The Crucible Rising Action Analysis

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Greece was the birthplace of drama, but it was Aristotle who first believed that every piece of poetry or drama must have a beginning, middle, and an end. Later the Roman named these three sections Protasis, Epitasis, and Catastophe. During the Renaissance the three-act structure evolved into the five-act structure which was made famous by Shakespeare. The five-act play structure includes an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution all of which correspond with their own acts. Despite being a four-act play, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible utilized the dramatic structure by merging more than one element into one act. The majority of act one is the exposition which focused on setting the stage for the play, familiarized …show more content…

I have known her”. When he decided to come clean and try and prove Elizabeth’s innocence, she lied about his adultery to protect his good name. “She only thought to save my name”. With her lie she unknowingly led John Proctor’s arrest, which created a great loss of hope in Salem. The arrest of John Proctor also led to a loss of hope for optimistic readers who were hoping for the end of the hunts as much as the characters in the story. Adding to the importance of act three the falling action was also present. Even though in the five-act dramatic structure the falling action takes place in act four, Miller placing it in act three still demonstrates following the structure as closely as possible in less acts. Bringing the story to an end, the falling action encompassed Hale and the other court officials trying to convince Proctor to admit to witchcraft in order to save his life. Act three’s end also brings an end to the falling action. Act four, the resolution, began with the analysis of Proctor’s character and the reader felt bittersweet when John Proctor ripped the paper and chose his name over a lie. “Proctor snatches it up, and now a wild terror is rising in him, and a boundless anger”. The town was also bittersweet about it for with his death the morale lowered even more and hope began to dwindle away