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Thus, when the Court supplies judgment, power and justice are supposedly met. Mary Warren echoes this thought:
… like one awakened to a marvelous secret insight: & #8230; it's hard as rock, the judges said. (Act II: 118-28)
Secular laws, of course, are made by men of power. Usually, these laws are enacted under the perception of the public good, or at least what those in power perceive as a way to retain power and engender the status quo. When events and personalities challenge the status quo, however, secular laws may not be enough to silence them. In order to keep control, propaganda and paranoia are often used to "bring events under control."
There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships (Reverend Hale to Francis Nurse defending the witch trials in the face of the arrest of Rebecca) (Act II: 71-2).
Thus, there three types of overall power in the Crucible are expressed within different characterizations. The Church and men embody most of the power, through faith and a dogma that resists change. Shift in power occurs because the church cannot be openly defied, but rather can be manipulated. The shame of the girls cavorting in the woods under moonlight is momentarily forgiven with the idea that the church must save...
Finally, the abuse of power, and in fact, as the abuse finishes, there is little less to consume.
It is interesting to note that Miller himself was to be questioned by HUAC (House Unamerican Activities Committee) and convicted in 1956 of "contempt" for failing to identify others present at certain meetings that were ostensibly "communist" oriented. Another theme in the Crucible is that of guilt by association, and the paranoia caused by such, which was so apparent during the early 1950s. See, Atkinston, B. (January 23, 1593), "The Crucible." The New York Times. http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print&res=FC77E7DF173DE362BC4B51DFB7668388649EDE
There are numerous examples of this type of behavior: the Reichstag Fire in Weimar Germany; certainly McCarthy's assertion that there were "card carrying Communists" in the State Department. Psychologically, it is easier to dehumanize the enemy, or create a supposed enemy, than to logically explain certain events. For more on this, see:
The juxtaposition between the Court/Status Quo and the diabolical Abigail is part of the abuse of power paradigm in the Crucible.
See the various banters in the final few paragraphs of the play -- hateful and despising, but with the reverence of revolution.
Most of the American public did not know what communism or Marxism really was as an ideology, they simply knew that it was 'bad' and it was 'un-American,' although logically it could be argued that nothing is more un-American than prosecuting a person for holding certain political beliefs. The tragedies of Miller's "The Crucible" and the McCarthy hearings are that good men and women, as well as fearful and ignorant
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
Hale begins the play as the most idealistic character, but ends the play telling Proctor to lie under oath and confess to being a witch, after Proctor is accused by Abigail. Hale comes to see the judicial system as bankrupt. This shows how a corrupt system can corrupt even decent people. The system also uses Hale's idealism for its own ends, as pro-democracy, pro-American people were used in subservience
Even Tituba is accorded greater status than before. Women, traditionally marginalized in a religiously oppressive society, can gain power through the mechanisms provided by the witch hunt and the tribunals headed by men who believe the girls (or want to believe the accusers). Some of the men leading the hunt seem to genuinely think that they are doing God's work, while others seem to have more mixed motivations. All
Fear, ignorance, personal grievances, and an inflexible political and judicial process result in the death of John Proctor, an innocent man, who dies because he refuses to admit to witchcraft and harm other people. Individuals who named names were cleared by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) while those who did not name names were often blacklisted and lost their livelihoods. Those who refused to turn others in were the
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