Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible is a story in which a group of adolescent girls destroy the bonds between citizens, and perfectly manipulate the trust and mindset of an entire community through fear, and prowess. Their reign of terror fueled by the desire to conceal inner shame, and sinful reputations. They use their newfound power and social hierarchy both irresponsibly and dangerously to damage others. This makes this play a working example of how inequality within a community can cause oppressed civilians to seek power, and use these powers irresponsibly. In accordance with the time period and theocracy within The Crucible, it is not difficult to suggest that this is a time and setting where women were oppressed, and expected to be
In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, a prominent conflict that ensues is the community versus power seekers. The story takes place at a time when people are living in a very closely knit community based on Puritan principles, and, consequently, prone to intolerance towards opposition or dissent. Not to mention, the whole town is involved, not simply one family whose drama might be representative of the plight of the community. In addition, such a rigid society implies that any form of individuality is considered dangerous. With a society this controlling, community members are more likely to act out and pursue personal interests.
Multimodal Speech Analysis Power has influenced society throughout time and is acquired through knowledge, a patriarchal society, monarchy, a family name, birth right, reputation or placement within social hierarchy. This has been revealed in various ways through texts such as The Crucible. A good name or reputation can influence, empower and determine how much respect a family or person gets from others. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller and was set in the Massachusetts town of Salem in 1692. Salem was a theocratic and patriarchal society.
Back in the late sixteen hundreds the people during that time are very strict on religion. During the time a colony in the Americas called the puritans believed in witchcraft. People that are accused are guilty till proven innocent. In the Crucible it portrays injustice by how Danforth is not following court that is ruled by religion, Abigail intimidating the court, and the accused not having proper court rights. The following reasons will explain why the crucible is injustice.
People 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.
The Crucible Arthur Miller purposefully stereotypes the women in the Crucible to make a statement concerning the treatment of women in modern society. Miller is making the statement that most women is modern society are viewed as having many negative characteristics, just because of their gender. In the Crucible, Miller primarily used Elizabeth Proctor, Mary Warren, and Abigail Williams to show how negative stereotypes are used against women in modern society. Women are often portrayed as being cold and cruel if they don’t fit the picture of a happy housewife, and that’s how Elizabeth Proctor was depicted.
Do you remember learning about the Holocaust in school? Do you remember all of the feelings and thoughts you had? Imagine if it was you. Imagine if you were one of the soldiers. Would you stand up for what was right?
Throughout 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.
Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed.
Feminism is the philosophy, found in both literature and society, that the Western world is fundamentally patriarchal. Throughout the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, there are several examples of women being oppressed, as seen through the feminist critical lens. Miller uses male characters to reference to women objectively to help demonstrate this. This teaches that women are oppressed not just in literature, but in life. The female characters gain power in a male-dominated society through an elaborate plot of accusations and executions.
In its society, there is the assumption that the male gender is superior, therefore holds more influence over others and gather more power. It is also assumed that females have slight power over men to manipulate them into doing things or believing things by using their femininity and innocence. These powers are displayed quite evidently in The Crucible which is set in a patriarchal society. In The Crucible, women were nothing without a husband or a father, no rights to own property, no rights to have a job and make a living, no rights. Yet when Abigail Williams convinced her friends to lie and falsely accuse others of being witches, the male judges had no qualms about believing them.
Abbi Dahn English 3 Mrs. Fritz & Mr. Bertelsen 6 October 2017 Power, Authority, Respect In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, I think that every main character shows who they truly are by either wanting power, authority, or respect. I think they do this because their whole community is being accused of witchcraft, so they are trying to protect themselves and their family. When something bad happens, it is natural to do whatever you can to either stay safe or to stay out of whatever is happening.
Girls Lie. When living in a community with people, members begin to build trust, and see the people for who they are. When members in the community begin to get close, they learn who tells the truth and who lies. When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible he went along with this idea.
The social pattern of patriarchy and woman subordination has pervaded much of history, and consequently, has found itself as a timeless theme in literature. The portrayal of women in literature has also been a constant debate throughout time, and many female characters in literature either promote negative stereotypes, encourage the transcendence of patriarchy, or a blend of both. Such is the case for Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, wherein Miller’s portrayal of female characters, such as Abigail Williams, can certainly be viewed as one-sided and offensive Yet, the depiction of women in the play is not exclusively oppressive, for example, Elizabeth Proctor, who is clearly transcendent of the madness of Salem society. The women of the play are also frequently looked down upon and objectified by male characters, namely by John Proctor, which could also be a statement on the seemingly timeless struggle for women to gain societal equity.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which contains a multitude of complex characters . In the play, the characters’ motivations and inner processes are explored. Because of the historical setting, the characters live in a society of judgement and extreme religious devotion. This is a factor that places any of the characters’ choices and morals in a public balance to be judged by others. Abigail Williams is the main character of the play and acts with an utter selfishness and obsession.
Power is defined as “The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as as a faculty or quality.” Throughout history, women have significantly lacked not only power but the ability to be recognized as equal to their male counterparts. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, women are somewhat able to successfully gain power from society due to the fact that they use manipulation, deceit and their sexual desire (especially the character of Abigail) to acquire positions of power in their largely patriarchal society. Women are able to attain this power through using their intellect to express manipulation, and lying in order to receive attention that translates into power.