Massachusetts. The play is about the witch trials and how something like a group of girls in the woods could lead to about 200 people being hanged and accused of witchcraft. The people of Salem were new to Massachusetts as they were puritans who went off to America to set up a new religious colony . The people were new to their surroundings had the Native Americans as enemies because they took their land. Although the Crucible is about the witch trials, it is thought to be a metaphor for the McCarthy Communist trials
Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.
The McCarthy hearings (The Red Scare) in the 1950’s with the political issues that were happening during those years could be depicted as the 1692/93 Salem Witch Trials. Accusing people of being communists is the same as accusing people of being witches. Arthur Miller, the author of the play,The Crucible, that was based on the Salem Witch Trials is a good example of a morality play. In 1692, there were accusations against innocent people in the town of Salem. In The Crucible, a group of teens accuse others of witchcraft even though, they are trying to cover up their mistakes that had been caused. After John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams this had opened a full can of worms throughout Salem. The Crucible displays characterization and bold symbolism and is represented in good and evil morals during the Salem Witch Trials.
Equally as relevant as the symbols of truth portrayed in this play are the symbols of falsehood. The puritanical views of the community and the fear of being exposed as a sinner are driving reasons to turn to a life of hypocrisy and lying to cover up sins so not to be judged by their peers. Reverend Parris is the embodiment of a hypocritical puritan of this time. He uses his title and status as the town religious figure to hide his sins and those of his family. Abigail embodies many of the main issues in the play especially those of demonstrating fallacies. She used accusations that to cover up her own actions that start the entire witch hunt. These characters are the main symbols of falsehood which provide much of the conflict in the play.
One concept is capable of more destruction than almost anything else. It can change a person’s life, or end it. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690’s. The play revolves around the infamous Salem Witch Hunts and their proceedings both within the court and outside of the court. Within this plotline, a theme of greed functions in the play, influencing the actions of certain characters, including Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail.