Thematic Questions 1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play. A crucible is a ceramic container that can withstand very high temperature and is used for metal, glass and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes. Miller’s choice of the title “The Crucible” is due to the same reason as the courtroom being referred to as a crucible: using the heat of questioning and scrutiny, they burned away all the impurities, i.e. lies
Words: 1570 - Pages: 7
the outcomes of this ironic process. The Crucible depicts the reality of the Salem Witch Trials in a time of hysteria and fear. Miller uses a past event to emphasize the effects of unnecessary fear imposed by McCarthyism, indirectly relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Miller’s, The Crucible, is one of irony in which it obliquely equates to the consequences of fear and blaming others by relating the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism. Abigail’s intentions regarding John Proctor are nothing if not
Words: 792 - Pages: 4
and chaos in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a malicious individual, doing whatever she can to get the things she wants. Abigail takes whatever action is needed to protect herself, even if it harms others. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams was the true cause of the Salem Witch Trials because she falsely accused other women of being witches, had an affair with John Proctor, and forced others to do what she wanted them to. Abigail Williams ignites turmoil in Salem when she begins
Words: 637 - Pages: 3
influenced minds of an entire community. The Red Scare connects to The Crucible by the indistinguishable missing evidence of the accused and crossing the border to a megalomaniac. In addition, Miller uses actual names and historical events from the Salem Witch hunt in the 1690s in this play. He uses these events to explain what happened with Abigail’s plan for lovelorn revenge by the similar false accusations, mass hysteria, and aspiration of power during the Red Scare. During the red scare in the 1950s
Words: 344 - Pages: 2
Behind the Madness Although witchcraft is commonly associated with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, there were also other trials throughout the century across colonial New England. It is important to look at some of these other trials also in order to see their cultural and historical impacts. The impacts are often overlooked because all of the attention tends to be put towards the Salem trials. One trial in particular, the 1669 trial of Katherine Harrison, is interesting to look at because of its particular
Words: 1449 - Pages: 6
past: The Salem Witch Trials and the “Red Scare,” or Joseph McCarthy and the House of Un-American Activities Committee. These two periods of American history are remarkably similar in numerous ways. The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the Hunt for Communists during the 1950’s-60’s shows something man, for some reason, continues to not realize about history: it repeats itself. The Salem Witch Trials began in the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. There were many factors that made Salem Colony
Words: 1308 - Pages: 6
The Connection by Kathleen Orozco P. Sepesi English 3.1 December 5, 2011 Outline I. Introduction II. America in the 1600’s A. Puritanism B. Salem Witch Trials III. America in the 1950’s A. Communism B. Joseph McCarthy IV. McCarthyism A. McCarthy Trials (HUAC) B. Blacklisting C. Elia Kazan D. Arthur Miller V. The Crucible A. The Summary B. The theme VI. The Allegory A. Danforth and the HUAC B. Danforth and Joseph McCarthy C. Elia Kazan and Abigail Williams
Words: 1816 - Pages: 8
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
Words: 1487 - Pages: 6
1. We know about the Salem Witch Trials because 29-year-old Cotton Mather was asked by the ________minister_________ of the colony to ______write a book on_______ an account of the Witch crisis. 2. Reverend Samuel Paris, the minister of Salem Village, had a 9 year old daughter named ____Betty_________ Paris and an 11-year old niece named Abigail ___Williams________. 3. In January of 1692, the girls were “afflicted” by invisible agents. A doctor came in, couldn’t understand what was wrong with
Words: 794 - Pages: 4
History is said to repeat itself if we do not learn from our past mistakes. The Salem witch trials and the time of McCarthyism have many uncanny similarities. Both incidents, 258 years apart, involved a mass hysteria that many people got swept away in. During these times, anyone who seemed unusual or suspicious got accused of witchcraft/communism. These two events were started by people who took advantage of a fear that everyone else had. Abigail Williams and Joseph McCarthy kept the accusations
Words: 652 - Pages: 3
