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.
In the story of The Crucible, the belief that witchcraft was a sign Satan’s presence in their town caused them in their religion desire to kill any signs of this enemy of
Is manipulation key for personal advancement or simply a selfish act of destruction? Artifice is nothing new, used in times such as the Salem witch trials, and even dates back to even later. Though the strategy is not dead, but can also be seen more recently amongst individuals, including our President Donald Trump. Artifice can be used differently between people, while their motives may be the incentive of personal gains such as revenge or popularity, while the results of using artifice, may vary. However no matter how it is adopted, the reason behind it, and/or the outcomes artifice should not be used.
In The Crucible (1953), Arthur Miller illustrates how mass hysteria of “witches” blinds the truth of fake acts of sorcery destroying religious purpose with the government laws. Laws of religion were broken when a bunch of girls went into the forest and dances around preaching for their wishes to be true to a woman named Tituba. Tituba did “witchcraft” to these girls as Reverend Parris finds the girls dancing around. Reverend Parris took the girls home and tell to some people about their selfish acts in the woods. The girls acts were not correct as the girls state that they were bewitched by Tituba.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that shows many recurring themes. One of the most prominent themes is that jealousy is dangerous. The Bible talks about condemning witchcraft, so when a group of kids in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, is caught dancing in the forest with the devil, the community starts to panic. Miller shows how innocent puritans become bitter over time and accuse each other of witchcraft. The accused eventually get put on trial and are given the ultimatum, confess to dealing with the devil, or be publicly hanged.
All over the world people have religions, cultures, and beliefs, that help them decide how they act or live in life. An example of this is in the play, The Crucible. In the script, The crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem are Puritans who are led in a theocracy. Because the people of Salem are puritans, they believe in God and the devil. The people of Salem also believe in witchcraft as the devil’s work.
Mob mentality coupled with hysteria compelled the people of Salem to start a large-scale investigation of citizens under paranoia, identical to the Red Scare. “We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters” (Miller 19). Miller changed Tituba’s actions not only to make a more captivating plot but to also draw attention to the horrors of mob mentality. In The Crucible, Tituba is falsely blamed for actions that she didn't commit in order to draw attention to existing social biases.
To Obey or Disobey: Does it matter? Imagine receiving an arrest warrant on allegations that your work implied, very faintly, a hate crime. As preposterous as it sounds, far-reaching claims like this have played a tremendous role shaping and driving legal controversies throughout history. Playwright Arthur Miller’s The Crucible provides a partially fictional narrative on one such event - the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Think for one moment, you’re in a situation where you need to make a decision that you have no idea of what the future is going to bring you. Most people tend to have fear when it comes to situations like this. A better understanding is that fear can be inflicted into the mind of individuals and severely affect them and manipulate them . This might seem unusual but, this reason states otherwise. In the play “The Crucible” the author, Arthur Miller, implies that fear can have a dramatic effect on society.
In The Crucible, accusations of witchcraft based on circumstantial evidence against people the accusers have known for years indicate that the witchcraft hysteria of Salem started from the underlying fears of individuals, which later thrown the entire community into chaos. When Mrs. Putnam argues with Rebecca about the cause of her many miscarriages, she points to the supernatural and asks Tituba, “Did you ever see Sarah Good with him? Or Osburn?” after Tituba confesses to practicing witchcraft (Miller, 46).
In the dramatic play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, townspeople experience the drastic effects of the endemic belief of witches. Many use the accusation of witches for their own prosperity. Miller uses Tituba as the initiator of the trials, Abigail as the opportunist, and Mary Warren as a possible threat to the situation in order to demonstrate how false fear can kindle the inferno of hysteria. Tituba ignites the flame of hysteria by accusing others of working with witchcraft.
Power, the ability to maintain control, command, or authority over others can often be determined by one’s reputation and his or her persuasiveness. This principle is displayed within The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, in which follows the town of Salem, Massachusetts attempting to navigate through a “Witchcraft” outbreak supposedly lead by the Devil. Within such a theocratic society such as Salem, the Devil is often associated with death, fear, and uncertainty. While his name alone is often believed to be able to influence others in to following through in certain actions. The Devil, as a key figure behind the immense “witchcraft” occurring in Salem, is crafted by Miller as the most influential “character” due to his infamous reputation and his ability to control characters’ actions.
Power in our society nowadays is very misgiven and abused. When people have power they tend to use it for their own benefit and to manipulate people into believing them. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller dramatizes the Salem witch trials of 1692 in order to show his audience how easy it was to be accused and hung for witchcraft. In the Crucible a group of young girls were caught dancing in the woods and in order to not receive a punishment they lied saying they got witched. The girls blamed many people of the town of being witches and caused conflict all over the village.
Religion In The Crucible In The Crucible, religion is a theme that aids in developing the story, it helps to begin the story and build the plot. Religion in the story is what, overall, pushes many people to talk about witchcraft, and blame it on others. Though religion is normally thought of as a thing of value amongst those who follow one, the people of Salem use it to their advantage, as trying to take someone 's land. “Old scores could be settled on a plane of heavenly combat between Lucifer and the Lord” shows how the people of this time period could call a person evil, or a witch, in order to take their property from them, using religion all the while (Miller 8).
“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.
