A play based on the Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, is in fact an allegory to the Red Scare. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is told in way that shows his criticism towards McCarthyism. Arthur Miller explains how the Salem Witch Trials became in his play. The Crucible is about a group of teenage girls accusing innocent people in the town of Salem. However, the innocent people in the town of Salem are referred to the hundreds being accused of communism during Red Scare. An allegory resembling The Crucible is a play that symbolizes the atmosphere of Salem to that during the McCarthy era, in addition to the comparison of the trials and hearings, along with characters from the play representing people from the event of the 1950s. According to The Crucible and the McCarthy era, the people left fear over role. In the play the people of Salem feared a witch because the town of Salem’s religious was Puritan. Puritans didn’t believe in anything that didn’t have to do with the church or the worship of God, therefore that’s why the town of Salem panicked over witches because they believed they devoted the devil. In comparison to the fear of withes in The Crucible, throughout …show more content…
Examples are Abigail Williams, who portrays Senator McCarthy. Once Abigail is accused for being thought of as a witch, she turns it around, lying to the town to benefit from the crisis. Then Abigail decided that she wanted to be with John Proctor, who was married to Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail knew she had to get rid of Elizabeth; therefore she accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft. Abigail does what she thinks will make her happy by accusing Elizabeth, thinking it will give her what she desires. In addition to this, Abigail’s actions are comparable to Joseph McCarthy in which he was scared of losing control that he made counterfeit claims of communist people to gain
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreMcCarthy feared nothing when accusing citizens and even decorated government officials. Once accused, your good name stood no longer which explains why John Proctor begged the officials of the court to “leave him his name for how may he live without his name?” (Miller, 143) Everyone feared not only the person accused, but their families as well. Many people opted not to bear children at this time simply because of that reason.
Have you ever seen a symbol that had much more meaning than what it look liked? Have you read two completely different stories but they both ended up expressing the same meaning? Or have you read a small children's story and it reminded you of a much bigger world issue? That is called an allegory.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play based on the events that occurred during The Salem Witch trials. It follows the townspeople as they accuse more and more women and men as witches. Throughout the Crucible many themes exploit themselves, and many of these themes influence the story itself. Integrity influences the reader's thoughts on different characters, corruption of justice helps the climax grow, and the mass hysteria helps to create the initial problem of the play.
The Salem Witch Trials were fueled by fear because no one wanted to be punished or killed. In Document B, Act 1 of The Crucible, Reverend Hale arrives to see who is behind all of the witchcraft. When he asks the girls to give him, the names of the people they saw with the Devil. “Abigail: I want to open myself. I want the light of God; I want the sweet love of Jesus!”
The 17th century were known for its witch hunts and trials in Salem. A Puritan society with strong hatred towards anything of witchcraft. The fear instilled drives the town, leaving moral of the people to be hysterical. A fear that leads people to purposely, find anything out of place to be blamed on certain group leaving them marginalised in society. Fear influences people to act irrationally and give the response of flight or fight.
In Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play The Crucible, based on the tragic Salem witch trials, there are numerous displays of courage, weakness, and truth. Essentially, this is what the play is about. Word is spreading throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The smell of witchcraft is filling the air.
In the play “The Crucible”, the Author Arthur Miller using allegory cleverly describes the hypocrisy and hysteria of the 1950s with the backdrop of late 17th century Massachusetts, while using some Key characters to convey his message of what happens when fear over runs us. The play takes place in salem Massachusetts 1692. In its most basic form the play is about a town that becomes overrun with hysteria after people believe witchcraft has run amok. During the time it was written in post world war two America. The USA conducted trials and hunted for communists.
In the play, The Crucible, Salem, Massachusetts, along with the United States during McCarthyism, is engulfed with paranoia. Although both situations include different causes, their effects are strikingly similar. For instance, throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams is being shown repeatedly accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Her actions begin sending the small town into a panic as they throw people into jail and hang them in an effort to try and cleanse the town from any aspect of evil. Similarly, throughout 1950-1954, Joseph McCarthy falsely accused people within the United States Government of being a member of the Communist party.
Hysteria 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.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on the true events of the Salem witch trials. Set in the 17th century The Crucible told the story of a town that ensued a hunt for witches, caused by the accusations of Salem 's young girls and their ring leader Abigail Williams. Arthur Miller wrote this play to symbolize 1950’s McCarthyism. Most readers are unfamiliar with McCarthyism. So for a brief explanation, McCarthyism was carried out under senator Joseph McCarthy during 1950-1954 against alleged communist in the US government and in other institutions.
Both McCarthy and Abigail accuse innocent citizens of being apart of something evil. Accusing others of evil is a main part of the McCarthyism era and Abigail accusing others of in the book The Crucible. Accusing others is both immature and unthoughtful of others. McCarthy
Abigail defies all judgements against innocence as she is the driven evil force in The Crucible. Arthur Miller shows Abigail Williams to instinctively defend herself, as it is the humane reaction when accused of wrongdoing. It is common to tell a lie but, the intention of sabotage is a different story. Abigail had many tricks up her sleeve to manipulate the court. Her purpose to convince the town of her innocence was one of many.
Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.
Character Motivation in The Crucible; Vengeance and Desire Imagine growing up in a Puritan society, constantly having to follow the strict and normally harsh religious rules that were at the very core of the Puritan life. You would think that the townspeople of Salem would have a mindset to obey all the strict rules, due to the fact that they were threatened by the looming presence of the noose. This was not so in the case of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. All things considered, the character motivation was completely different from what you would expect from a Puritan society.
Many authors are influenced by what’s going on in the world around them. Historians will often examine literature from previous eras to give insight into what that time was like. Authors like Arthur Miller are often affected by whatever controversy is ailing the world at that period in time. Authors often will also write about the problems in their own personal lives. Therefore, Arthur Miller’s arguably most famous work, The Crucible, was influenced by the paranoia of communism in the 50s and his personal relationships.