Marriage in the 1700s was a union between two people not based on love, but how the two individuals could benefit one another. While reading The Crucible, the author, Arthur Miller, gives readers a little insight as to how married couples interacted with each other at that time. Marriage during that time period lacked the modern aspects of relationships--faithfulness, respect and equality.
The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in the new world city of Salem, Massachusetts in 1712. Arthur Miller wrote the book with inspiration from communism and the Red Scare, fear of communism, in the mid nineteen hundreds. Although the book isn’t directly about communism, the events in the book closely related to the events connected to communism.
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Many young girls in Salem were flirting with witchy activities, among these girls are Mary Warren, Abigail, Mercy and Tituba. The girls were afraid of the repercussions that would come with admitting to witch practices; they start to falsely claim that other men and women in Salem are witches.
Women were viewed as property of their husbands. Marriage was not exactly a symbol of love, but more like a need for companionship. The woman wasn’t given much responsibility except for the fact that they were needed to take care of the children. This common belief was exercised by John and Elizabeth Proctor. Women at this time didn’t have a lot of say in the actions of their husbands. It wasn’t uncommon for a husband to cheat on his wife, and the author gives an example of this. On page fifty seven of the book Proctor says, “ I think you’re sad again.” Elizabeth responds to him by saying,
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Abigail chose to accuse Elizabeth to be the witch causing the problems. Although it is obvious that Elizabeth wasn’t responsible for the actions, Abigail took a free shot at her because of what her and Mr. Proctors previous intimacy. Elizabeth didn’t know that Proctor had confessed to having feelings for Abigail and was asked to speak in court. Elizabeth says that John is not a lecher which he confessed to being. Elizabeth stands up for her husband’s image by lying about his affair. In court, Mr. Proctor falsely spoke up and confessed to the witchery even though he wasn’t responsible. Proctor’s confession