The Crucible Analysis

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.

Undoubtedly, both Proctor and Rev. Hale have unadulterated, pure intentions from the beginning of their journies. Proctor has cheated on his wife and wishes to clear his name of his wrong-doing when he exclaims ”Spare me!” as he demands forgiveness mentioning how Elizabeth “forget[s] nothin’ and forgive[s] nothin” (Miller 54). Proctor wonders how long he must suffer before he is forgiven by Elizabeth. On the other hand, Rev. Hale has devoted himself to uncover the truth about the talk of witchcraft among Salem.

People can change in substantial ways when they encounter distressing events. Views and personalities can change as new matters come to light and are experienced. In books, many authors can expertly show a character’s development and change. A prime example of this is in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Reverend Hale, a character in The Crucible, undergoes a dramatic and significant character development and change throughout the plot, which consists of being humbled because of new information and events, which changes him as a person to one who is more aware and logical.

Leo Tolstoy, a Russian author, once stated “Everyone thinks of changing the world , but no one thinks of changing himself.” Throughout history all species have experienced change. Within Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible many characters made distinct changes. John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor , and Reverend Hale made profound adjustments in their lives. Proctor became more honest, Elizabeth became more confident and strong, while Parris finds in himself some shred of humanity. They all started out as headstrong but the harsh conditions of the town and the courtroom changed their actions and state of mind.

In Arthur Millers play “The Crucible” he describes a town that is overwhelmed by fear and false accusations. The characters of his play are rapped up in all of the chaos that is caused by the lies and vengeance of several young girls. Too of the characters that undergo the most change are John Proctor and Reverend Hale they both Proctor and Hale undergo significant change during the course of the play and ultimately learn the truth about themselves and others.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an extremely diverse play with many different character personalities and conflicts. One of the most conflicted people throughout the play is a man named John Proctor. Proctor is an upstanding man, but also happens to be the play’s tragic hero He has a secret that will ruin his reputation. The secret that beholds in Proctor makes him a sinner. His lust for Abigail Williams is what leads him and his wife to being accused of witchcraft.

Towards the end of the play, the readers see that in order for John Proctor to feel good about himself he tells the truth and dies as a result. When the readers first saw Reverend Hale, he was brought in as an expert to find the “witches” in the town. Hale is eager to find the “witches” in Salem at the beginning of

Hale says, “I come to do the devils work. His sarcasm collapses. There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!”(121) His guilt has reached a point where he simply loses all inhibitions and does whatever he can to protect Proctor. Hale is the one who attempts to make Danforth sufficient with the verbal confession. When Proctor denies all questions concerning the innocence of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey, it is believed that Hale is unable to finish his work. Hale makes a petition to Proctor. “Man you will hang! You cannot!”(133) Proctors reply is,“ I can. And there’s your first marvel. You have made your magic now, for now I think I do see some shread of goodness in John Proctor”(133). This statement redeems Hale, although he does not know it. Hale has inadvertently sent John Proctor to God. This is the full realization of Hales holy work.

The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller follows the story of a broken man as he watches his town descend into chaos. The Puritan town of Salem, that this man once called home, has transformed into the breeding ground for the witch hunt that’s been overtaking his society. The Puritans are a stubborn and religious people, they view anything outside of their rules as the devil’s work. In the year 1692 Salem Massachusetts is ravaged with paranoia and false accusations. Amid this chaos lives John Proctor. Proctor has a reputation of being a good and honorable man; however, in this case, looks are deceiving. After an affair with his servant Abigail, guilt for what he has done overtakes and pushes him to do everything he can to redeem himself. As he is dealing with his shame, his neighbors are being falsely accused and hanged for witchcraft. His frustration at this, paired with regret for what he has done, drives him as he undergoes an intense character development. Since John Proctor is motivated by a want to redeem himself, his decision not to confess to witchcraft allows him to free himself of his guilt and go to his death like an honest man.

Elizabeth sees that John is finally at peace with his decisions, that his internal war is over, and does not stop him. Reverend John Hale, like Proctor, changes significantly from the beginning to the end. When the reader first meets him, he is described as “nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual.” He was very devoted to his faith and to identifying and curing the alleged witchcraft going on in Salem, ridding the town of its hysteria and evil.

Humans act and react for a variety of reasons based on the context and their motivations. There is some part of human nature that prompts people to think, feel, and act in certain ways. This facet of the human condition transcends both time and place; it crosses all cultures. Moreover, human motivations transfer to the fictional world. For example, the characters found in Arthur Miller’s classic American play The Crucible provide a poignant and timeless commentary on human behavior. Act III in particular highlights the best and worst of human nature. This best and worst is equally seen in every day life, even at middle school. The character motivations in The Crucible effectively mirror those found in middle school.

when people face certain circumstances in their life, it can affect who they are and change them greatly. The Crucible is partly based on McCarthyism in the 1950’s which was similar to the Salem Witch trials. John Proctor undergoes a huge change as he is involved in everything that goes on in Salem. Slowly, he goes from being a proud and confident man to being miserable and feeling worthless. The changes that John Proctor experiences in this play represent how powerful change could be and why people are so afraid of change. In “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, the changes John Proctor experiences are proven by the things he says, the things he does, and others' opinion of him.

A theme in The Crucible is that a society ruled by theocracy and status based on religion is bound to fall apart. Salem 's strict adherence to the Christian shurch is evident in everything the citizens do. They use measures of a person 's knowledge and adherence to the religion as a means of judging their character and also their status in society. They believe "God [was] provoked so grandly by such a petty cause" (121), which is why the "jails are packed" (121). If the citizen did anything to make God angry, they were punished. This is why the judges were so relentless and naïve in putting the accused women to trial and convicting them. They believed "the law, based upon the Bible, and the Bible, writ by the Almighty God,

Proctor. For the first and only time in the play we see Abigail as her

The Crucible by Arthur Miller it’s a play based on the Salem witch trials. The play takes place in the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The town minister, reverend Paris discovered a group of young girls including his niece Abigail Williams and a group of young girls dancing in the woods. Reverend Paris believed that Abigail and the girls were practicing witchcraft due to their odd behaviors in the woods. While the girls were dancing Abigail was drinking chicken blood as part of a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife.