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Symbolism The witch hunt is perhaps the most significant symbol in the play. The because the play deals with historical problems that attend the House Committee on Un-American Activities and the hunt for communists in American society, the entirety of the witch hunt stands as symbol for this series of events. As the play enacts … Read more
“I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I … Read more
Intolerance The Crucible deals with the idea of living under a single over-riding system of belief which excludes everything else. Because the play is set in Puritan colonial America, we see how this oppressive system of belief can exclude any thought of meaningful justice, of mercy, or even of rational argument. The only thing that matters … Read more
John Proctor A farmer who lives just outside of Salem. He serves as the voice of reason in the play yet he is compromised by a scandalous secret. He is the one who exposes the girls and their lies about practicing witchcraft and for this reason he is the tragic hero in the play. But … Read more
The setting is in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The opening scene is the home of Parris, a local priest. His daughter Betty appears seriously ill and is lying on her bed unconscious. Parris caught Betty just the previous night, about the midnight hour dancing in the woods with another young woman, Abigail, who is his … Read more
Two hundred years ago, the church was the center of life in many New England towns. The church provided not only religions guidance but, was a place for social gathering and a chance for neighbors to keep in touch. This is shown in depth in Boston, by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter and in Salem, … Read more
Two hundred years ago, the church was the center of life in many New England towns. The church provided not only religions guidance but, was a place for social gathering and a chance for neighbors to keep in touch. This is shown in depth in Boston, by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter and in Salem, … Read more
In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, the superstition of witches existed in a society of strong Christian beliefs. Anybody who acted out of the ordinary was accused of being a witch and then the accused would actually be forgiven if the blamed their accusations on another individual. This was the main idea of a play entitled, … Read more
When the topic of a Puritanical society is brought up, most people think of a rigorous, conservative, highly devout society. While this may have usually been the case, this was not always so. The Puritan society was also known not to act out of brotherly, Christian love, but to cruelly lash out on those who … Read more
The deterioration of Salem’s social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller’s depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts … Read more
Circumstances cause adaptation. Drastic circumstances cause drastic adaptation. The Salem witch trials of 1692 were definitely drastic circumstances. Society’s hysteria, greed, and vengeance led to accusations that changed many lives, even changed some of those lives to death. Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend John Hale, and John Proctor were three characters that were altered during Arthur Miller’s … Read more
Often in exceptional works of literature, identities, personalities, and surroundings can be quite similar or distinct with characters in other works. Two works of literature that display both aspects are The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Abigail Williams and Hester Prynne are two women with many similarities while they … Read more
Essay Topics for The Crucible Consider some of the authority figures in the play –Danforth, Parris, and Proctor. What traits, events, or characters motivate their attitudes and responses toward the witch trials? How do their views in regards to law and order differ from one another? Additionally, what can be said about Kohlberg’s moral stages … Read more
Superstition and witchcraft resulted in many being hanged or in prison. In the seventeenth century, a belief in witches and witchcraft was almost universal. In Salem Massachusetts where the witch trials take place many people who are suspicious is accused of witchcraft and hanged. Arthur Miller wrote a play called The Crucible. It is based … Read more
The trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, deteriorated the rational, and emotional stability of its citizens. This exploited the populations weakest qualities, and insecurities. The obvious breakdown in Salems social order led to the tragedy which saw twenty innocent people hung on the accusation of witchcraft. Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, used hysteria to … Read more
It was a play with tremendous feelings with many inside twists hidd en in the archives of the true story. It was a play with emotional feelings; feelings of anger , hate, and evil, yet feelings of manipulation, good, and pureness. It was the Crucible. A fireball of guilt, evil, and good compiled into one … Read more
“I have given you my soul; leave me my name! ” (138). This is the disturbing vision we are left with at the end of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. This scream is let out by the main character John Proctor; who has been accused of witchcraft, and is to be hung on that merit … Read more
The existence of evil in the world is a universal question that is often contemplated. Anthony Burgess and Arthur Miller in their novels A Clockwork Orange and The Crucible address this question of evil. One of these stories is set in the future, and the other in the past confirming the belief that the human … Read more
It was with ardent horror that the prehistoric man first witnessed a solar eclipse—the sun swallowed by the predator moon until all light ceased and darkness fell on to the land. We, the more enlightened descendants, have also suffered eclipses. One such eclipse was the darkness of evil that fell upon Salem in 1692, when … Read more