...between a man’s identity and the image that society demands of him,” (Miller 1962) is a common theme throughout the works of the famous playwright, Arthur Miller. Respect and reputation is a widely dispersed theme throughout The Crucible. Its many different occurrences that are displayed from start to finish of this play, make this specific theme one of the most important. In The Crucible, the idea of one’s reputation and their social standings swayed the thoughts and actions of many individuals. When the witchcraft accusation was brought about in Salem, “it was the ideas of reputation that determined whether or not the accused individuals were actually guilty of the crime.” (Shoop Editorial Team). One of the occasions that the theme of reputation took place was in the very beginning of the play. In act 1, when Reverend Parris caught his daughter Betty and his niece Abigail dancing in the woods, he was worried about what the other people in the town were going to think. He was anxious to discover what the people of Salem were going to say about him when they discovered that his daughter and niece might have possibly been performing acts of witchcraft. This is proven when he said, “Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.”(The Crucible. Act 1. Scene 1.) Parris was also worried that the people who already disliked him were going to...
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...possibility of witches in their village brings mass hysteria to the people. While some would say the theme of The Crucible is corruption can happen anywhere, the theme of The Crucible as displayed through the author is that hysteria can rip apart a community, this is expressed through language, symbolism and characterization. First, language in The Crucible displays the theme by showing aggressive and passionate tones. Shouting from the accused at trials shows how bad the hysteria was. Also, the girls screaming at the sights of pretend spirits shows that the language in the play fuels the theme of mass hysteria ripping apart the town. Elizabeth and John Proctor confessing their...
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...of the characters in the play, The Crucible, all have a lot of pride. Most of them are considered good citizens who would all like to keep and maintain their good name. Reverend Parris is known for living by the bible and its teachings. Judge Danforth is known as a persistent judge who always make the right decisions. When put between the option of life or death, all of these characters chose to keep their reputations by doing the right thing and saving their lives. The importance of having a good name is a very important theme in The Crucible as shown by these characters. John Proctor was a very courageous man. He was the town’s model citizen and the person that everyone looked up to as a leader. For many reasons it is hard for Proctor to give up his good name. One being because he has a lot of respect for it and everyone sees him as the good guy. When Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams he tries to show that she is guilty although he is hesitant...
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...Power is exceedingly important; not only in Salem but to the whole world. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, many characters had the chance to have power and could have ended it right there and then, but did the wrong move and made it worse not only for them but for everyone. One of the theme of this play is power; most of the main character of the play gained power and didn’t use it for good. Power can mean a lot of things over the lives in Salem, over the lives in Arthur Miller’s time, and over the lives of people today. Many characters in the play had their chance of great power. For example Abigail, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth. Even John Proctor had a chance of his own; when he admitted that he and Abby had an affair. The first one who gains,...
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...In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible he shows the power of fear and how it can consume people and turn them against one another through the characters of Rev. Parris, Mary Warren/ The Girls and Danforth. For example, Rev. Parris fear was mainly about losing status in Salem and that fear consumed him and it was shown when he accused John Proctor of witchcraft(Pg.110). Also in the book his fear of witchcraft is not just about witchcraft it’s about his job as the Rev. and how his status will be destroyed(Pg.119). Also Mary Warren is consumed by fear when all of the Girls are imitating here and accusing here of being the witch that possessed them and finally giving up on trying to fight the accusation just goes along with the girls and their false...
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...In Act 3 of The Crucible, we see that hysteria has taken over this town and the way that they think, act, and talk. The court makes judgments based on hysteria, that determines who is innocent and who is a witch. We see that in the way that the court treats Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Martha Corey. In act 3, we also see that the court is making decisions blindly. They believe almost anything the girls say, without any proof to back it up. I think that this irrational decision making, is coming from the amount hysteria in the town. The court is so set on finding an answer, they don’t care what is truth or not. We see in act 3, that hysteria is making people believe things that are clearly fake. On page 1205, Abigail is in the courtroom,...
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...Preserving one’s reputation is a prevalent theme in The Crucible. Several of the characters are concerned about their reputations. Do you think a good name is more important than the truth? I think that the truth is more important because honesty is, im my opinion, the best quality. If you lie just to save your reputation, people may find out and then you would have a reputation for being a liar. If you tell the truth and people know that it is the truth, then you will have a reputation for being honest. Sometimes you may think that it would be easier to lie or not tell the truth, well it is, in the short term. A large majority of the time people find out whether or not you lied, and sure it may not be the day you lied or even the next,...
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...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...
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...The Crucible This essay will discuss, explain and evaluate the main ideas, themes and interpretations of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. It will also explain and evaluate the language Arthur Miller uses and how it contributed to the overall success of the play. The Crucible is set in 1692 in the puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, a theocratic society, where the laws of the land are laid down by the church. The main idea running throughout the play can be viewed as a direct comparison to McCarthyism which was happening in 1950’s America, in which members of the general public including public figures such as Arthur Miller were brought in and questioned over connections to communism. This can be seen as a direct comparison to people being brought into the Salem courts regarding connections with witchcraft. It was not until Miller saw this comparison that he then felt compelled to write The Crucible as he now felt he could get into the minds of those going through similar circumstances back in the Salem witch trials. Hysteria was the main cause of nineteen deaths in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and countless ruined reputations on account of Joe McCarthy. Hysteria does not just appear out of nowhere though. There are driving forces such as revenge and abuse of power that bring about the irrational fear that can take over society. These are the issues expressed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly...
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...The Crucible Analysis Essay Do you wanna know why the Crucible is universal and enduring 60 years later? Rhetorical question, of course not but it must be explained anyways. The Crucible teaches a lesson that we can still learn from today and it also has things in it that can be taught in school which is really fun. Not really but it still is learned because it is important. The Crucible is in the most a lesson teaching us about the horrors of the government in McCarthyism and in the case of the Crucible the court. If you don't know what McCarthyism is it is just the Crucible only during the Cold War so instead of witches people worried about communists. The Crucible is based about 250 years before McCarthyism so things like this has been happening for years. In order to learn now we must look at the past to see what went wrong and then make sure it does not happen again. But it did which is why the Crucible was written at the around the time period of McCarthyism. It was written to teach everyone what is wrong with things like this. The Crucible is also a great teacher of archetypes. This is a good reason why it is so enduring. Every character in the Crucible can be categorized into multiple archetypes. This really makes it easy for people to learn about archetypes since there are multiple examples of them in the play. One of the biggest examples of archetypes in the Crucible would be Scapegoat because everyone was blaming others to get themselves safe. Another reason...
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...Personal integrity is a theme that is present all throughout history, in everything 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...
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...most important themes that was shown in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in that it shows how that people have the tendency to lie and be deceitful. For instance, Abigail ends up getting eighteen people hanged when she lies about “drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife” (p. 12) and “never saw no spirits” (p. 54). Furthermore, the book shows how doing the right thing leads to dignity when John Proctor will not “lie and sign [him]self to lies” and hangs innocently. Finally, it shows how dark Judge Danforth’s lies are when he says “I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just” (p. 80). The Crucible shows how it is a human tendency to lie and not have much integrity. Greed is the second most important theme in The Crucible and is apparent through many of the main character’s motives. For instance, Abigail shows greed and jealousy when she tells John Proctor “I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be” (p. 14), which shows how she is jealous of Proctor’s wife and is greedy in trying to get Proctor. In addition, greed is revealed in Parris when he asks, “where is my wood?” (p.16) and when he says I am paid little” (p.17). Furthermore, Putnam and Proctor fight over a “tract of land” (p. 18) and Putnam starts accusing innocent people of witchcraft in order to gain their land, which shows how greed only makes people do evil. Miller shows how greed is a instinctive trait in humans in his play The Crucible. Respect...
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...Parallels of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter share common themes that create interesting parallels between the two texts. Although they were written in different time periods by means of two different authors, they both show striking similarities in many categories, including overlapping themes and settings. Interesting parallels among both texts include, but aren’t limited to, public confession, public humiliation, adultery, and setting. First, public confession is presented in each text. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor is the epitome of this idea. Proctor asks “Why must it (his confession) be written?” to which Danforth “Why, for the good instruction of the village, Mister; this we shall...
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...The tarnishing of one’s reputation and personal integrity is something that many people fear and this is shown through the characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World and John Hale’s A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials and the characters who are accused and judged based off of their reputation. Each character’s perception is different than what the actual reality is of the witchcraft because they have their own views about this trial. In Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather is warning the townspeople about the devil taking control of their lives. He encourages them to take action and do something about it,...
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...The Crucible is a play with many themes that include authority, corruption, deceitfulness, etc. But there are many other books and plays that also share these themes such as books like Divergent. Divergent and The Crucible share more similarities than most people realize. They have very different settings and very different plots, but their themes and basic motives are very similar. The Crucible’s themes are what compel the plot forward. They are what gives the story meaning and value. Themes can create things necessary in stories such as an antagonist and his/her motives and also a protagonist. The theme of secrets and deceitfulness are shown in act 3 when proctor confesses to his affair with Abigail which reveals his deceitfulness and lies...
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