ipl-logo

The Crucible Purpose Essay

930 Words4 Pages

The Purpose of The Crucible The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller, which was first published in the early 1950s. The play is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century and is based on the event that took place during the Salem witch trials. The play is an allegory for the McCarthyism era in which Arthur Miller lived. McCarthyism was a time when people were accused of being communists without any evidence. The play explores the themes of false accusations and communism through the characters and events that take place in Salem. Many say that Miller began his writing career due to the time when “his father’s coat company went bankrupt before the stock market crashed” (Boswell). For years Miller was “creating characters …show more content…

One of the girls, Betty falls into a coma-like state after the incident. The other girls, fearing punishment, begin to accuse people in the town of witchcraft. Just from the beginning of the play, it was a very accurate representation of what McCarthyism really was which was he said she said that is consistently distributed throughout the whole play. The accusations spread quickly, and soon many people are arrested and put on a trial. All trials are based on superstition and hearsay, with no real evidence. The executions came from a mix of “church politics, family feuds, and hysterical children, all of which unfolded in a vacuum of political authority” …show more content…

Most thought that it was justifiable to own up to crimes they didn't commit so they could stay alive. Giles Cory was ruled as a “standing mute” he refused to be tried by “God and my country.” Giles was killed by pressing which was illegal at that time. His famous last words were “more weight” because he consistently refused to own up to something that he did not do. In the literature, it does imply that Giles Cory was killed in this manner, but Giles specifically throughout the play was someone that was relentless about not admitting that he was involved in sorcery or in some way connected with the devil

Show More
Related

Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible

454 Words | 2 Pages

Arthur miller wrote “The Crucible” which was first performed on Broadway in 1953. Miller’s book “The Crucible” was based on the Salem witch trials because he wanted to show people how similar McCarthyism was to the Salem witch trials. He wrote The Crucible because he didn’t like the idea of McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the use of unjust methods that was used to hunt the communist back around 1950. Communism is a government controlled economy that is run by a dictator.

Read More

Who Is Abigail Williams Responsible In The Crucible

577 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

The Crucible Journal Entries Essay

1128 Words | 5 Pages

When threatened with hanging if she doesn’t confess, her will was bent through witchcraft, but not actual witchcraft, just the fear of it and says “No, no, don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir” (Miller 44). Wills are being bent in this play left and right by witchcraft, but it’s not in the way the townsfolk think it is. They assume an outside force is literally changing their mind for them, but it is really just the fear of being tried, found guilty, and hung for witchcraft that forces them to confess to a crime they didn’t do. Either way they would be seen as a witch, but at least if they confess, they’ll be alive.

Read More

Examples Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible

672 Words | 3 Pages

Miller wrote The Crucible as a response to the McCarthy era and the witch hunts that characterized it. He saw parallels between the two events and used the play as a way to criticize the unjust prosecution of people without evidence. In The Crucible, characters are accused of witchcraft based solely on hearsay and rumors. Similarly, during McCarthyism, individuals were accused of being communist sympathizers without any concrete evidence to support the claims. In “The Crucible '' Rebecca Nurse is accused of killing Ann Putnam's babies with witchcraft.

Read More

Mcmartin Day Care Abuse In The Crucible

773 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible is a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller. It is amplified and somewhat novelized story of the Salem witch trials. Miller wrote the play as a parable to the McCarthyism persecution of communist sympathisers. In this play, a group of Puritan girls are found dancing and conjuring with the devil in the forest. Soon the whole village of Salem knows about the dancing and starts accusing people of witchcraft.

Read More

The Crucible Dbq Essay

608 Words | 3 Pages

In history there have been many major events that have shaped the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the "witchunts" of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a drama and fictional story of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-1693. Miller wrote the play as a parable for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists.

Read More

Character Analysis Essay On The Crucible

925 Words | 4 Pages

“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.

Read More

Who Is Tituba In The Crucible

559 Words | 3 Pages

In 1953 Arthur Miller wrote the play, The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote the play to display to the American people the inner workings of politics during the communist hysteria. Similar to U.S. politics, the people of Salem were accused of being witches, just as people were accused of being communists. The hysteria of witchcraft lead to many accusations and the death of 19 innocent people. The accusations made were motivated by personal desires of the accusers.

Read More

Examples Of Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

443 Words | 2 Pages

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during a time of mass hysteria in the 1950's. During the 50's, a great fear of communism was very real within the United States. He connects this time with another period of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials, by using ideas such as: fear is always based around a grain of truth, groups begin to form in search of the accused, and the best option for survival is to confess and accuse someone else. During the witch trials, it was a near fact in society that witches walked among us.

Read More

Reasons Behind The Crucible Essay

624 Words | 3 Pages

Reasons Behind The Crucible Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.

Read More

Witchcraft Vs Women Analysis

605 Words | 3 Pages

As stated by Levack, 84% of those accused were women. There are a plethora of possible explanations for this, but the one that correlates the best with the Thomas and Jane Weir case is the difference in status held by each gender. However, it was common during this time period that those tried for witchcraft were accused by their neighbours due to four main reasons. these included magical practices, moral deviance, personal temperament, and economic circumstances of the accused. This was stereotypical during the time, but in Thomas’ case he began to feel extreme remorse for his crimes including adultery and incest which led to his declaration to the neighbours of the aforementioned crimes.

Read More

The Crucible Integrity Essay

1224 Words | 5 Pages

However, many of the characters throughout the play were quick to accuse one another of witchcraft without any evidence, leading to false accusations and wrongful convictions. For instance, when Parris said to Tituba, “You will confess

Read More

The Crucible Analysis Essay

670 Words | 3 Pages

For example, those accused of witchcraft had two choices: either confess, and live with the shame of everyone thinking they had worked for the devil, or plead innocence and be executed. This means that the people who felt they couldn’t go against their morals were the most likely to die for something they hadn’t done. In Act II, when Reverend Hale and John Proctor are having a discussion, Hale says that many people have confessed, so it must be true that they have had dealings with the devil. Proctor replies by saying “Why not, if they must hang for denyin’ it?” This shows how unfair the trials were, that innocent people would rather die than be thought of as witches.

Read More

The Women's Movement: The Civil Rights Movement

277 Words | 2 Pages

I grew up with lessons about the significance of following my dreams, standing up to fight against oppression, and freedom of speech. I also had the pleasure of hearing ideas from my grandmother about unity, caution about rebellion, and values to keep our cultural unity. I appreciate the generation of individuals that bore the young adults of the 60s. I think the best way to sum up the 60s and 70s would be describing it as a melting pot of expressing any and all ideas.

Read More

How Does Arthur Miller Present Hysteria In The Crucible

707 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

More about The Crucible Purpose Essay

Related Topics

Open Document