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Critics of Arthur miller
Arthur millers importance to society
Arthur millers importance to society
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Salem and the Fear within. As a middle aged man, Arthur Miller was forced to endure the horrendous scares throughout the Red Scare. These events inspired Arthur to create a novel consisting of fear and paranoia similar to that of the Red Scare; The finished product made by Miller is known as The Crucible.
Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
In The Crucible, Aurthur Miller illustrates, and suggests how fear of losing someone leads to atrocious and vicious acts. It all starts when Abigail gets caught for performing witchcraft. In this time Salem was Puritan, they were full of fear in the devil, and would kill anyone who was apart of it. Abigail's behavior in the woods lead her to be scared of the other girls she was with to betray her and her name being blackened.
Abigail Williams, the girl who started all of this madness, used this hysteria to get revenge on John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. John and Abigail had an affair together and Elizabeth found out. Elizabeth then fired Abigail from being their servant to protect her and her husband’s marriage. Abigail wanted revenge, so she made plans to get rid of Elizabeth to have John all to herself. Abigail even says to Parris’ daughter Betty,“…let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a point reckoning that will shudder you” (1137).
Abigail Williams and the girls is responsible for the deaths of the people who were wrongly convicted and hanged. Also Danforth has some of the blame for this situation as well. However, the girls are the ones who started this situation because the book explains, “Mr. Parris said, “That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest,” (6). In Salem, the rules are to not go through the woods and dances. Now people think that they are doing witchcraft.
What is fear? Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief of someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or threat. In my own words fear is a feeling people get when someone is going to kill them. But not all fear is bad because some people feel fear differently How is fear used in “The Crucible” ?
An opinion formed or a decision reached in the case of a disputed, controversial or doubtful matter. That is judgment. Judgment is the basis for much of a Puritan society. Within this society, truth has no meaning. This is because, as a community, people choose to believe only what they want to believe.
Imagine living in a town where everyone was running amok, hysterical and paranoid, because of accused witches. This is the reality for the townspeople in Salem featured in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. For this reason, hysteria and paranoia had the biggest impact on Salem in The Crucible. This is shown through the multitude of accusations and the impact Abigail had on townspeople. Many would argue that jealously and greed had the biggest impact.
Miller uses children as a truth hidden behind a lie as some believe they live in a world of virtue. They were chosen to be the main accusers for their “purity,” their sense of judgement of witchcraft, and their sadistic actions that are considered untrustworthy and unrealistic. He intends to use it as a way to reveal the reality of children and their poor judgement within the play. “...I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!
The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently.
According to The South End Press Collective (1998), Much of what threatens our well-being is a product of dominating structures. History has shown us the effect of social norms in society and the political implications related to fear and the misuse of power. It is important to understand the historical role that fear plays in society. The basis of fear can be used as a means of manipulation, with those in power playing on people's deepest fears to maintain their position (Miller, Lisa L 2015). Fear applies not only to those being controlled but also to the controllers themselves.
Gustavo Juarez Mrs. Courtney Gaylord English 11.1 21 May 2023 Cultural purpose of “true crime” stories Have you ever been captivated by the dark and twisted world of true crime stories? The allure of unraveling a mystery or understanding the mind of a criminal often captivates audiences. But what is the cultural purpose behind our fascination with these stories? Through an analysis of "The Hossack Murder" case by Susan Glaspell, along with the support of the secondary source "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, this essay argues that the cultural purpose of true crime stories is to entertain and satisfy our curiosity about the darker aspects of human behavior, to provide social commentary on the impact of crime, explore ethical questions, and
The Crucible was a film created by Arthur Miller to showcase the witch trials of Salem in the 1690’s. In the Miller films, the opening scene in which a group of girls from the village of Salem as well as a slave known as Tituba are seen dancing together in the woods. As they begin to dance and perform a ritual for the men in their life whom they desire. The girls are seen placing items in a pot to secure the ritual. This first scene by Miller is extremely important and sets up the rest of the story.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is widely known for its depiction of Marxist regimes using the story of the Salem witch trials. The play accurately portrays class differences, and the power dynamics of all the characters. Each character in the play has a specific role that represents the socioeconomic classes with Abigail Williams being the one that holds all the power. Abigail is one of the main characters in the play, after being found with other women dancing in the woods by her uncle Reverend Parris, the scare of witchcraft blew throughout Salem. All of Salem feared the idea of witchcraft, and Abigail’s name was spread with all the talk.