The Moral of Arthur Miller's The Crucible Essay

Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.

In The Crucible, there was a lot of senseless behavior. The purpose of The Crucible is to educate the reader on the insanity that can form in a group of people who think they are judging fairly upon a group of people. Judge Hawthorne believes what he is told by certain people is the truth even if little evidence is to be shown. The young girls with Abigail convince Hawthorne of others being witches so that Abigail can get what she wants, John Proctor, also so that Abigail does not blackmail the girls. The Crucible by Authur Miller investigates the effects of hysteria, superstitions and repression on the Salem Community in the late 1600’s.

Blindly following authority can lead to ruin in society. This becomes apparent in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, as members of society are quickly singled out and executed. In the strict puritan society in which The Crucible lays its foundation, diversity is feared and seen as a threat. When Abigail begins to make false accusations about witchcraft in the tight knit society, panic runs ramped. In an effort to purge the town of all impurity, those accused are hung unless they confess to the crime. Among the chaos, John Proctor is a strong character, who is able to see beyond the strict and unjust puritan beliefs.

In The Crucible, John Proctor is one of the first to doubt the existence of witchcraft, despite being a religious man himself. When accused, John Proctor immediately sticks up for himself and his slave, Mary Warren, who was also accused. He refuses to confess when questioned. Sadly, this decision would later cost his life. Undeterred by the fact that he came to help burn the witches in the first place, Reverend Hale later realizes that all the people accused, and prosecuted for being witches were innocent all along. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory for Mccarthyism to prove his point that the whole ordeal was a combination of people attempting to become more powerful, and other people being paranoid and being part of the madness. As reported by Miller, “Paranoia breeds paranoia, but below paranoia there lies a bristling, unwelcome truth, so repugnant as to produce fantasies of persecution to conceal its existence.” In “Are You Now or Were You Ever?”, Miller admits to finding the whole ordeal so stupid and unnecessary it was funny. Although it sometimes seems like the whole population can get wrapped up in crises, there is almost always someone brave enough to speak their mind and protest these useless, unfair

Imagine a situation where every day was encircled by mistrust and fear. Helpless, afraid, like an animal having to strictly follow the rules unless it wanted to be pointed out. This was the tone that Arthur Miller uses for his novel The Crucible. Wanting to comment on the mass anti-communist scare of the McCarthyism period, Miller wrote a historical fiction novel about the original “witch hunt”, the Salem witch trials. Paranoia, just like in Hollywood at the time, was what most colonists felt during the spring of 1692 in Massachusetts. Miller detailed the harassment that the inhabitants were subjected to by a group of girls led by a promiscuous seventeen year old. These girls started a religious hysteria among the Massachusetts colony by claiming that particular women living in the colony were in accordance with the devil. This led to many (as many as 200) people to become accused of being a witch or wizard; eventually being put in jail, or for some specific few, being hanged. Through the play, Miller really shows how human beings are able to do fearful things, but at the same time, he shows us how human beings are able to forgive. One of these examples being the growth of a Puritan couple consisting of John and Elizabeth Proctor, who is initially shown to the audience as a broken couple, being that John had relations with Abigail.

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible uses the ideals of Puritan morals to convey the dangers of hysteria and paranoia. This demonstrates the individual’s struggle to weigh integrity and ethics, for themselves and the community during times of distress. Within the play, Miller uses the lechery of John Proctor and Abigail Williams to exemplify the skewed theocratic system that bases law and virtues off Puritan morals. Throughout the crucible, many characters are forced into actions against their principles in Puritan society, striving to escape persecution of themselves and loved ones. Elizabeth Proctor lies for her husband John Proctor, due to her belief in puritan morals, marital vows and a “good name”.

Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is a play to show the reality of what life was like, morally and religiously, back in the late 17th century. The setting of the play is in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, which was a time of blame, fear, cowardice, and courage as it is the time of the ‘Salem Witch Trials.’ The play shows the impact of the differences and accusations in society just for personal gain as it contains truth and the absence of it, a weak behavior in people, and the courage that one has to stand up for people and trying to save their name. “The Crucible” is full of truth, courage, and essentially weakness.

In “The Crucible”, John Proctor is a courageous man who seeks proper justice, but isn’t honorable or truthful to himself, or his family. Furthermore, John Proctor lives on the outskirts of Salem; the home of many unjust witch trials during the late 1600’s. Arthur Miller, the author of “The Crucible”, wrote the play in 1953 for two reasons. First, to teach people the horrors of the Salem Witch Trials, which had many unjust cases. And secondly, he used “The Crucible” as an allegory for McCarthy's communist witch hunt during the 1950’s. Lastly, John Proctor’s lack of honor and truthfulness to his wife, Elizabeth, makes him a tragic home. He is a noble and respectable man, but has fatal flaws that lead to eventual demise.

The Crucible was a visual presentation for us to understand how a type of government can paranoid someone and encourage other people who cause the tension. The Crucible helped us understand that life is like a domino, if one person is infected by a problem, the rest will have to deal with that problem, and as this domino effect goes on, the future follows it as well. History goes back a long way. When we look back at history, we should learn from those mistakes. When Miller was in high school, he was very inspired in the Salem Witch Trial's and decided to go to Salem and explore more about it. He had the idea to make a play about Salem, but change the age of John Proctor's accuser, Abigail, from 11 to 17, to make it more realistic about the

Published in 1952, during a period of cold war tensions, which culminated in the ideological "witch trials" of the McCarthyism era in America, the allegorical play, the crucible, by Arthur Miller, is set in Salem Massechutsets, in 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials. The author has intentionally used allegory to draw parallels between the two events and invite the reader to think critically about the persecution that occurred during both time periods. One of the themes that the author has used to position the reader to recognise the immorality and idiocy of both historical events is the representation of personal integrity. This is achieved through strongly contrasted characterisation through characters such as Abigail Williams and Rebecca Nurse , as well as the use of textual features such as irony,symbolism, and dialogue. In the play characters can be assorted into three distinct groups: those who have completely relinquished personal integrity in favour of personal interests, Those who have good intentions, but struggle to display integrity at times and those who continuously display integrity, even when faced with harsh punishment. In "The Crucible" Miller has utilized a multitude of textual features to create characters whose personal integrity ranges from being nonexistent to exemplary. The positive characterisation of Rebecca Nurse and the conflicted but developing characterisation of John Proctor positions the reader to sympathize with and view them in a positive

A crucible can be defined in two definitions and one being, a piece of laboratory equipment used to hold and heat up liquids. How does this relate to the story? It only relates to science. On the contrary, this definition is relevant to the story. In one of the scenes, Parris and Hathorne are talking about the Salem community and what is happening due to the witchcraft trials. “I’ll tell you what is said here, sir. Andover has thrown the court, they say, and

For the duration of the play, The Crucible, the author, Arthur Miller at best tries to convey a “lesson about life” or a theme which is included in almost every literary work existing. The story dates back to 1692 Salem, Massachusetts during the time of the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials were a series hangings after many citizens were accused of practicing witchcraft. These many people were hanged because practicing witchcraft was frowned upon in the Puritan community due to the belief of ones who practiced witchcraft, conspired with the devil. Similar event were of occurrence in the 1950s, when the play was written. At the time, multiple americans feared communists because they could diminish the democratic government set in the United States. Many who were accused of having communist beliefs or sympathized with them faced not an actual death, like in the history of the story, but a career death. This career death either consisted of a loss in their job or no one wanted to hire them. The main character in the tale, John Proctor lived in Salem with his wife, Elizabeth and his two boys. Family and church was highly valued during these times which becomes clear throughout the telling of the story. John Proctor best represents the “lessons about life” which are the importance of integrity and reputation is crucial in Salem.

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, depicts a dark but important period of American colonial history. The Crucible portrays the Salem witchcraft trials of the mid to late 1600s. As the drama depicts, hysteria was rampant, and the implications of that hysteria can have major effects on the surrounding community. John Proctor, a historical figure and the protagonist of the play, is a well-regarded man who ends up being accused of witchcraft. He is faced with the choice between living a lie and dying as a symbol of truth. Ultimately he decides that a dishonorable death with an honorable message is of greater importance. He cannot fathom that he could live but his name would be cursed. Therefore, in the conclusion of Act Four, Proctor cries

There is a fine line between church and state power in today’s society. These important human structures are both composed of set regulations that are forced upon citizens to avoid punishment. With a time era set far back to the late 1600s, in Salem, Massachusetts, the storyline centers around Christianity and the strong belief of the Devil’s mischief. Arthur Miller, a writer in the mid 1900s, where fear of Communism peaked, decided to write The Crucible as an ironic dig at the American Government; it centers around the idea of Senator McCarthy and the mentality and acts of McCarthyism. John Proctor is introduced the the audience as the main, protagonist of the play. As a young, well known farmer, his reputation is highly prestigious and valued throughout the village. What many of the characters are blind to, that is exposed to the audience, is that Proctor had an affair with a young, stunning, house servant named Abigail Williams; his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, fires Abigail which causes dramatic rage and vengeance within the young girl. The play follows John on his quest to not only save his wife and friends from hanging based on vengeful accusations, but himself and his own true Christian being.

During the tormented years of the 1690’s several unjustified trials took place in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Salem’s innocent citizens were discriminated and accused of being a superstition “witch” due to their own insight in knowledge or due to contradictions against the Holy Bible and the puritan beliefs of the people of Salem. These accounts have been described by several individuals, but the most notable individual to be commemorated for afflicting these accounts to the rest of the world is Arthur Miller with his most recognizable play called “The Crucible”. In the Crucible, a reverend discovers his daughter and a group of girls dancing in the forest which conjures a set of a wave of fear towards what people in this century referred to as “witchcraft “or the practice of black magic, as a result their peaceful town of Salem turned into a destructive town full of individuals that sought corruption, protection of their own self-image, wealth and selfish strategic accusations against their own neighbors, including one of the most important themes of the play-Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is one of the most important themes of the play due to the several characters that correlate with selfishness and self-desire , and one of the most memorable characters from Arthur Miller’s play -John Proctor, best embodies this theme through his infidelity and false testimonies about his marriage as well as his selfish hungry desires for a