Truth In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible revolves around the lies and deceit of an entire town. However it comes to question whether Miller bent the truth in the midst of writing the famous play. The Crucible, originally published in 1953, tells the in depth story of the people of Salem during the time of the infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials. These trials involved the investigation and prosecution of witches on a “guilty by accusation” basis. It has become common today to rely on this play as a historically accurate account of the trials. However, in the play, Arthur Miller enhanced the historical telling of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in many ways in order to dramatize the story and satisfy audiences.

The relationship between Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor, and Abigail Williams was an influential and essential plot line in the The Crucible. Abigail Williams was a young woman who had an affair with John Proctor, a powerful yet reserved farmer. Proctor refused to continue this affair out of a guilt and loyalty to his wife, Elizabeth. Because

Miller suggested that this was due to lack of love and affection. In the story, Betty’s mother was dead and Betty was made to be a lonely only child. Whereas in the article, Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Fact & Fiction, author Margo Burns confirms the state of Betty’s family; “The Parris family also included two other children -- an older brother, Thomas (b. 1681), and a younger sister, Susannah (b. 1687).” Betty’s mother was alive and she even had a brother and sister. If Betty would have had this presence of family in The Crucible, she wouldn't have complied to Abigail's orders or pretended to be be “afflicted”. Therefore, Miller killed off Betty’s mother and siblings to give Betty the lack of love and affection. By doing so, he granted Betty the motivation to act out and gave her the tendency to obey