The Crucible Analysis

Arthur Miller chose to place his story, The Crucible, in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 primarily due to the historic Salem Witch Trials that occurred at that particular time and place. The Salem Witch Trials are a prime example of mass hysteria, an influenza that tore communities apart throughout both the time of the witch trials, and Miller’s adulthood. Miller hoped to enlighten his audience during the time of the ‘Communist Witch Hunt’ (also known as The Red Scare) which prosecuted alleged Communists with or without proof. “My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse,” says Miller.  

During the time of the Salem Witch Trials, the puritan community practiced theocracy, an ideaology that named God the sole leader of the people. If you did not accept this lifestyle, you were looked down upon by the community and likely to be accused of witchery. After John Proctor commits adultery, a sin in the Christian belief, he is deemed a witch and is soon after shunned by the town. Although The Crucible is an over dramatized historical fiction, the events that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials bear a remarkable resemblance to the hearings that superseded the Red Scare.   

Out of all the characters, Abigail is the most transparent. Abigail is characterized throughout the play as an evil, lustful teenager with a temper. Abigail lies and manipulates the town on multiple occasions and even manipulates her peers into joining her escapade. Throughout the hysteria, Abigail is driven by her jealousy and desire for revenge on Goodie Proctor. Due to her immaturity and selfishness, Abigail costs nineteen members of the community their life. Abigail sexual desire for John Proctor and a lust for power mold her into one of the most malevolent characters of The Crucible.

Literary terms - A major form of irony in this play was when Abigail claimed to be so innocent and pure but really she was just accusing a bunch of innocent people of witchcraft and send them to their deaths. She also had an affair with John proctor, a married man. She did all of this just to be with him and it's also ironic that he ended up dead. Another literary term was conflict and that was where reverend Paris saw his Niece dancing in the Forrest with the group of girls and didn't say anything because he didn't wanna jeopardize his name or reputation. Also between John and Abigail; abigail was accusing everyone while John proctor was trying to save everyone. A third example is foreshadowing and a main example for this one is where Mary warren warns John proctor that his wife's name was mentioned in court. This leads to the arrest of Elizabeth later in the play. There are several conflicts taking place in the Crucible, but the major conflict is between the reason of the human mind and the irrational fear of hysteria.Other conflicts in the story include the conflict within the Proctor household because of John's unfaithfulness to Elizabeth as well as the conflict between Abigail Williams and the Proctors. 

Themes - the 3 themes I thought were most important in the crucible we're hysteria, reputation, and intolerance. They all played important parts in this play and these three were probably the most important themes. 

A critical theme in the crucible is hysteria, the role it played was having everyone believe witchcraft was real and tearing apart the city. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to turn against their friends and neighbors that they have trusted