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A essay on the crucible
A essay on the crucible
A essay on the crucible
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More handpicked essays just for you.
A essay on the crucible
A essay on the crucible
A essay on the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.
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.
One character in The Crucible that shows fear and expectation as a motivation is John Proctor. John Proctor shows fear when Elizabeth displays depression, he wants Elizabeth to trust him that he loves her and does not love Abigail. John tells the court that he committed lechery for a couple reasons. The first is so Elizabeth will trust him again and the second is so that the courts stop believing Abigail. John wants Elizabeth to know that he loves her and he would do anything to prove it, he also wished the courts would stop trusting Abigail.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as a response to McCarthyism, which is, in general, accusing people of crimes with little to no proof. It ran rampant through the United States during the Second Red Scare through the early 1950s (exactly when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible). In The Crucible, Miller juxtaposes the leaders, who rationally think for themselves, and the followers, who believe what everybody else believes, through irony, imagery, and denotation. The Crucible is riddled with irony, and Arthur Miller utilizes situational and dramatic irony to show the difference between followers and leaders.
At the time when Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, he was coming from the position of a victim. Arthur Miller was accused of being a member of the communist party in the McCarthy era better known as The Red Scare. “The Crucible” is an allegory to The Red scare that was going on when Arthur Miller wrote the play. An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. “The Crucible” contains many similar events to what had been happening during the Red Scare, with some events being very similar, making “The Crucible” a perfect allegory for Arthur Miller to write a play about.
Brooke Portice 10th Grade English Miss Mortinsen 30 May 2023 Unit 4 Performance Task Though separated by centuries, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Carol Plum-Ucci's The Body of Christopher Creed share a common theme: the destructive power of fear, ignorance, and suspicion. Both show how these emotions can lead to cruelty and destruction in society, as the community turns on each other and innocent people's lives are ruined. Fear is a reaction to danger accompanied by feelings of dread or a sense of being threatened. Suspicion is a feeling or thought that something is possible, likely, or true.
Miller wrote the play as a response to the McCarthy era, during which many Americans were accused of being communists and faced persecution. There was a perfect storm that needed scapegoats and “It was in this atmosphere of suspicion, fear, and false accusations that Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible” (The Crucible - A Note on the Political Context ). The Salem Witch Trials served as a metaphor for the McCarthy era, while characters represented individuals who were falsely accused and punished for their supposed crimes. Arthur Miller was one of those individuals who was falsely accused. It was quoted after Miller had published The Crucible that “Miller did receive some attention; in 1956 he was called in front of the McCarthy committee” (The Crucible - A Note on the Political Context ).
Joseph McCarthy insisted communist spies were holding governmental positions when he discerned he could control the public with fear (Association, The Independence Hall). Reverend Parris, along with other members of the church holding high positions, insisted witchcraft was to blame for the young girls’ actions (Miller, Arthur). Both of these examples involved a situation where a member of the community that people trust used the power of their position to persuade and command the people. The weight of their opinion was abused to keep their high
As a French Proverb states, “greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth”. People are consumed with wanting more and more rather than knowing what they need in life. The human race constantly carries on this pattern of greed. A theme of greed is shown in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
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.
In conclusion, either way, both women are extremely a selfish human being, especially Abigail because she looks out for own need only. But as for Elizabeth, her character change from being cold to noble and sincere when Elizabeth began to help John Proctor into confessing; telling him to forgive him, and she won’t judge him. Author Miller explains that women can be selfish when it comes to love. Also, it illustrates how a small amount of women’s selfishness can hurt tons of people. All women just want to keep all the love, they don 't like sharing, honestly, whether the choice is right or wrong, it’s what make them happy and feel secure even selfishness kills everyone.
When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, many people were accusing others of being Communists. This was due to the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union were in a Cold War. Since everyone was paranoid, they would accuse others that they thought were suspicious or competitors or rivals so that they would get a promotion. The characters in The Crucible also accused others just like people did during the Cold War. In both the Cold War and The Crucible, people that were innocent were killed because someone accused them of being a Communist or a Devil worshipper.
Miller wrote The Crucible as a way to show that letting fear control decisions is a bad
Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.
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.