The Objectification Of Women In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Imagine a world where women are not viewed as human beings but rather as something other, such as a monster. Is this a scenario that is all too easy to imagine? It should be easy to envision, since it is the very environment in which women are living today. Arthur Miller’s extraordinary literary work, The Crucible, delves into the examination of gender roles throughout our country’s history and the desire for women to be seen as individuals rather than mere objects. In the novel, The Crucible, feminine monstrosity is exhibited as women are seen as evil beings who are weaker than men and, therefore, must be controlled by their male counterparts. The Crucible is set during the time of the Salem witch trials in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, which

The Puritan religious men of the 17th century regarded Bible verses, which were taken out of context, to be the foundation surrounding their opinion of women, “The wickedness of a woman is all evil … there is no anger above the anger of a woman. It will be more agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon, than to dwell with a wicked woman…from the woman came the beginning of sin, and by her we all die” (The Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes 25:17, 23, 33). Female monstrosity is the central theme of The Crucible and it is presented through the Puritan beliefs that women are unclean beings who are prone to sin and, therefore, they must be disciplined by a man of God. (should you put man of God in quotes?) The novel begins with an introduction to various female characters; the three most significant being: Tituba, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Proctor. Tituba, or “The Black Witch of Salem” as she is termed, is a slave from Barbados who serves the white, wealthy Puritan households.

Abigail Williams violates the social standards for females and goes against the usually innocent, submissive character of most women; this is a monstrous characteristic that separates her from the typical Puritan lifestyle. To conclude the analysis of the female monstrous outsiders in The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor is one more essential (and unexpected?) feminine character to be introduced who provides an example of a woman feeling compelled to alter her character to appease her man. John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, shares his strict adherence to justice and moral principles (Sundstrand). She is a woman who has great confidence in her own morality and in the ability of an individual to maintain a sense of righteousness, both internal and external, even when this principle conflicts with strict Christian doctrine (Sundstrand). Although she is regarded as a woman of faultless honesty, it is this reputation that causes her husband to be condemned when she lies about his affair with Abigail, in her erroneous assumption that it will save him. To the contrary, Elizabeth is capable of being an unsympathetic and demanding woman with a frigid demeanor. She has continual suspicions of her husband which causes extreme tension in their marriage and may have been the reason for her husband’s adultery (Sundstrand). Out of the three