Theme Of Manipulation In The Crucible

Fear is the direct result of manipulation. In Act 3 of The Crucible, manipulation is employed many times in order to create an atmosphere of fear and often resulting in the byproduct of fear. During the trial of Abigail Williams, the issue of Proctor’s affair with Abigail arises; in order for Abigail to be defamed, Elizabeth needs to be honest; however, Judge Danforth utilizes tricky wording such as “has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery?” to create the feeling of it being John’s trial not Abigail’s(Miller 113). Danforth’s manipulation of how Elizabeth views the trials ends with the prosecution fearing for their lives and reputation. This created atmosphere of fear plays to Abigail's position giving her more power and persuasive

The theme one could say in the play is, believing and spreading false accusations can be life threatening. In The Crucible, this happened quite often as people who had no relation to Abigail’s spell in the woods were accused of witchcraft. If they refused to confess to practicing witchcraft, they would be killed. If they confessed to practicing witchcraft, (even if it wasn’t true), they would be jailed and have their lives saved, but their reputations ruined forever. I think the author, Arthur Miller, is trying to teach readers and viewers a lesson that even innocent people can be accused of crimes they did not commit and to not believe everything we hear when people are panicking and are in fear. Abigail Williams is a prime example of spreading false accusations, even early on in the play when she falsely blames Tituba for everything Abigail says,“She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!”(23). In Salem, everyone was panicked and spreading rumors out of fear, and falsely accusing people of witchcraft, even unexpected people, like John Proctor’s maid, Mary Warren when she turned on him to save herself and said to him in court, “Don’t touch me - don’t touch me … you’re the Devil’s man!” (52). This betrayal and false accusation is what eventually causes Proctor to give up his fight.

In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible preserving one’s reputation is a major theme. The play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, revolving around witch trials in 1693. In the play there are two men, John Proctor and Giles Corey, whom of which both try to protect their good name and reputation. Throughout the play they portray the idea of protecting their reputations.

In this essay I will talk about two main central ideas. First, some people accuse innocent people for witchery. Secondly, there is a lot of hatred in the town of Salem.

A respectable reputation is a commonly sought after title that many will go to extreme lengths to achieve. People all over the world value how their peers view them. In the late 1600’s one’s reputation was their everything. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, characters manipulate the truth and strike fear into others to furiously protect their reputation. Multiple characters use the act of manipulation to save their reputation in a small town.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, power an authority played a huge role throughout the text that influenced the result of the unnecessary deaths that many of the characters experienced, including the attraction of power that the girls desperately wanted to have, the judges demanding others to obey their orders, and how people from an upper and lower class treated one another. Reverend Hale showed his power and authority through pressuring Tituba and the other girls of being with the Devil during the village’s first discovery of this witchcraft. In the play, Hale states “You have sent your spirit out upon this child, have you not? Are you gathering souls for the Devil?”

Would you rather live a lie or die with honor? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the character Reverend John Hale believes surviving and living is the number one priority. John Proctor, on the other hand, thinks that nothing is more important than maintaining a respected reputation. In my opinion, Proctor’s point of view is correct. It is better to adhere to a your morals and die a good person, rather than live, disgusted with yourself.

In Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, the notable writer successfully argues that the people in Salem rely too much on their reputation by creating a connection to the audience in order to convey the message. He does this in hopes of informing the world that in times of hysteria, reputation means nothing. To prove the argument, Miller uses ethos by developing his credibility when he explains his very own knowledge of the historical situation. Also, the appeals of logos and pathos are evident when illustrating the value of reputation within the play through the characters’ tones.

In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem, Massachusetts prove time and time again that they care more about their reputations than the events that are taking place and how these events are affecting the people around them. Having a good reputation can be a good thing but when being concerned about your reputation clouds your judgement, that is when it becomes a dilemma. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses having a good reputation, the character of Parris, and how reputation and The Crucible tie into modern life to enlighten the reader that even though having a good reputation is great, it should not cloud one’s ability to see the harm they are doing to others.

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

There are multiple types of conflict in The Crucible that forwards the plot, these types of conflict are in the play and most characters have some type of conflict with another person, the town, or themselves. The Crucible is a play that is absolutely filled to the brim with conflict and is set in the time period of the Salem Witch Trials that lasted from February 1692 up until May 1693. In the play, many people were deceived, accusations were thrown around town, and people were hung or burned at the stake.

Have you ever felt so burdened or overlooked that it leads you to deception? How can one readily react to these feelings, and what can be done if we find ourselves submerged in duplicity far beyond any point of return? In order to better answer these questions, one must first look to both literature and history for demonstrations of such conceptions. Just one example of this being that of the well-known play and movie, The Crucible. As first written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, The Crucible is the powerful production and retelling of the erratic events which took place in the town of Salem during the late 1600’s. The story follows a group of young girls who, after being discovered in the woods dancing, decides it is best to charge the honest as partakers in witchcraft; and instill turmoil and distraction not just within Salem, but the entire region as well. One of the girls guilty of such accusations is that of Mary Warren; the tentative, disingenuous housemaid of John and Elizabeth Proctor, who during the progression of the story, felt ashamed of her actions and took the sand to confess not just her own, but all the girls’ fabricated behavior. However as the confession wore on and testimonies denying her statement true came forward, Mary ultimately gave to the pressure and returned to her previous actions of fraud and deception. Doings which only compliment her many viable flaws of a naive judgement, weak minded demeanor, and inability to stay true to her word; and that

“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” Abigail Williams has said this quote during Act I of The Crucible to the other girls caught dancing in the woods. Abigail is a seventeen year old who has taken charge of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail and I portray common traits such as manipulating others, self-centered personalities, and leading many girls.

The audience’ perceptions and understanding of texts depend on the way the composer represents them in relation to politics. Varying texts through their individual mediums offer perspectives on the way people manipulate and are manipulated by politics. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a manifestation of the anger that the composer experienced in his personal life through the accusations which culminated in the McCarthy Trials. His play thus allegorically represents McCarthyism through the Salem Witch trials and exemplifies the false accusations of the people and their injustice from the corrupt politics as well as the influential ideas of power and manipulation. In relation, Geoffrey Robertson’s nonfiction ‘Michael X on death row’ also represents the corrupt and self-centred nature of the politics and the process of manipulation as a facet to gain power and control.

“The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself” (Addams). Immorality is a very subjective concept, but sometimes it is undeniable. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams is shown to be the most immoral character through her constant disregard of others throughout the different events of the story, furthering the point that when in fearful situations people will only think about themselves.