Social Criticism in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never occur again. People look back on these times and are appalled at how horrendous the times were; yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time, Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, justice, individuality and dignity play a vital role. These factors define the characteristics of many of the most significant characters in the play. Some of them being John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many others. The Salem witch trials were a result of the lack of expression of individuality and the fact that no individual could expect justice from the majority culture as a result of the deterioration of human dignity in the Puritan society of Salem.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible focuses on the Salem Witch Trials along with the pointing of fingers that went along with it. Miller wrote this to reflect upon what was occurring during the Red Scare in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The Crucible is written in an ironic and cynical tone mocking the Red Scare.

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because of his personal experiences with the Communist Witch Trials. Miller was known for always sharing his opinion out to the community. During this time Senator Joseph McCarthy play a major role in trying to prevent communism from spreading. Miller was an easy target for McCarthy and was accused of being a Communist. This caused Miller to become one of many victims of the Communist witch trials and her served time in jail. The Communist witch trials was what influenced Miller to write his play about the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s.The Crucible mimicked issues that both societies had. The play also exposed Senator Joseph McCarthy for abusing his political power. The play is mainly

During the 1950s, America was involved in the Cold War, and when United States Senator Joseph McCarthy announced that there were communist spies in America, it created mass hysteria among its citizens. This lead to the ruined lives of many innocent Americans. Similar events occurred during the Salem witch trials in 1692. During this time period, it was thought that witches were infiltrating the religious Puritan societies. The suspicion of witchcraft in Salem caused hysteria among the townspeople, which lead to the destruction of many good Christian people and their families. Arthur Miller, who was arrested during the McCarthy era, wrote The Crucible, a play about the 1692 Salem witch trials, to expose the absurdities of McCarthy’s “witch

The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller written in the 1950’s. It was set in the 1690’s in Massachusetts. The play is about the witch trials and how something like a group of girls in the woods could lead to about 200 people being hanged and accused of witchcraft. The people of Salem were new to Massachusetts as they were puritans who went off to America to set up a new religious colony . The people were new to their surroundings had the Native Americans as enemies because they took their land. Although the Crucible is about the witch trials, it is thought to be a metaphor for the McCarthy Communist trials

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.

Arthur Miller writes about the tragic results of human failings in his play, The Crucible. He presents characters from the past and infuses them with renewed vitality and color. Miller demonstrates the horrifying results of succumbing to personal motives and flaws as he writes the painful story of the Salem witch trials. Not only do the trials stem from human failings but also from neglect of moral and religious considerations of that time. Characters begin to overlook Puritan values of thrift and hope for salvation. Focusing on the flawed characters, they begin to exhibit land lust, envy of the miserable and self-preservation.

The Crucible is a 1953 novel written by Arthur Miller. The play is a fictionalized take on the Salem witch trials that took place in the Salem Massachusetts, between 1692 and 1693, one of the nation 's worst cases of mass hysteria it resulted in the execution of twenty people. Miller wrote the play to reflect McCarthyism during the cold war when the U.S congress began to blacklist accused communists. Miller himself was later accused of possibly being involved in the communist party. Throughout the play many characters are accused for a plethora of reasons whether that be hysteria, reputation, etc. One of the main motivations many of the accusers had was to revenge on those whom they did not favor for their own personal reasons and gain. In Arthur Miller’s the Crucible characters Abigail and Parris use red herring and ad hominem in order to maintain their reputation, avoid persecution and gain revenge over those whom they did not favor.

One concept is capable of more destruction than almost anything else. It can change a person’s life, or end it. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690’s. The play revolves around the infamous Salem Witch Hunts and their proceedings both within the court and outside of the court. Within this plotline, a theme of greed functions in the play, influencing the actions of certain characters, including Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interpretation of the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts in which religion, self- preservation and self-dignity play a vital role. The three factors I listed played a huge role in John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Reverend Hale, Danforth and many other lives. Many other characters such as, Abigail Williams and her friends can be characterized by being greedy, bitter, and selfish. In the play, Miller reveals how people can go against their own morals, therefore they can protect themselves. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he reveals to readers how fear escalated in Salem because of people's desire for personal gain.

Fear is what drives the society in Arthur Miller’s story “The Crucible”, and today in the real world. Ever since the beginning of animal evolution we’re given one (of many) instinctual instructions, and that is to survive, because survival is merely the fear of death. There are several examples of things in history that revolve around the central instinct of fear. The invention of the stoves which are used to purify water, to all the ways our bodies have changed. Human beings are taller than they were two-hundred years ago, our lifespan are longer, and since we live significantly longer, our minds have the opportunity to develop more. Everyone has felt this- not only instinct but emotion too, when a deer stops in front of a speeding car, when a student forgets to bring his work to school, or when the main character John Proctor is falsely accused of using witchcraft towards the end of the story.

In the late 1940s, fear of communism was strong throughout America due to the Cold War with Russia, and paranoia caused citizens to accuse friends and acquaintances with or without evidence. Arthur Miller was among those accused, and, similar to the antagonist of his play, he refused to give the names of other Americans who took part in any activities that the court considered suspicious, thus protecting their reputations. Events and accusations similar to the ones made the Red Scare in America occurred in a small Puritan town in Massachusetts. In the early 1690s, the town of Salem, Massachusetts entered a terror-induced turmoil resulting in the historic Salem Witch Hunt. What started as a fear of witches infiltrating the Puritan community soon turned into a fear of tarnishing one’s name, and residents began to blindly blame their neighbors. Consequently, the court upheld these people’s reputations at the expense of someone else’s. Based off of these events, American playwright Arthur Miller’s The Crucible features characters battling between the truth and securing their reputations.

Imbedded in human nature one will find the need to persevere and often times, seek approval. The Crucible provides a classic perspective on the consequences of submitting to desires. Abigail uses fear to control her fellow community members, crippled by which, they lose all sense of consideration for their faith and moral identity. A good ammount of characters stare temptation in the face when they have the option to accuse their neighbors of a crime punishable by death. Till the very end, John proctor refuses to the admit his guilt publicly, he would rather “confess to God” (Page 132). The analogy of a container holding precious medals while they melt directly correlates to the text. The loving people of Salem are boxed in by a community on accusing its members of immense sins, slowly, as pressure is applied, this small, once united group of religious individual’s mold into a mob of stubborn hypocrites.