The Crucible

Good afternoon teachers and fellow peers, In order to achieve their own personal and communal ambitions, figures in society manipulate and persuade people through events and situations to conform to their own political agenda. In the 1955 prescribed text, “The Crucible,” playwright Arthur Miller establishes the exploitative behaviour of characters through dramatised staging features. Similarly in the 1964 related text, “The Times They are A-Changin’,” Bob Dylan insights individual ambitions through musical and poetic devices. The shared ideas of the modernist era such as the significance of religion and political hegemony are investigated by both composers in their perspective texts. Due to the elegant composition of these texts, the responder

In “The Crucible,” Judge Danforth addresses Francis Nurse saying, “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it. There be no road between.” In this line, Arthur Miller uses absolutism to demonstrate how the government utilises its power to control the people of society, stating that if the people do not abide by the government’s jurisdiction they shall be persecuted. The political judiciary in this extract from the play exploits Salem society’s fear of incrimination to ensure that their verdict in the witchcraft hearings is not questioned. Likewise, Bob Dylan investigates the issue of political hegemony in his song. This is demonstrated in a line where Dylan addresses the political figures of his context saying, “Don’t stand in the doorway don’t block up the hall.” Here the composer references an event that occurred prior to the creation of the song, where the Alabama governor stood in the doorway of a university to prevent two black students from enrolling. In this line, however, Dylan uses the ‘doorway’ and ‘hall’ as a metaphor for the pathway for change, indicating that political bodies of his period were using their power to inhibit positive cultural change within his society. Furthermore, Arthur Miller utilises the effect of dramatic irony in his play when

Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible,” and Bob Dylan’s song, “The Times They are A-Changin’,” effectively present their course of action through dramatised staging features and musical and poetic devices respectively. The composers of these texts and the characters portrayed in them seek to manipulate and coerce others in an attempt to acquire their own true