ipl-logo

Salem Witchcraft Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

749 Words3 Pages

The Crucible by Arthur Miller uses the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 to criticize anti-communist witch hunts. The Crucible serves as an allegory representing McCarthyism in the 1950’s where many people were accused of being part of the Communist party and supporting them. The paranoia surrounding the witchcraft trials in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony paralleled McCarthyism. In the Salem Village, people were accused of being in compact with the devil and the only way to get out of the accusation was to accuse others of the same crime. Henceforth, the theme of integrity and morality is tested for each character throughout the play. Salem is a theocratic society. The Puritans pride themselves on their Christian values and live …show more content…

“Heaven and Hell grapple on our backs, and all our old pretenses ripped away. God’s icy wind will blow.” (Proctor, Act 2). The personification shows that there is a constant struggle between good and evil inside each person but no matter how holy and good each person pretend to be, God will be the ultimate judge at the end. In the event of witch trials, everyone is being seen for who they truly are. People who they thought were good (ie. Abigail Williams, Rev. Parris, etc.) were showing that they are not. The majority of the townspeople openly support the Salem witch trials hold personal integrity and truth at a low level. The Putnams uses abuse and manipulation of the truth for financial and personal gain of land whereas characters such as Giles Corey, Rebecca Nurse, and eventually later, John Proctor all die in their own way as part of an act of resistance against the lies of the Salem witch trials. “you know in all of your black hearts that this be fraud. We will burn together.” (Proctor, Act 3). Proctor uses imagery to create an image of fire and darkness, reflecting the trials as being deceitful and hateful. However, “We burn a hot fire here, it melts down all concealment” (Danforth, Act 3). Danforth states that the court of Salem will uncover the truth but rather, they continue to condemn innocent

Show More
Related
480 Words | 2 Pages

The Salem witch trials that took place in colonial Massachusetts led to a death toll of 20 people, 19 hanged and one pressed by stones. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, or as some Puritans called it “the Devil’s magic.” In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a play based on true events, talks about the Salem witch trials, and who was accused and was executed. Although 20 people from the trials were executed effectively, within reason, only two individuals from The Crucible deserve to be pardoned from the crime of witchcraft, John Proctor and Giles Corey. John Proctor, a farmer and husband of Elizabeth Proctor, became accustomed to extreme predicament.

Read More
635 Words | 3 Pages

When Mary Warren, servant to John and Elizabeth Proctor and the oldest accuser in the Salem witch trials, is put on trial to defend John Proctor’s wife, she claims, “You’re the Devil’s man” (The Crucible, Act III, 500). Faced with a life and death situation, Mary Warren accuses John Proctor of aligning himself with the Devil to save herself. Many of the citizens of Salem choose to “confess” to witchcraft and accuse others so that they are able to join the more powerful side in court. In a similar situation, John Proctor cries, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!

Read More
1797 Words | 8 Pages

Salem Witch Trials, in the spring of 1692, was a time of chaos and turmoil in Salem, Massachusetts. The novel, The Crucible by Arthur Miller illustrates a series of accusations of witchcraft against many citizens of Salem. The Salem Witch Trials consisted of accusations, court hearings, prosecutions, and executions of people who were believed to have been possessed by the devil and therefore committed witchcraft. It was a time were citizens of Salem “accordingly looked on neighbors with some suspicion” and Salem was “a community riven with schisms” (Miller xiii). The Crucible’s tragic hero, John Proctor, a farmer in his mid-thirties who “was the kind of man – powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led – who cannot refuse support to partisans without drawing their deepest resentment” (Miller 19) is a man who experiences the trials first hand through his affair with Abigail Williams and through his marriage to Elizabeth.

Read More
611 Words | 3 Pages

The Witch Trials are a way to punish those whom do not abide by the religious orthodoxy in Salem, and ultimately “eliminate” the Devil’s influence in the community. Throughout the play, it is easy to realize the Trials are exploited,

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

Ever wonder what was so interesting about the witch trails and how many lives were lost due to people getting falsely accused and getting hung. In the book, The Crucible, the author was Arthur Miller and his book was based on the Salem witchcraft  trials during the modern times. Some  of the many flaws that Abigail showed throughout the book was spitefulness, jealousy, and lust.     Abigail shows the flaw of spitefulness when it comes to the point of her trying to be a part of John’s life or to try to get what she wants in life. “Elizabeth: She wants me dead.

Read More
115 Words | 1 Pages

The witch trials in Salem in the year 1692 was a scowling time in American history. The New York Post explains about The Crucible play that “... at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witchhunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil.” In The Crucible, John Proctor and his wife are hit with many situations which burdens their relationship. While this is going on, many people were being accused as witches for little incidents which they thought would add up to witchcraft. During this time period, the grudges and personal rivalries between people makes these witch trials immoral and unethical.

Read More
534 Words | 3 Pages

Truth and sacrifice The Crucible, by American author Arthur Miller, is a play about a parochial community stuck in a state of anarchy in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A religious group known as Puritans lived in Salem at the time believed strongly in being subservient to the bible. A group of girls were caught dancing in the woods, and they would be posthaste to cover up themselves to make them seem immaculate, they started blaming others for their actions. The true innocents, the ones with a good name, end up hanging due to their value of truth. This play was written in 1952 during the period of the “Red Scare”.

Read More
920 Words | 4 Pages

Chloe Pendleton Mrs. Liz Hall Honors English III 13 February 2017 The Witch Hunters’ False Accusations The Crucible by Arthur Miller tells the story of the vindictive town of Salem and its unproportional amount of accusations of witchcraft. Vengeful “witch hunters” left no time to spare when making accusations on their neighborhood enemies. However, many were guilty of caving into their own weaknesses and only feared to be caught in their acts of hypocrisy. Weakness, hypocrisy, vindictiveness: only few of the many words that describe the guilty desires and revenge that lingered among the town of Salem.

Read More
1038 Words | 5 Pages

During the Salem Witch Trials, having a “good” reputation could save one’s family or even their life, yet a “good” reputation could not avert suspicion if accused of witchcraft, a fact proved by Miller’s characters, Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor. Wife of Francis Nurse, Rebecca was highly respected by her community due to her charity and dedication to those around her, but when Mrs. Ann Putnam accuses Rebecca of witchcraft and Rebecca refuses to admit that she is a witch, nearly everyone is convinced that Rebecca is a witch except John Proctor. Determined to prove that those accusing others of witchcraft are hypocrites, Proctor has to choose whether or not to save himself but convict others or face inevitable death and attempt to save others, proving that it can be dangerous to heedlessly mimic society. At the end of the novel, Proctor chooses to follow his conscience instead of choosing to belong. Although one might belong in society or in a certain group, the “rules of belonging” often shift, requiring complete compliance with the new rules or the leader’s wishes to truly belong.

Read More
642 Words | 3 Pages

In 1692 two hundred people were victims of witchcraft. Hundreds of years later in 1952 even more people fell to McCarthyism. Arthur Miller, an American playwright, wrote The Crucible to demonstrate how history was beginning to repeat its self, Like for instance in the Salem witch trials people were being accused with no evidence, and during the McCarthy Trails it was the same thing, there was no evidence to show that people were actually communist. The McCarthy Trials were and unfortunate series of events; however, Miller uses the Salem Witch Trails to connect the events through setting, main events or parts, and lastly through characters.

Read More
1663 Words | 7 Pages

In this scene, as E. Budick and James Douglas have also argued, the moral absolutism of the prosecution causes it to become the ally of the devil rather than his opponent.” Argument 2: The town of Salem putting all trust in faith, rather than reason, results in the false convictions of dozens of women of witchcraft. Ex. Primary Source 2

Read More
2985 Words | 12 Pages

The play is set during the witch trials in Salem, where innocent people were persecuted and executed for witchcraft due to mass panic and fear. The play depicts the desperation of the accused, who were willing to confess to crimes they did not commit to save their lives. Religion is shown to be a tool of manipulation, with individuals in power using faith to control others. John Proctor is portrayed as a rational individual who refuses to give in to fear and panic. Abigail Williams is a character who manipulates hysteria to gain power, falsely accusing innocent people of witchcraft.

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

Once she had the opportunity, she accused her of witchcraft knowing what the result would be. Mr. Putnam had a double dose of sinful behavior with jealousy and greed. His greed took over when he had the chance to accuse people of witchcraft so that he may acquire their land once they were executed. The Salem Witch Trials proved that jealousy is a powerfully dangerous

Read More
1240 Words | 5 Pages

The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.

Read More
613 Words | 3 Pages

As a result, people begin to blame witchery on others whom they have vengeances with. These actions result in many well, respected people's execution. A prime example of a character who goes through this process is John Proctor. The court of Salem tests John Proctor by threatening him to confess in exchange for his life. This brings out many of his weaknesses and strengths.

Read More

More about Salem Witchcraft Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Related Topics

Open Document