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In Act III of the play, Miller describes the vestry of the Salem Meeting House, lit only by candles, which makes it possible that such a vessel as an earthen lamp could be present in this room.
Lastly, the title could refer to a severe test or trial. For instance, when the girls are placed on trial before their Puritan elders, they experience much trauma and tribulation; also, the character of John Proctor is placed on trial which tests his moral convictions and principles as a dedicated and devout Puritan. In addition, many other characters in the play experience trials of one kind or another, such as being tested by the circumstances surrounding the practicing of witchcraft by the young girls or by simply being a member of the larger Puritan community. Perhaps the title of this play refers to what is known as a witches' cauldron in which magical brews are made in order to allow a witch to cast spells against her enemies. In another way, the "crucible" may be a melting pot, a reference to a large group of people with contrasting beliefs who end up being severely tested as a whole community. Either way, Miller as a playwright has brought together many characters with quite a few similarities, all plunged into a vessel of corruption, hysteria and religious frenzy.
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
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
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 with 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 and McCarthyism. Doing so seems seamless, as the audience perceives
Crucible Dramatic Tension in the Crucible One of the reasons that The Crucible is such a successful play is that the drama is established early. A consideration of the first 20 pages of the play will show that Arthur Miller creates dramatic tension in the first scene and establishes the themes, setting, and plots that will continue throughout the play. The play opens the day after the girls were seen dancing in the
He was labeled for a belief that he did not openly admitted subsisting to; he was labeled based on the fact that he refused to testify against an ideology. It is not surprising, then, that the primary message of "The Crucible" resonated his thoughts and feelings about the McCarthy administration's containment policy against Communism. The arguments he presented in the play showed how Miller viewed the government's offensive action against
However, using today's less rigid religious standards make the outcome of the trials seem ridiculous and completely unjust. Today, most people do not consider witchcraft a reality, and so, basing a court decision on the confession of bewitched young women seems almost ludicrous. As critic Bloom maintains, "Today's audience cannot take the possibility of witchcraft seriously; the implication for us is that no enlightened citizen of any age would