L STANDS FOR LIES The Crucible, written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, is a play that highlighted the major political problems in The United States, at the time but didn’t specifically mention the problem of McCarthyism. The play, however, depicts the 17th Century hell of the Puritan society witch-trials and the problems that happened in Salem between February 1692 and May 1693. The 1953 communist campaign and the 17th Century witch-trials directly mirror each other and the 21st Century problems and debates that have shaped the world today What could be wrong with affirming two people’s love and commitment to each other? Allegedly, everything. Even though 2017 brought in change and equality, the same-sex marriage debate is still relevant as the …show more content…
The characters, in the play, use this type of behaviour to stimulate fear, for the benefit of themselves. This shows a higher status in the community, for people who want to use this manipulative behaviour against people. This is the major identifying difference between the antagonists and the respectable citizens in the play. The first example of this type of behaviour shown from a character, is from Abigail Williams, the obvious antagonist present in The Crucible. Williams threatens her friends by saying, “…Let either of you breathe a word, or an edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you…” (Act One Page 26). Just this singular quote from Ms. Williams, shows the level of evilness and manipulative behaviour she showcases throughout the entire play. Williams takes advantage of the girl’s anxiety of punishment and death by pushing her power onto her “friends.” She does all this, so she can escape being accused of witchcraft and get petty vengeance on people, in the community, that she doesn’t particular enjoy, like Elizabeth Proctor, her lovers’ wife. Abigail Williams is most definitely not the only character who pushes their manipulative behaviour onto people. Thomas Putnam utilizes the witch-trials to increase his own wealth, as well as gaining ownership over …show more content…
The Crucible particularly, showcased this hysteria in many ways. One example comes directly from the First Church in Salem. The Salem church, at the time, created mass frenzy because of their strong support of Abigail Williams’s and the girl’s crazy accusations. The community, at first, didn’t believe the claims coming out of the girls’ mouths but once the church claimed to believe the girls, the community were forced to believe what the church was saying. This is when the extreme mass-hysteria and name-calling ramped up and became a problem. Equality and same-sex marriage is similar to that of The Crucible. The thought of a same-sex marriage happening within the holy walls of God, is a sin, in the eyes of the church. Many churches have banned the ceremony of gay/lesbian marriages. The churches that disallow same-sex marriages are Baptists, Methodist, Catholic and Presbyterian churches. This selective behaviour from those particular churches, have caused hysteria from supporters of equality, especially the LGBTQ+ community. In both cases, hysteria spread rapidly. In The Crucible, the hysteria spread because of word-of-mouth but as for the equality debate, the hysteria spread due to the influx of social media
The idea was found when he discovered that “if Jacob hangs for a witch he forfeits up his property…” (Act something). Putnam knows the hysteria has left the citizens too preoccupied with the witch hunt. The men desires the power that was at hand. This further allows the community to consume itself.
Throughout these stories, we sure can see that we learned that fear can lead to mass hysteria. It also may lead people to believe the wrong point of view and think incorrectly. In the book The crucible by Arthur Miller, there was small town called Salem.
The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.
During The Red Scare, there was a huge breakout of mass hysteria due to fears about the threat of communism . The way the US responds to Communism threat is: “A number of government officials took strong, and sometimes unlawful, actions against labor leaders, foreigners, and others” (manythings.org 165) …… Similarly to The Crucible, the people who were put on trial and accused without proper evidence were innocent which caused mass hysteria as well. An example from Mary Warren tries to tell the lies that the girls are covering: “I cannot tell how, but I did. I - I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I - It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I - I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them
In both the Rosewood Massacre and The Crucible the hysteria started from a rumor and false accusations. Theses accusations started from Fanny claiming a black man raped her to cover up an affair, while in The Crucible Abigail said innocent people were witches who were seeking revenge. The people in both The Crucible and Rosewood the people believed the girls with no questions asked, and many people either got hurt or killed in both. Just like in The Crucible John Proctor went against the law and even say “God is Dead” (Arthur Miller Act
Since The Crucible is a performance, an audience would be able to view, hear, and connect with the plot and issues explored more effectively. This is most apparent in the audience collectively experiencing the “ecstatic cries” of the young girls of Salem using anaphora and epistrophe to state “I saw Sarah Good with the devil! I saw Goody Hawkins with the devil!” The form of this delivery forces the audience to become swept up in the hysteria, which directly depicts the idea of external situations constraining one’s internal state to them. As a result, they can recognise this collective experience in their own society and cease participation in the encouragement of the Red Scare.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on the true events of the Salem witch trials. Set in the 17th century The Crucible told the story of a town that ensued a hunt for witches, caused by the accusations of Salem 's young girls and their ring leader Abigail Williams. Arthur Miller wrote this play to symbolize 1950’s McCarthyism. Most readers are unfamiliar with McCarthyism. So for a brief explanation, McCarthyism was carried out under senator Joseph McCarthy during 1950-1954 against alleged communist in the US government and in other institutions.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.
In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller presents a city named Salem, with contradicting people. Throughout the story people accuse others of being witches or being involved with witchcraft so they could be hanged. Miller presents the idea that vengeance ruins people’s lives or reputation so that you can get what you want and be satisfied. Some people take revenge to protect themselves; they are scared of what would happen to them but they still do it or in this case, they accuse.
He accused Putnam of prompting his daughter to accuse their fellow townsmen of witchery, like George Jacobs, in order to seize more land. He explains to Danforth that, “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property- that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a price” (96). The tension between Corey and Putnam shows the tension between people in the town, but it also exemplifies the way they manipulated people in order to receive power for themselves. Corey’s claims show that Putnam tried to manipulate George Jacobs by having his daughter accuse him and have him hang, and he would buy Jacobs's land, which is his symbol of power and
Mass hysteria was present in both The Crucible and McCarthyism. Mass hysteria is when people went crazy because people were accused of being communists and or witches. Mass hysteria was however started by specific people in both scenarios. In Mccarthyism Joseph Mccarthy a United States Senator and in The Crucible Abigail Williams who was accused of having an affair with John Proctor her employer were the specific ones who accused people of being communists and witches. Even though the Salem witch trials happened in the late 1690s and McCarthyism in the 1950s they paralleled each other.
Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.
The people of Salem were essentially engulfed by the fear of witches, causing them to behave in many irrational ways. Although mass hysteria affected these fictional characters, its effects are all too real in life today. Such effects include the aftermath that followed the September 11th terrorist attacks. One thing both The Crucible and post 9/11 have in common: they feared the unknown.
Arthur Miller constructs his play upon the famous Salem witch trails. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. Miller wrote his drama during the brief reign of the American senator Joseph McCarthy whose bitter criticized anti- communism sparkled the need for the United States to be a dramatic anti- communist society during the early tense years of the cold war. By orders from McCarthy himself, committees of the Congress commenced highly controversial investigations against communists in the U.S similar to the alleged Salem witches situation. Convict communists were ordered to confess their crime and name others to avoid the retribution.
Thomas says, “Don't you understand that it sir? There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more." (The Crucible, Act 1, Line 108). This symbolizes that the Putnams believe that there is a supernatural explanation as to why their kids died.