Arhtur Miller S The Crucible Essay

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Arthur Miller, notable playwright, wrote the 1953 play, The Crucible that focused on the partially fictionalized and dramatized story of the Salem witch trials that occurred between 1692 and 1693 in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The play was written as an allegory of McCarthyism due to the American government blacklisting of accused communists. Even Miller was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on what can be labeled as "Un-American Activities" during the late 1950's and was convicted in 1956 of contempt of Congress for the refusal of identification of others that were present during the meetings Miller had attended. Miller's drama was then translated into his play through themes of intolerance, hysteria, and reputation.

The first theme that The Crucible describes in the beginning of the play is intolerance. With the play's setting in a theocratic society, where the church and state serve as one, the government uses religion as a means of control through an austere, strict form of Protestantism, Puritanism. States laws and moral laws are treated as the same and a person's status and sin become matters of public concern. Practice of witchcraft in such a society will instantly place the practitioner into a position of evil doer in the eyes of the public. As is the case with Abigail who gets involved in a supposed witchcraft accusation after Betty falls ill, when someone is accused of witchcraft or suspected of such, they may do anything in order to evade accusations. "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Proctor with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" (Miller 47) Towards the end of Act I Abigail starts admitting to seeing Satan after the confession of Tituba to witchcraft. After Abigail comes to the realization that blame will fall on Tituba, she confesses readily to dancing with Betty in the forest so she can clear her name. Abigail, seeing Tituba as an inconsequential slave from Barbados, does not feel guilty for bringing an innocent person into such a problem. Through confessing, she appears innocent and therefore keeps away from the trouble in the town.

In Act I Abigail Williams' conversation with John Proctor clues the reader into not only her past affair with him, but also her desire to remove herself from the Puritanical views of the society she lives in. While people try to adhere to strict rules to appear good and with God, there are others like John Proctor and Abigail who have affairs to satiate their carnal desires. Because of the intolerance of the people and the world she lives in, she lies and seeks to spin scenarios that keep her name from being uttered as a sinner as seen in the end of Act I. "I want to open myself!...I want the light of God ... " (Miller 47)

The Crucible utilizes the theme of hysteria in order to begin the process of tearing the community apart. By supplanting logic with hysteria, people in the community begin believing anything. Upstanding neighbors that have been seen as pillars of the community are now seen as devil worshippers, communing with the devil, even killing babies all because of the overspun tale of lies brought on by false accusations. Proctor sees this and in Act II tries to make the townspeople see the error of their ways by attempting to make them focus on the accuser as much as the accused. "If she is innocent! Who do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now?" (Miller 62) As his wife gets accused and is sought after by Reverend John Hale to arrest, John attempts to reason with them. Elizabeth knew early on that Proctor had an affair with Abigail and the warrant for her arrest was a consequence of this.

Elizabeth explains that by sleeping with a woman, Proctor made a promise that he could never keep. It was up to him to end the madness that gripped the town. In Act III after the arrest of Elizabeth, Proctor at last confesses of his affair with the vengeful Abigail right in front of the court so as to convince the less than logical people that Abigail was not as innocent as she seemed or claimed. By confessing to his crime, he hopes to end the witch trials that were begun by a woman whom he no longer thought of softly. "God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.

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But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it' I set myself entirely in your hands." (Miller 79)

Reputation was and is an important aspect of living in society. Reputation is what most people sought to protect more than anything else. So when Proctor is given the consequence of "guilt by association" in that his family name will be sullied by his actions, he cannot bear to sign the false confession that would keep him alive for fear his name would be in ruins. But this is not the first instance of this happening. Parris feared for his reputation when Abigail kept progressing her actions into seemingly questionable territory. And even in the beginning, when Proctor had a chance to end everything early on by testifying against Abigail, he refrained from doing so for fear of his name being tarnished by his actions with Abigail. He could not bear to see his name sullied on the door of the church and instead chose death instead of the scenario he had envisioned in his mind. "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life. How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" (Miller 95) He was prepared then, albeit was tempted by Elizabeth, to die instead of lie. As his death by hanging ends the play, it is through the words of Elizabeth, "He have his goodness now." (Miller 96) that Miller reinforces a name, a reputation in the world of Salem means everything, especially to Proctor, and that to have a sullied name was a fate worse than death.

Parris had reasons to gain the confessions of others during this time period. He had to preserve his own reputation when he began receiving death threats and when Abigail took his money and ran. At this point with all the chaos in the town and disputes over land, everyone had to find a means of going back to normalcy even if that meant ruining reputations. And to think it began with Abigail maintaining her innocence through any means, it certainly begs to ask if the biggest sin in the entire play was not adultery, but rather, pride.

An interesting thing to note is the evolution of the characters in regards to reputation. Parris' niece worked as a maid for Proctor. That is how she had an affair with him. It is from the love spells performed by her with Tituba that the "witchcraft" rumors spread. But through her accusations and statements, she is not seen as a young girl or a former maid, but rather as an innocent who was harmed by those much more "wicked" than she. Her reputation climbed as the events continued with her stealing enough money to leave when Mercy's trial began.

Proctor's reputation however, spiraled and so did many "upstanding" citizens in the town with the exception of Giles, who refused to say guilty or innocent. He died a Christian and was able to have his land given to his sons. For Proctor to keep his own sons and Elizabeth from experiencing the fate of the sullied, he had to die and unlike Abigail, could not escape the consequences of his actions. What started as a silly affair, ended with death of a few people and the destruction of reputations for a hundred or so innocents.

The Crucible involves a lot of court proceedings. People accused others. Courts issued warrants for their arrest. They were arrested and then either made to confess and let go or hung if they did not confess. Rebecca and Proctor were the only ones aside from Giles who did not confess and subsequently at least Proctor, faced death by hanging. An interesting thing to note from all of this is Elizabeth never confessed to anything. While she was arrested, she did not go through the same consequences of no confession as the other three did. This was due to her pregnancy and not because they believed her. The court proceedings that transpired in the play mirror not just what happened in Salem during that time, but also what happened with Miller.

As previously mentioned, Miller was asked to give the names of other communists. He did not give any and was convicted of contempt. This perhaps an effect on him because what he was punished for was ridiculous and what he had to endure was based more on fear and opportunism.....

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