Throughout literary work every reader will come across a theme, or themes, present. A theme is the central idea or ideas explored in a story. Each reader will decipher the themes of a story differently than another but open interpretation is what makes literature beautiful. One widely known literary work that I will write about is The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. The play was not only inspired by the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692 but the McCarthy trials during the 1950’s. The play centers around the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden agendas. And as one reads this historical drama they discover many universal and enduring themes. Three universal themes that I will discuss are good vs. evil, justice, and religion. The first theme that I will discuss is religion. Religion is woven and deeply rooted into the life of Salem in The Crucible. The townspeople practiced a form of Christianity that is based on a set of rules: attend church every Sunday, never work …show more content…
But ultimately we see that respected and devout women such as Rebecca Nurse are charged and sentenced to death. This universal theme of religion applies to any and everyone despite cultural differences. It connects idea across all disciplines, time, place, and generalizes human nature. This theme relevant because it fuels the actions of the characters throughout The Crucible. Secondly, I will discuss the theme of justice and the historical context in which it was presented. The story was not only centered around justice but so were the McCarthy Trials and the actual Salem witch trials. Now, whether justice was actually reached is up to debate but, the universality of justice is important. The town of Salem in The Crucible is considered a theocracy, which means that God is the ultimate leader and
In the Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the Salem witch trials to show how a society can become flawed and corrupt, leading to an inevitably witch hunt and hive mindset. These mindsets have still carried on in modern day society. The community of Salem was run under a strict theocracy, where religious leaders held immense power and threat to the common people. With the large fear of the unknown and wide belief in apparitions and entities this added to and heightened the chaos of these witch trials. During the trials an unjust court is shown immediately in the first hearing, the presumption of innocence was ignored and all of the evidence was based on hearsay and rumors.
Due to paranoia, the once quiet town of Salem, Massachusetts has erupted with accusations, rumors, revenge, and in the end, death. The one thing that makes or breaks these characters is reputation. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, goes back to the year 1692 when witchcraft took over Salem. Neighbors are now seen as enemies and no one can be trusted. Over 15 people died in this true, American event because of false, witchcraft accusations.
Whenever The Crucible was first released to the public, it was well-received by most audiences, yet many people felt uneasy about the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare. Even though the idea of a theocracy on the surface is that it would tend to limit sins and illegalities, a society based solely on religion will ultimately result in chaos and lawlessness, as depicted in The Crucible. The center of this pandemonium was the relationship between Abigail Williams and John Proctor, and the rest was history. Even though the Salem Witch Trials took place over three hundred years ago, the themes of jealousy and guilt are still relevant today. No matter how hard one tries to create a perfect society, this is an unrealistic goal that is made impossible by the universal sinful tendencies that are present in humans.
During the Salem witch trials, 20 lives were taken, 27 people were convicted, while over 100 were imprisoned. Innocent people were falsely accused and some had to lie against their own will to protect others while a majority tried to protect themselves. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials that resulted from the lies told by the people living in Salem. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates that lies will oftentimes have consequences.
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.
The Crucible was about the Salem Witch Trials. The duration of these “trials” were a time of general revenge based on jealousy, lust, and possibly the effects of ergot poisoning. More than two hundred men and women were accused of witchcraft. Twenty of which were executed, along with one man being brutally pressed to death for not admitting to witchcraft. These “trials” could very well have been started because of jealousy.
The Crucible Essay The theme of hysteria is evident throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in everyday life and society. Driven by self-preservation, hysteria influences many characters’ actions and leads to the devastating witch trials in Salem. For instance, many characters in The Crucible are driven to execute drastic actions to sustain their reputation and protect themselves.
The Salem Witch trials took place in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693 where people were killed if they were thought to be witches. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller writes about the witch trials and what happened during that time. The Crucible has many themes throughout the play. One prominent theme is the theme of mass hysteria. Mass hysteria is shown in many cases throughout the play such as the scenes when the people of the village of Salem are accused, in the court room while the people state their case, and when the townsfolk are about to be hung after failing to call out other witches.
The 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.
In the crucible by Arthur miller, took place in a small town named Salem Massachusetts, late 1600s. A massive amount of people were accused and found guilty in the court of law, what was their crime? Witchery. In the crucible the book had three themes listening to false accusations, greed and vengeance.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historic play but more importantly is a social and psychological drama that takes place in a small puritan town in Salem Massachusetts. Many different themes find their way through this play but the most important theme is the danger of Hysteria, reputation, and Intolerance can destroy a town no matter the strength of the people in the town. As this play was written during the red scare during the cold war this play shows many aspects as McCarthyism which had similar event that the Salem witch trials had but with the red scare. Hysteria was a major factor in the many accusations of witchcraft that occurred throu out the play “The crucible”, the first example is when the young girls of the community of Salem,
Revenge At It’s Best “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”- Anonymous. As a matter of fact, the person who stated this quote just described the whole reason why the witchcraft trials started. Revenge is like a bug that you can’t get rid of that comes back continuously.
The Crucible is a story by Arthur Miller this story was released during the Mccarthyism era and is written to relate what is going on during Mccarthyism time and compared to what had happened during the time of the Salem witch trials. The setting or the crucible will impact the characters, the plot and the tone of the story. The setting of The Crucible affected the characters because during this period of time Salem Massachusetts was a Puritan colony. The Puritans were very strict people, for example on page 1154 of Arthur Miller's The Crucible Paris the town's Minister threatens to beat his slave Tituba “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to death Tituba” that statement says that the fact that Parris is going to whip Tituba to death if she doesn't do what he says and confess that he is willing to kill anyone who does not follow the rules. Another
One of the main elements that eventually build up to the main plot in the play is power. Many of the characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible have a strong desire for power. The Salem witch trials empowered several characters in the play who were previously marginalized in Salem society. It gave them the chance to misuse it leading to horrible suffering and even deaths of some innocent people in the town. Some of these characters are Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris.
Salem was a small religious puritan colony near Boston, Massachusetts. The play parallels the 20th century paranoia about communism which prevailed across the American society and even reached Canada. The Crucible is a story about a small village run by fear, religious fanaticism and rising panic where people are condemned and sentenced to death with no evidence. In Salem, good and evil have their obvious rules, opposition is not merely illegal, It is associated with satanic power (Bly