...The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that is based on the Salem witch trials and shows how people react in mass hysteria. The mass hysteria was caused by the religious belief that witches were in the town of Salem. A story that was made up by the girls in the village to save themselves the punishment of dancing in the woods. Religion was used in the crucible to manipulate in many ways such as misinterpreting religion, manipulation through lies, and to enforce the strict rules that held the community together. The play of the Crucible is based on the real witch trials in Salem. Arthur Miller changed the real events to fit with the play better. Like the ages of the girls, making them older to fit in his time. The author also did a great...
Words: 1369 - Pages: 6
...Lindsey Sibille Ms. Gonzales AP English III, 1 16 October 2015 The Crucible Book Card Assignment Authorial Background Arthur Miller is the award-winning playwright of The Crucible along with many other famous plays such as Death Of a Salesman and All My Sons. Born in Manhattan in 1915, Miller experienced the pressing and devastating times of the Great Depression and both World Wars. His first two plays were The Man Who Had All the Luck and All My Sons, with the latter being performed on Broadway in 1949. His next play, Death of A Salesman, received a Tony award, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer prize. These awards allowed him to rise to fame and helped his career skyrocket. Despite his successful playwriting...
Words: 1345 - Pages: 6
...Dylan Gates Mr. Woody 4 November 2012 Accelerated English 2 Crucible Essay Straying from Puritanism The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was produced in 1953. To this day, the play remains very popular. In this play, Miller talks about a witch-hunt that took place in 1962 which compares to the “Red Scare” that went on in Washington, D.C. in the 1950s. Miller writes about a Puritan village with a Christian religion that seems to be forgotten when under pressure. Puritans are taught to stick to their Christian beliefs, and in The Crucible, they simply stray away from the beliefs and violate them to save their own life. One instance where they go away from their puritan beliefs is that the people of Salem drift away from each other and turn on each other. One very strong belief of Puritanism is that unity among them strengthened their community. In a Puritan community, they take care of each other’s needs and look out for their neighbors. In The Crucible, they certainly do not take care of one another. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Almost everyone in the play becomes very egocentric. This is all the effect of the accusations of witchcraft in Salem. Another instance where they stray from their Puritan religion is that they break many of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the ten basic rules that shall not be broken by any means by a firm Christian believer. One of the ten commandments they break during the play is killing. The bible clearly states in...
Words: 1487 - Pages: 6
...While the use of evidence is an important factor in the criminal justice system, The Crucible shines a light on the situation of mass “witch hunts” in history.The Crucible is an allegory to McCarthyism because they both use hysteria to put fear into society.The Crucible was a play written by Arthur Miller ; he wrote the play after he was affected personally and his close friend, Elia Kazan, who testified in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the mass cultural and political hysteria surrounding the Red Scare.This hysteria caused mass amount of public backing behind these mass “witch hunts”, against targeted individuals and industries. The individuals in Mccarthyism were blacklisted from Society which is characterized by the hangings in The Crucible, and the social hysteria of society being scared of witches or communistic ideas....
Words: 498 - Pages: 2
...Many people believe that society affects our nation in many different ways. Some people believe that religion affects it, or maybe even certain time periods. Society affects the way we see ourselves and how other people may see us. Everything a person does, every action they make, every choice they decide, every question they have, and every belief they may believe is based off of society. The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, and Of Mice and Men are great examples of how people were perceived to be and how they were expected to act. The Crucible is a very detailed book written by Arthur Miller, who focused on trying to show the audience that in one certain time period everything a person did and every choice they made was based off of a certain religion. In this book the clothing was very modest (according to the bible’s standards) and if you broke this code you would suffer harsh punishment. They were very strict on how they acted. Every Sunday would be a rest day so they could attend church and worship God. Of course, women also had a certain role they had to perform. They were strictly homebound. Marriage was sacred so if either spouse was unhappy they were forced to stay together. Nowadays, it is completely different. Marriage isn’t as “set in stone” anymore....
Words: 641 - Pages: 3
...The theme of oppression is constant throughout both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Crucible. Both show how religion can be twisted into a form of control in society and they show the huge detrimental and devastating effects this control can have. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows the horror and appalling nature of the Salem witch trials of 1692, but beneath this surface it shows the parallels to aspects in Miller’s own life at this period, with the idea of McCarthyism going out of control in America. McCarthyism was a result of the second red scare in America in the late 1940´s/1950’s. It was a fear driven movement that swept across the United States where the threat of a Communist world revolution seemed like a very real threat. In response to this branches of the government set up organisations such as HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee) to help fight Communism from infiltrating the state. Unfortunately in the end it simply led to a ´witch hunt´ in which people were brought to trial and accused of being communist, Miller amongst them. HUAC and McCarthyism were simply examples of how when those in power feel threatened they will do anything to maintain their position which is what Miller set out to show in The Crucible. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood took a different approach, with a dystopian text which shows a world in which women are heavily oppressed and religion is used as a tool to brainwash and control the population. Atwood has made a point of showing how...
Words: 2479 - Pages: 10
...Authors and playwrights write their works intending for the audience to acknowledge a problem in their society. For example, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to express the conditions the United States is in. Fear quickly spread throughout the country due to citizens accusing each other of being a communist. Similar to the Red Scare, the citizens of Salem began accusing each other of witchcraft due to their own fears. On the other, Jodi Picoult’s purpose of Salem Falls is to entertain the audience. Picoult adjusts the story to adapt to the twenty-first century. Unlike the ending of Miller’s play, the film had a true ending. In both versions, the audience learns that religion corrupts the justice system; nevertheless, the film’s ending exemplifies that a society can overcome such conflict. Religious beliefs may be the cause of biased outcomes in the justice system. For instance, John Proctor, the main protagonist in Miller’s play, argues with Hale, “And why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it? There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never...
Words: 760 - Pages: 4
...from literature to actual historical events. It takes strong character to uphold the ideals of personal integrity; to stand up against all things that are not morally right, regardless of the consequences. Most people simply break under the pressure to lead a life that is safe, however immoral. These people choose to take the easy road out. They choose to ignore what is morally right in an attempt to fit in with the crowd. They do what is easy, not what is right. However, some people have that strong character which allows them to go against the masses and pursue moral truth and justice always. This describes the theme of personal integrity: a theme which is present in the play The Crucible, historical events such as the McCarthyism era, and religion. In the Salem witch trials of the play The Crucible, the theme of personal integrity plays a huge role. Many townspeople are falsely accused of trafficking with the devil. If they admit to this horrific crime, their lives will be spared. However, if they refuse to admit to the lie, therefore displaying personal integrity, they will instead be sentenced to death. This is clearly a difficult decision to make, with the only options being to lie and live or to tell the truth and...
Words: 892 - Pages: 4
...People can better understand human nature from Studying The Crucible. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller there is a group of girls and one of them in Abigail who is the main antagonist in the story. The group of girls was seen in the woods doing “witchcraft”. Abigail and the girls are accused of witchcraft. The group of girls start to name other women in the town like John Proctor's wife. Abigail picks her mainly because she wants John Proctor for herself since John and Abigail had an affair previously. Now the girls accuse other people in the town to draw less attention to them and try to keep their names good. By studying The Crucible and other resources people can better understand that people are greedy and are quick to blame. In “The...
Words: 1084 - Pages: 5
...Arthur Miller uses his play “The Crucible” to describe the life of a society that strictly follows the rules they have established themselves. Such a restriction has a religious origin as they described society can obviously be called a puritan society. Arthur Miller does an outstandingly great job in revealing to the reader the fact that the religion and the state back than were one whole entity and religion dictated its commandment as government laws. For the representatives of the Miller’s society being an honest and a decent man means not only respecting the religious doctrine but following its commandments literally. For instance, Abigail is the evil character in terms of the Miller’s society as she is into material and sexual desires. Though the society of “The Crucible” is a Puritan one on the surface in reality almost each member of this society is greedy, dishonest, and jealous of each other. They conceal their desires and actions that do not correspond to the religious doctrine. Even the girls dance in the woods because they are not allowed to do so wherever they can be seen. Sexuality also lives in the brains of each of the characters of “The Crucible” but they try to hide it even from their own selves. Nevertheless, when someone else reveals “inappropriate” behavior each of the members of the society becomes a strict judge who is ready even to let an innocent person die than to admit the fact that their whole ideology is null. So what seems so puritan on the surface...
Words: 402 - Pages: 2
...Setting is very important in The Crucible because at the time everything unknown was explained by religion. The people said it was witchcraft because they did not have the knowledge that making a deal with devil was not possible. If this were to happen today, everyone would laugh at the accuser because we know witchcraft is not a thing. It would not have the same effect as it did in Salem because religion is not a major part of life for everyone as it was for the people in Salem. In Salem, the “New England Way” meant all work, no play. Part of the reason the witch hunt went crazy is because the strange activity could not be explained because they were so used to work and not fooling around. When the people saw this they could only point to...
Words: 694 - Pages: 3
...Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller argument in individual conscience over religion is clearly shown through their use of Pathos and Logos in their books The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible respectively. I personally also agree with the argument in which they have presented. First off, Pathos was used by both authors to show their argument by showing how unjust the characters were treated to help make the reader sense the injustice that has occurred in the story. In the Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne showed Hester as a kind-hearted woman that helps out the less fortunate, but afterwards he would tell the reader that “If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and passed on...
Words: 872 - Pages: 4
...Vulnerability to a Witch Hunt The fact is that Salem, Massachusetts is all about God and doing God’s work, yet they are believing a bunch of young girls and hanging people without evidence. People believed whoever the person before could blame, no one ever would think of anyone possibly lying or acting? If making a city vulnerable to a witch trial could be easy, Salem and the people living there definitely caused it. In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, religion, personal vendettas, and human faults, made the individuals and society in Salem vulnerable to a witch hunt. To start off one of many reasons Salem society was vulnerable to a witch hunt was religion. Religion was the main priority in Salem and almost anything said or done that wasn’t by the bible was witchery or evil. “At any rate very few indians were converted and Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the devil’s last preserve.” This quote is simply explaining how easily things were blamed and or believed and how religion was the base of everything. Puritans believe if you swear on the bible...
Words: 586 - Pages: 3
...Sarah Clay Ms. Hans Amstud English 10H 23 April 2018 The Crucible Essay One connection that is often overlooked is that Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible in the late nineteen forties and early nineteen fifties at a time when America had developed a newfound fear of communism and politicians were investigating people, accusing them of being communists and wrongly prosecuting them. It has been said that Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible because he was fascinated with the Salem Witch Trials and because he wanted to remind people who had forgotten about the fear and shame that resulted from so many innocent people who were found guilty of being witches and hanged. Arthur Miller used his writings in the Crucible to tell the world that a community...
Words: 1218 - Pages: 5
...Mass hysteria can lead to confusion and the altering of morals. During a time of large-scale panic, many aspects of society are affected and changed. In Arthur Miller’s drama, The Crucible, the court becomes flawed and operates under faulty logic by accepting flimsy evidence, performing unfair tests, and taking automatic proof of guilt. During the time period of The Crucible, religion played a major part in society. When religion is not strictly followed, the court automatically assumes guilt. When Proctor was asked if he was Christian, Parris chimed in by saying “ Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month” (90). Certainly in a time of mass hysteria and trials the church searched for anyone who did not strictly...
Words: 445 - Pages: 2
