The Crucible

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses themes to display thoughts throughout the book. The theme that seems to be the center point of the story is religion. Religion is on the character’s minds with every action they do. When something goes wrong in the town, religion is sought out as a cause. When the witch trials begin, the devil is supposed to be the source of the troubles. Arthur Miller vividly uses religion to show the readers how important religion is to the people of Salem.

Although not written by Miller, the introductory information for The Crucible establishes his credibility. An editor of Prentice Hall Literature informs the audience of Miller’s knowledge of the subject, “Arthur Miller has chronicled the dilemmas of common people pitted against powerful and unyielding social forces” (Kinsella 1230). The editor verifies Miller’s expertise and past work on other pieces focused on social issues such as All My Sons and Death of a Salesman. Additionally, the background information reveals that Miller based the play off a real historical event. Therefore, the play serves as a convincing example of real life social pressures and the resulting consequences that helps to prove Miller’s argument. While experiencing the play, a personal connection can be formed between John Proctor and audience members who have also experienced persecution. The ability to connect with the character allows the audience to empathize with the argument and consequently be more likely to be convinced by it.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during colonial America. Throughout the story a group of girls makes accusations a mass of people of practicing witchcraft, one of the worst crimes to commit during that period, and people are being sentenced to hang for denying witchery. In the Crucible there are many lessons that Arthur Miller wants to teach you. To me a lot of the lessons that were taught in this story are important but I feel like one of them is the most important. Arthur Miller demonstrates that one of the lessons implied in the story is people’s character and how it affects those people and others. Examples of character are Giles Corey, John Proctor, Abigail Williams.

Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. In society it has been something you are taught as toddler to respect authority, your elders. There are plenty of rules that as children we follow because it has been enforced in our minds that those are the rules and we must follow them. The rules do not tend to be questioned until someone disobeys them and did not think their actions were wrong. It is then that we being to question authority and resist the majority rule. No matter how unfair the laws of the governments might seem, it does not change the fact that people in society obey them. Henry Thoreau, Stanley Milgram and Martin Luther King have all considered the reasons as to why we obey authority and what the struggles of resisting majority rule may be. As a society there has come times that people themselves disobey the law and even in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people being to resist authority. Authority may play a major role in society but when people being to come to a realization of the rules that are unjust, they being to resist and protest against them.

A man 's reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one 's accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s biggest flaw would be his great amounts of pride, which unfortunately led to his own death. In Arthur Millers’ The Crucible, he characterizes John Proctor as the tragic hero of the story because of all that he lost, through his relentless crusade to free his wife and exposing injustice, illustrating that no hero is perfect.

What is the significance of the scene between Elizabeth and John Proctor? What does it reveal about their relationship and about their characters?

The Crucible is a historical play by Arthur Miller, and is set in the town of Salem during the late 1690s. The main characters are John Proctor, the protagonist, and Abigail Williams, the antagonist. The conflict occurs when Abigail falsely accuses others of witchcraft. This leads to hysteria in the town, with people turning in innocent people for witchcraft. Many people including John and Elizabeth Proctor are arrested and put on trial, despite their innocence. John Proctor is sentenced to death after refusing to denounce his friends as witches, forgiven by Elizabeth for his affair with Abigail, and restores his reputation of being a good man. The Crucible delves into the extent people will go betray others in order to benefit themselves

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, self- preservation and self-dignity play a vital role. The three factors I listed played a huge role in John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many other lives. Many other characters such as, Abigail Williams and her friends can be characterized by being greedy, bitter, and selfish. In the play, Miller reveals how people can go against their own morals, therefore they can protect themselves. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he reveals to readers how fear escalated in Salem because of people's desire for personal gain.

During Act 2, many occurrences happened. One in particular took my attention with a bit more force than some of the other content. According to the text, “… But not Sarah Good. For Sarah Good confessed, y’see. I hear a voice, a screamin’ voice, and it were my voice-and at all at once I remembered everything she done to me” (Miller 60)! This quote shows that this woman, Sarah Good, did something to Mary Warren that made her traumatized and afraid. According to the text, “… ‘Sarah Good,’ says he, ‘what curse did you mumble that this girl must fall sick after turning you away’” (Miller 61)? This quote demonstrates the acts Sarah did to Mary. I connected to this scene by remembering an old show that recently aired called Merlin.

In The Crucible, the community is very close minded on their way of living. Close minded to other religious, other than the Puritan belief. The first Puritans saw God as someone that was never wrong and was always right. This belief was formed by theocracy. Their government was based on the divine guidance of God. It is stated several times that the communist and the capitalist are of the devils making. Theocracy only deals with the Christian beliefs. So when others believe that there is something else, they were quick to turn against each other. They shared the belief of predestination- who goes to heaven and who will go to hell. The Puritans believed that if a person was to

The Crucible is a complex and intriguing novel with events, characters and themes comparable to almost every period of human history. It is common for humans to fear change and what is unknown, in the play The Crucible this is witchcraft and the devil, in more recent times it can be seen in post World War Two and Cold War United States, through McCarthyism. The themes in the crucible are as important to people in the 21st century as in Salem in 1692. These include justice, reputation, hysteria, intolerance and empowerment. All of these are common themes throughout human history. The characters in The Crucible are also important to people of the 21st century as they can teach us a little bit about people around us and their reactions when

Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama. Write a response on a separate sheet of paper.

“The little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law now.” In Arthur Miller’s dramatic tragedy, “The Crucible”, he examines how mass hysteria has effected people throughout the ages, with the idea that one accusation can change a life instantly. Mass hysteria led to the tragic events of The Crucible because the power and leadership that comes with making accusations can have a dramatic impact on a community. The story also illustrates how people would rather kill others than get killed themselves.

In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts a small group of girls joined together to go in the woods at night to meet a slave woman name Tituba. Tituba is a slave of Reverend Parris. During their meeting all the girls are dancing

Arthur Miller’s famous 1952 court room drama ‘The Crucible’, based on the 1692 Salem Tragedy, explores the hysteria, strong theocracy and the importance of reputation in the town Salem. Many characters in ‘The Crucible’ generate empathy, but many do not. Sympathy does form for Abigail Williams the most, despite the fact she is seen as the play’s “evil villain”. Other characters however, also evoke condolence and concern like the honourable hero of the play, John Proctor and Giles Corey.