Authority In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, it was during the era of McCarthyism in postwar America. Artists, creators, and people from all walks of life were being accused of conspiring with Soviet Russia and spreading Communism throughout the United States. These citizens often lost their jobs and had their lives destroyed because of the aggressive accusations coming from the US Government and those who thought its cause just. Similarly, during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, many innocent civilians were hanged because of their suspected connection to Satan. During both of these eras, people rightfully feared that even their closest friends and neighbors would turn them in due to pressure from authority. Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible to shed light on how even good people can commit heinous actions when under pressure from authority.
This pressure can cause a minor incident to spiral out of control. In the beginning of the play, Abigail, who committed a heathen act by dancing in the woods, is pressured by the dominant male characters to confess that she compacted with Satan. Because the consequence for witchcraft was death, it is only natural that Abigail would divert the blame onto another, stating that Tituba “made [her]
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In response to his wife being accused of witchcraft, John Proctor embarks on a mission to save his wife’s life from the church and prove that the girls “never saw no spirits” (Miller 81). Even he tries to do what he thinks is morally right, John Proctor is slowly beaten down throughout the trial, eventually folding, liying out of anger and desperation that he conspired with Satan and that “God is dead!” (Miller 111). Even John Proctor, with a strong will make things morally right even when the church is not, eventually succumbs to the pressure of
Authority In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
668 Words | 3 PagesDuring ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller, a story about the Salem witch trials in early American colonies, people constantly fight over what they believe is right as well as their personal authority. Throughout the story, the thought that people will abuse the sometimes small bit of authority that they have is prominent, one case being how Abigail and how she affects the trials. In many cases this authority also affects the capacity of independent thought throughout the colonies at the time much like the laws set in place that require the population to be Christian. Abigail, the daughter of parris, is a major part of the abuse of authority throughout the play and this is primarily due to the fact that she is the niece of the town reverend, Parris.
Abuse Of Power In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
576 Words | 3 Pages“The Crucible” is a timeless play whose ideas can be applied to nearly every time period in history. Arthur Miller’s writing contained insights into human nature and displayed the dangers of hearsay and abuses of power. Those dangers were very present in Arthur Miller’s depiction of the Salem Witch Trials and even in more modern times. Through his fictionalized depiction of the events of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials Miller painted a vivid picture that’s allegories can be compared to even modern events. The events of “The Crucible” are comparable to both the Red Scare and the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The Crucible Research Paper
557 Words | 3 PagesIn the late 1940s – early 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made the grandiose pledge to uncover a communist plot to overthrow democracy in United States. No one was safe from persecutions, and the “witch hunts” for communism began. In response to the mass hysteria over this communist infiltration, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible. In the play, the people of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 sought to destroy the devil’s influence by seeking and destroying witches. This began the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
Who Is Abigail Williams Responsible In The Crucible
577 Words | 3 PagesArthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.
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How Does Arthur Miller Present Hysteria In The Crucible
707 Words | 3 PagesHysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.
Essay Comparing The Crucible And Mccarthyism
906 Words | 4 PagesWhen people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.
How Does Arthur Miller Use Authority In The Crucible
525 Words | 3 PagesPeople tend to justify their actions, regardless of the outcome. With knowledge of their actions, people misemploy their authority. A remarkable playwright of the American theater, Arthur Miller continues to capture his audience with The Crucible. In the play, Miller portrays several characters, who abuses their authority. However, of the very few, Miller creates a character who makes an important contrast to these corrupt people.
Fear Of Corruption In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
807 Words | 4 PagesThroughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
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811 Words | 4 PagesThe Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
Why Did Arthur Miller Write The Crucible
601 Words | 3 PagesWhy Did Arthur Miller Write The Crucible? Fear very often leads to unexpected and unwanted results. Decisions made in fear are often more dangerous than the thing being feared. In the United States during the Cold War fear had been running rampant.
Examples Of Allegory In The Crucible
394 Words | 2 PagesThe crucible is an allegory for McCarthy and the red scare of the early 1950, in the early. Many Americans were afraid that communism might infiltrate the American government and cause the US government to fall. Arthur Miller, the author of the crucibles wrote about Salem witch trials, but used the story to illustrate the unsubstantiated fear, panic hysteria of looking for communist support in America. In the early 1950 Americans became fearful that their friends, neighbors, or cow-workers might be communists attempting to undermine American democracy and spread communism throughout the world. Playwright Arthur Miller, in researching the sale, witch trials and a red scare of impending communism.
The Power Of Power In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
781 Words | 4 PagesEveryone longs for success. They desire the acceptance and approval for following their moral compass, being rewarded, and being acknowledged. However, one cannot maintain success without a purposeful and achievable position of power. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the power of society is bound upon a pronounced hierarchy. Men naturally are deemed as having higher status than women in society.
The Crucible Comparison Essay
847 Words | 4 PagesThe threat of Communism and the Red Scare put fear of group mentality into many people during the late 1940-50s. The authors of 1984 and The Crucible used their respective works to comment on the social injustice going on in their own lives, which connects to injustice the exists throughout time anywhere in the world. Miller wrote his play, set in 1692, about Puritans and the Salem witch trials because he believed that, similar to his trial for HUAC in the 1950s, the trials in Salem were caused by false accusations and mass hysteria led by powerful individuals. In 1984, Orwell creates a world in the near future that shows group mentality and its threat to conform society with the government.
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696 Words | 3 PagesArthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as a response to McCarthyism, which is, in general, accusing people of crimes with little to no proof. It ran rampant through the United States during the Second Red Scare through the early 1950s (exactly when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible). In The Crucible, Miller juxtaposes the leaders, who rationally think for themselves, and the followers, who believe what everybody else believes, through irony, imagery, and denotation. The Crucible is riddled with irony, and Arthur Miller utilizes situational and dramatic irony to show the difference between followers and leaders.
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