Themes of Intolerance, Hysteria, and Reputation in The Crucible

Introduction: Miller, McCarthyism, and The Crucible

Arthur Miller, the notable American playwright, wrote The Crucible in 1953. The play focuses on a partially fictionalized and dramatized account of the Salem witch trials that occurred between 1692 and 1693 in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, a period during which the American government blacklisted individuals accused of being communists. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities during the late 1950s and was convicted in 1956 of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others who had been present at meetings he had attended. Miller channeled this experience into his drama through three central themes: intolerance, hysteria, and reputation.

Intolerance in a Puritan Theocracy

The first theme that The Crucible establishes — most prominently in the beginning of the play — is intolerance. The play is set in a theocratic society in which the church and the state function as one, and the government uses religion as a means of social control through an austere form of Protestantism known as Puritanism. State laws and moral laws are treated as identical, and a person's social standing and private sins alike become matters of public concern. In such a society, any association with witchcraft instantly marks the accused as an evildoer in the eyes of the community.

This is precisely the case with Abigail, who becomes entangled in a witchcraft accusation after Betty falls ill. When someone is accused of — or merely suspected of — witchcraft, they may do anything to evade blame. Toward the end of Act I, after Tituba confesses to witchcraft, Abigail seizes the moment: "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Proctor with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" (Miller 47). Having realized that blame will fall on Tituba, Abigail readily confesses to dancing with Betty in the forest in order to clear her own name. She views Tituba — an enslaved woman from Barbados — as an inconsequential figure and feels no guilt for drawing an innocent person into the crisis. By confessing, she appears penitent and keeps herself out of trouble.

Earlier in Act I, Abigail's conversation with John Proctor reveals not only their past affair but also her desire to escape the Puritanical constraints of her society. While most townspeople strive to adhere to strict codes of conduct in order to appear godly, figures like Proctor and Abigail pursue forbidden desires. Because of the community's deep intolerance, Abigail lies and manipulates situations to keep herself from being named a sinner — as her exclamation at the end of Act I makes clear: "I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God . . ." (Miller 47).

Mass Hysteria and the Collapse of Logic

The Crucible employs the theme of mass hysteria to dramatize how a community can tear itself apart. Once hysteria supplants logic, people begin to believe almost anything. Neighbors long regarded as pillars of the community are suddenly accused of devil worship, communing with Satan, and even killing infants — all on the basis of an elaborate web of lies fueled by false accusations. Proctor recognizes this collapse of reason, and in Act II he attempts to redirect the townspeople's scrutiny toward the accusers themselves: "If she is innocent! Who do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now?" (Miller 62). As his wife is sought by Reverend John Hale for arrest, John tries desperately to reason with the authorities. Elizabeth had long known of Proctor's affair with Abigail, and the warrant for her arrest was a direct consequence of that knowledge.

Elizabeth's view is that by sleeping with Abigail, Proctor made an implicit promise he could never keep — and that it was therefore his responsibility to end the madness gripping the town. In Act III, after Elizabeth's arrest, Proctor at last confesses his affair with Abigail directly before the court, hoping to convince those blinded by hysteria that she is not the innocent victim she claims to be. By admitting to his own transgression, he hopes to bring the witch trials to an end: "God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands." (Miller 79).

Conclusion

The Crucible is an excellent, if partially fictionalized, dramatization of the Salem witch trials. It portrays the madness of the townspeople, the opportunism of the accusers, and the powerful grip that organized religion exercised over an entire society. In many ways it also mirrors Miller's own experiences with political persecution. The play demonstrates that people were doing to one another in Salem precisely what the United States government was doing to its citizens during the McCarthy era: leveling false accusations backed by institutional authority, driven by fear and self-interest. The themes of intolerance, hysteria, and reputation run throughout the play, with the central conflict rooted in the affair between Abigail and Proctor. Had Proctor not entered into that affair with his household servant, none of the catastrophic events that followed would have come to pass.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Arthur Miller's The Crucible. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2010. Print.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2003. Print.