Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary analysis on the crucible
The crucible question and answers
Literary analysis on the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
INTRODUCTION: During the late 17th century, there were many accusations of witchcraft within the thirteen colonies. Many men and women of all ages and authority were accused of witchcraft. When the British were colonizing North America, the traditions of witchcraft were supposedly taken to the new land with the colonists. The Salem Witch Trials taught people that they shouldn’t believe everything they are told and that people shouldn’t assume something without having specific research that can prove it.
They even began to take the “afflicted” girls to other towns to look for witches. Most of the people who were accused were visited by the sane people in town in hopes to bring them some warmth to this jail chamber that was covered in hair and bugs so they wouldn’t feel as bad as they did. There had bed twenty people killed for witchcraft. Fourteen of them were women, and there were two infant children and five other accused souls had died in prison. These trials were of mass hysteria caused by political drama in the church.
The Wicked Witch of Salem is back in action in the town of Salem. She’s accusing people of witchcraft to save her little tushy. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller Abigail Williams uses her manipulation skills to cause issues in Salem and get innocent people murdered. Abigail is one of the main characters in the book.
Twenty innocent citizens of Salem Town were executed because they were thought to be compacting with the devil. In the year of 1692, the Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony undergoes desperate times, generally referred to as the Salem witch hunt. Envy, hatred, and desire were the core accusations of witchcraft and sorcery among the townsfolk. Neighbors would declare witchery upon each other, in hopes of gaining their land or just out of resentment towards one another. When people jump to conclusions or make unjustified assumptions, people are convicted of false crimes such as conjuring with the devil, something Martha Corey was arrested and charged for, innocent individuals are killed for doing no harm, like when Sarah Osborne was hanged for being seen as a nuisance, and all of which creates a bandwagon of wrongful claims and a flawed court system, initiating what is known today, as the Salem witch trials.
Throughout history there has been many leaders and each and every one them has had an impact on this world. There's been leaders that has made a positive difference and made people's lives better in the process. On the other hand there has been many corrupt leaders who only led a life of deceitfulness and false hope. The leaders doing these things are only doing it for their own personal twisted benefit, masterminds of manipulating people into believing their outlandish ideals. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible displays the battle between good and bad, Reverend Parris and Abigail are the corrupted leaders in the story and how they use their dominance to convince people of the ridiculous accusations.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller focuses on the corruption in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials. Because, of the corruption it caused a lot of people's opinions to fluctuate. It caused relationships to end, and even begin. Mr. Hale entered the town of Salem in act 1 after he was called upon by Parris after there was a concern that Betty, his daughter, was possessed by the devil. Hale was known for confirming whether they were a witch or not.
Throughout history, governments have abused their power over their people and created societies that suppressed people’s beliefs. They used their power to put an end to people’s beliefs that went against their own and persecuted them unfairly. This idea is evident in the book, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In Salem, teenage girls were accusing a multitude of people for being witches and the penalty for this was death. The government and church felt threatened everywhere they went, and ended up finding innocent people guilty for that reason.
Empowerment to those qualified is a dangerous entity, but power to those unqualified sets the course for disaster. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, many characters abuse the power of accusations in the witch trials to gain for themselves. Throughout the play, many people who were previously powerless, gained the power they needed to get what they want. Three main characters; Mary Warren, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail Williams, take advantage of the system to satisfy their personal wants, and they use the lives of others to their advantage. Therefore, in The Crucible, these characters took advantage of the witch trials to empower themselves, take revenge, and ruin the lives of others to achieve their personal goals.
The Salem Witch Trials affected many different villagers and their families. More than eighty people were accused of practicing witch craft and even accused of being witches.” Surely the devil had come to Salem in 1692. Young girls screaming and barking like a dog? Strange dances in the woods?
Throughout history, in the hierarchy of society, women have always fallen below men when it comes to status and power. Women have always been viewed as weaker, and used to be viewed simply as an extension of their husband. However, this inequality is reversed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, where characters like Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Rebecca Nurse have an abundance of power, though ironically it is Tituba, the black slave, who ultimately holds the most power. In Act I, it is clear that the women of Salem hold the most power, which is undoubtedly bizarre for a 1600’s Puritan village.
Keira Hine Mr. Christensen English III 01 May 2023 Throughout history, humans have always used the supernatural to explain things they could not understand: The seasons were explained by the corruption of Persephone, famine and plague by sin, and misfortune and success with karma. Just as these ideas were used to make sense of the world, they were also used to fearmonger groups of people and give power to a select few. These few elites will often do anything to maintain their power including destroying those in their communities. Arthur Miller uses The Crucible as an instrument to expose humanity's tendency to prosecute those who threaten the ones in powers narrative.
“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.” Once said by William Gaddis about the the idea of people corruption with power. William Gaddis is getting at that power itself does not corrupt people it is what they do with it. Gaddis’s quote can relate to Arthur Miller’s book The Crucible because the story shows how power can lead to corruption in this time period around the Salem Witch Trials. First Danforth has the power to do what he wants when it comes to the court. Next, Abigail shows how manipulative she can be to people.
Time and Time Again Power Corrupts “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This quote by politician Lord Acton has a lot to do with The Crucibles. The Crucibles, a play written by Arthur Miller takes place during the Salem witch trials. In this play a lot more was happening than just the hanging of witches. There was also corruption of power and authority in the court, specifically by a judge named Danforth.
The essential components of manipulation can range from many views of a person or an object. The main components of manipulation is the use of fear or information against a person or something. In the views of many, there is a fear, superstition, or any personal beliefs are key ways to twist the thoughts of someone or something. In The Crucible, Abigail was able to use the superstition and fear of witches against the town of Salem to manipulate them into turning against one another, faking that she was capable of scouting witches and their spirits, while she accused many so she will have a way to get rid Elizabeth while maintaining innocence. Abigail was a very strange girl but, her name was white as snow in the town of Salem, proving that she will still have a way to actually have no reason that anybody won’t believe her.
REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.