The Moral of Arthur Millers The Crucible Essay - 3017 Words

The Moral of Arthur Millers The Crucible In the 17th century a group of Puritans from England immigrated to America to escape persecution for their religious beliefs. The white settlers arrived in New England in 1620, and Salem, Massachusetts had been in existence for about forty years by 1692. Salem developed as a theocracy. This was based on the coexistence of religious prayer and hard work. Entertainment, such as dancing, or any enjoyment at all was perceived as a sin. The isolation of the Puritan society created a rigid social system that did not allow for any variation in lifestyle. The Puritans felt insecure with the knowledge of the Native Americans in the forest. They felt persecuted and constantly under attack.†¦show more content†¦This definition is easily connected to the play. To start with, witches supposedly use cauldrons to brew their magic potions, and a synonym for cauldron is crucible. Not only do witches use cauldrons, but the word crucible also could have some metaphorical meaning. The actions in Salem were like that in a brewing cauldron, there were many heated arguments, and people were being ‘stirred’ and ‘mixed’ around like a vile potion. The plays central theme is the spiritual development of John Proctor. He changed from thinking solely about himself to thinking about who was in need most beside himself. He is made better and ‘purified’. The story illustrates how people react to mass hysteria, created by a person or group of people desiring fame, as people did during the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. Many Americans were wrongly accused of being communist sympathisers. The activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee began to be linked with the witchcraft trials that had taken place in the town of Salem. This provided Miller with the catalyst to write the crucible. Arthur Miller himself was called before the committee in 1956. He found himself I the same dilemma as John Proctor, as a hero. He was asked to name people who had attended a meeting in the past. He refused to do so and was fined for contempt of Congress. Miller claimed it was the courageous thing to do in thoseShow MoreRelated Arthur Miller Essay1170 Words   |  5 PagesArthur Miller Arthur Miller, in his plays, deals with the injustice of societys moral values and the characters who are vulnerable to its cruelty. A good majority of these plays were very successful and earned numerous awards. According to Brooks Atkinson, a critic for the New York Times, Millers play Death of a Salesman was successful because the play is so simple in style and so inevitable in theme that it scarcely seems like a thing that has been written and acted. For Mr. MillerRead MoreThe Crucible Film Analysis1735 Words   |  7 PagesThe 1996 film adaptation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible tells us far more about what modern society thinks the puritans are, than what the historic realities were. The film paints a one-sided and reductionist picture of puritan life and relationships, focusing on the themes of religious intolerance and how reputation is connected to the morals of a society. By examining the film on an analytical level, we can pull out larger connections betwee n modern society and the puritan way of life. One ofRead MoreSimilarities Between Apology Speech And The Crucible793 Words   |  4 Pagessocial injustices to drive individuals to pursue their own motivations. Composers’ representations of the complex relationship between people and politics are influenced by various moral and social agendas, whereby a portrayal of reality and meaning is inherently subjective. 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In Arthur Miller’s famous play, The Crucible, John Proctor represents a classic tragic hero because he is a well respected man of noble stature, he is conflicted because of his fatal flaw, and his downfall is a result of his own choices. First, in The Crucible, John Proctor is very well known in the town of Salem. â€Å"John Proctor was not simplyRead More Why The Crucible Remains Important Today Essay976 Words   |  4 Pages Why ‘The Crucible’ Remains Important Today For a story of any kind to have any relevance or meaning some 50 years after being written and indeed almost 400 years after it was set, it needs to contain themes and ideas that have been uniformly felt and experienced by people from all walks of life as well as continuing to speak to and have meaning to new and changed generations of people. Years after being written, Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’, still successfully speaks to numerous generations ofRead MoreEssay about Why the Crucible Remains Important Today1015 Words   |  5 PagesWhy ‘The Crucible Remains Important Today For a story of any kind to have any relevance or meaning some 50 years after being written and indeed almost 400 years after it was set, it needs to contain themes and ideas that have been uniformly felt and experienced by people from all walks of life as well as continuing to speak to and have meaning to new and changed generations of people. Years after being written, Arthur Millers ‘The Crucible, still successfully speaks to numerous generations