Aug 13, · The play’s main themes are truth, justice, hysteria and reputation, and the key characters that represent these themes are John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Judge Danforth, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris. In this essay, I will be focusing on how the different characters all have different views of truth and justice Part of the enduring appeal of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible lies in its resonance with various contemporary events. While the play is certainly a critique of the McCarthy era, it can also be read as a commentary on anti-feminism, fascism, or any number of other repressive movements. Miller’s play remains so broadly applicable in part because he avoids attributing the Salemites’ hysteria to any one The Crucible by Arthur Miller fits its name because of the conflicts the story contains and how it can connect still today with the “crucibles” such as revenge and pride we face. A crucible can be defined in two definitions and one being, a piece of laboratory equipment used to hold. Continue Reading
"The Crucible" Essay - Examples & Papers
Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller with layers of meaning and subtext. Miller's mission was to draw a direct analogy between the social and political themes of the 20th century the crucible essays those of pre-Revolutionary America. Setting the play in Puritan New England, in the town of Salem, allows the playwright to explore the thematic connections between the witch trials the crucible essays McCarthyism.
Doing so seems seamless, as the audience perceives three main themes that remain salient in American culture. Those three themes include that of social conformity; sexual repression; and religious rigidity. Miller explores social conformity, sexual repression, and religious rigidity throughout The Crucible, to warn of the cyclical nature of history and the resistance to change that permeates American society.
One of the primary themes of Miller's The Crucible is the ways social conformity and mob mentality manifest in American society. The Crucible remains primarily concerned with the ways…. Work Cited Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Most of the American public did not know what communism or Marxism really was as an ideology, they simply knew that it was 'bad' and it was 'un-American,' although logically it could be argued that nothing is more un-American than prosecuting a person for holding certain political beliefs.
The tragedies of Miller's "The Crucible" and the McCarthy hearings are that good men and women, as well as fearful and ignorant people were silenced by the witch hunts. People who defended the accused were called witches themselves, the crucible essays. This can be seen when Proctor and Mary Warren are both, at different times and for different reasons called witches.
When they the crucible essays Abigail's desires, the crucible essays, their nonconformity makes them vulnerable to being accused. Witchcraft and communism are shadowy forces in the public imagination because neither is fully understood. Both witch hunts begin with dramatic events -- the 'fits' of the Salem girls; the take-over….
Indeed, the arrival of Hale, the crucible essays, the specialist on witchcraft, brings with it a gloomy sense of foreboding. ith the sentence of death being the outcome to such proceedings, I am moved by the remarkable errant authority. Act III: The courtroom drama in this act is compelling if a little overstated. Here, the genuine hysteria has set in and the outrageous turnabout between first Mary and John toward Abigail and ultimately, Mary and Abigail toward John demonstrates the greatest problem of the play, the crucible essays.
It is clear that everybody is on trial. The crucible essays IV: I am most surprised by the reversal of Hale in this act. Initially, I viewed him as a sinister figure but it the crucible essays clear by this juncture that the forces governing Salem had leapt far beyond his intent or control.
The finality of the play here is unforgiving, as the accused are hanged with no redemption, the crucible essays. While he resists coming completely clean and exposing his affair, he eventually tells the whole truth, but only after the town is in chaos. The climax of The Crucible occurs toward the end of the play when Mary accuses Proctor of being a witch and he is summarily arrested.
Prior to this the action builds as several girls in the play get caught up in the witch hysteria. Proctor's arrest at the hands of his servant Mary marks the downfall of his pride and his the crucible essays. Proctor eventually offers a full confession but he honorably refuses to falsely label anyone as a witch. Disillusioned but determined to spiritually redeem himself, Proctor tears up his confession.
The resolution of the play occurs at this point, when Proctor makes peace with himself, the crucible essays. Although the ending of The Crucible is tragic and Proctor is sent to the gallows, he establishes himself as a…. Hale begins the play as the most idealistic character, but ends the play telling Proctor to lie under oath and confess to being a witch, the crucible essays, after Proctor is accused by Abigail.
Hale comes to see the judicial system as bankrupt. This shows how a corrupt system can corrupt even decent people. The system also uses Hale's idealism for its own ends, as pro-democracy, pro-American people were used in subservience of McCarthyism.
Just as dangerous as idealists like Hale are weak people, looking for a sense of belonging, the crucible essays. Mary Warren, Proctor's new servant, enjoys the sense of community she feels with the other girls, and fears breaking from their ranks. Even Elizabeth Proctor's goodness serves the evil of the system: Abigail accuses Elizabeth of the crucible essays, in hopes of making John a widower.
Then, the crucible essays, to protect her husband's reputation, Elizabeth unwittingly condemns John by refusing to admit that he was unfaithful, just…. Fear, the crucible essays, ignorance, personal grievances, and an inflexible political and judicial process result in the death of John Proctor, an innocent man, the crucible essays dies because he refuses to admit to witchcraft and harm other people.
Individuals who named names were cleared by the House Un-American Activities Committee HUAC while those who did not name names were often blacklisted and lost their livelihoods.
Those who refused to turn others in were the true Americans, protecting freedom, just like John is the truest Christian of the play, even though he dies and does not profess a formal belief in the Christianity of the Puritans. Q3: Summarize Arthur Miller's experiences with HUAC and discuss the consequences of those experiences for Miller. Miller was pressured, like so many great artists, the crucible essays, to name names of suspected communists, the crucible essays.
He refused but saw his friends either blacklisted or turn against the Hollywood and artistic hands that had 'fed'…. Crucible The film version of Arthur Miller's hit Broadway play of "The Crucible" was released in Miller himself wrote the screen play of the film which starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona yder in lead roles and was directed by Nicholas Hytner.
The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history surrounding the Salem witch trials in the year The the crucible essays, as well as the the crucible essays on which it is the crucible essays, is however in no way an accurate description of history and takes considerable liberties with the actual events that took place during the trial. The film is set in the Puritan era in a small town Salem in colonial Massachusetts when twenty innocent men and women were accused of witchcraft and put to death and hundreds more suffered.
When Miller wrote his play, which has been reproduced on film with just a few changes, he…. Reference Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times. December 20, what I was doing was writing a fictional story about an important theme, the crucible essays.
Crucible Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the last part of the 17th century. The play itself is based on the Salem witch trials that took place during that time. People who lived during that time period were very religious, and also very superstitious. The play revolves around power, jealousy, and superstition, all of which were very common during the Salem witch trials and the years surrounding them.
In Act I of the play, one of the main characters, Reverend Parris, believes that his daughter has been involved in some form of witchcraft with a Negro slave. His daughter is now in a state of unconsciousness, and he believes that it is the work of witches Classic, the crucible essays During the first act many of the main characters are introduced, and it is easy to see the power that the idea of witchcraft has over these….
Works Cited ClassicNote on The Crucible However, ebecca is convicted of witchcraft by the court, and Hale begins to see the hysteria at work in the community, and begins to feel he is responsible.
He tells the judge, "I have this morning signed away the soul of ebecca Nurse, Your Honor. I'll not conceal it, my hand shakes yet as with a wound!
He begins to see how his own actions helped create more hysteria and confusion, and he questions his faith and his conviction that the Devil the crucible essays. By the end of the play, Hale has become disillusioned with the trials and the hysteria. He says, " I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law The crucible essays brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed…, the crucible essays.
UESTION 2: Was John Proctor essentially a good man? Yes, Proctor was a good man in his heart; he made a mistake by getting involved with Abigail, but when she came back to him hoping to rekindle the flame between them, he turned down the chance for another sexual liaison with a woman much younger the crucible essays his wife.
When the community began to turn hysterical, Proctor was a voice of reason. He advised the arriving "expert" Hale that no children were "afflicted" with witchcraft. Proctor was very candid with his wife in confessing that he had an affair with Abigail. And when he and Abigail later fought, it was just part of the insane atmosphere of accusations and reprisals and guilt; the whole town was in turmoil, so Proctor's action cannot be absolutely held against him.
In the effort to clear his wife's name, Proctor shows that he has a…. QUESTION 3: Select another character in the film, the crucible essays. I select Abigail, an orphan, the crucible essays, one of the accused, who was only doing the provocative things the crucible essays youthful person would do.
She is thrown to the wolves the crucible essays accused by many of the villagers; yes, she has weaknesses, the crucible essays, but she is really only a pawn in the game that is being played. She has passion for a man who once loved her, and who can blame her for that? She is a scapegoat, but she also is an accuser, and so her frailty and the crucible essays of backbone actually become endearing qualities, compared with the hate and rage.
She is like the innocent teen who gets in with the wrong crowd, but she can't extract herself from the terrible situation she has found herself in. QUESTION 4: Contemporary issues that are like a witch-hunt. In political campaigns, such as were witnessed in America inthose candidates who did not support the executive branch's administering of the "war on terrorism" had their patriotism challenged. Former Senator Tom Daschle was hounded by attack ads that questioned his patriotism; Daschle had questioned some of the spending and the strategies of the Bush Administration, and the Republican Party spend millions on attack ads in his home state when he was running for re-election.
He was defeated, a victim of a different kind of witch-hunt. A hunt for those who aren't patriotic enough to support the president no matter what. QUESTION 5: My reaction: The beginning of the film when the girls are doing their dancing in the forest, deviates very dramatically from the original play, and was apparently designed for filmgoers who the crucible essays not see the original play.
The way the movie portrays the girls, as silly frivolous teens sneaking out of the house to play pseudo-wicked games, in a way takes the gloss off of Arthur Miller's play. Movies have a perfect right to deviate from the original books or plays they were derived the crucible essays, but in this case it seems the film has taken liberties with the story that stretch credulity. But there is so much chaos, and so many people charge each other in search for a scapegoat.
Judge Danforth's court is simply not believable, the crucible essays, since his court is interrupted so many times the crucible essays drifts from one scene to another, from one new charge to another. It is as if he needs to find victims, the crucible essays, needs to identify guilty members of the community - even if there are none - in order to keep his job with the government.
However, the storytelling itself seemed to take a backseat to the drama, and it made the film drag in spots. It also could have been much more innovative in direction and cinematography. However, for the most part, this film lacked real innovation or unconventional techniques, and I think that was a weakness in the film, and part of the reason it became boring by the end.
Since it was based on a stage play, most of the film is dialogue, and without some other kind of action or direction, that can stagnate in a film, and it did that here.
The Crucible - Themes and Summary analysis
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The Crucible Essays. Subcategories. Salem Witch Trials. John Proctor. Arthur Miller. Essay examples. Essay topics. 44 essay samples found. Is the Crucible Still Relevant. John Proctor in Arthur Millerr’s Classic Novel. The Character Abigail in the Play the Crucible. Characters in the Crucible The Crucible Analytical Essay: Lies, Revenge, and Cries of Witchcraft In , Massachusetts was swept by a wave of witchcraft hysteria. It was inevitable as it was an age of theocracy when the government was based on religion May 02, · The Crucible Essay (Pride) Pride, in its definition, is a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller based on actual events that, in , led to the Salem Witch Trials
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