Crucible Essays (Examples)

Crucible Is a Play by Arthur Miller

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 three main themes that remain salient in American culture. Those three themes include that of social conformity; sexual repression; and religious rigidity. Miller explores social conformity, sexual repression, and religious rigidity throughout The Crucible, to warn of the cyclical nature of history and the resistance to change that permeates American society.

One of the primary themes of Miller's The Crucible is the ways social conformity and mob mentality manifest in American society. The Crucible remains primarily concerned with the ways personal psychology interface with social norms, values, and expectations. The Reverend Parris, for example, has internalized the Puritanical values and mores to an extreme extent; surrendering his desire to think creatively, critically, and independently. When he states to Abigail, "if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know…… [Read More]

Crucible Arthur Miller's Play the

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 at the hands of his servant Mary marks the downfall of his pride and his reputation. Proctor eventually offers a full confession but he honorably refuses to falsely label anyone as a witch.

Disillusioned but determined to spiritually redeem himself, Proctor tears up his confession. The resolution of the play occurs at this point, when Proctor makes peace with himself. Although the ending of The Crucible is tragic and Proctor is sent to the gallows, he establishes himself as a true hero. The play has several themes, including the theme of personal pride as well as of mob mentality taking over the better interests of community justice.… [Read More]

Crucible Is the Story of

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 of McCarthyism. Just as dangerous as idealists like Hale are weak people, looking for a sense of belonging. Mary Warren, Proctor's new servant, enjoys the sense of community she feels with the other girls, and fears breaking from their ranks.

Even Elizabeth Proctor's goodness serves the evil of the system: Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft, in hopes of making John a widower. Then, to protect her husband's reputation, Elizabeth unwittingly condemns John by refusing to admit that he was unfaithful, just as John condemns himself by not going to church, because he feels like a hypocrite as an adulterer. This is taken to be 'proof' of his deviltry, not a genuine religious crisis. The system perpetuates itself as small inconsistent actions are made to seem like glaring lies and crimes. When…… [Read More]

Crucible Questions According to the

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 true Americans, protecting freedom, just like John is the truest Christian of the play, even though he dies and does not profess a formal belief in the Christianity of the Puritans.

Q3: Summarize Arthur Miller's experiences with HUAC and discuss the consequences of those experiences for Miller.

Miller was pressured, like so many great artists, to name names of suspected communists. He refused but saw his friends either blacklisted or turn against the Hollywood and artistic hands that had 'fed' them like Elia Kazan, who did cooperate with HUAC. Miller was thus both fearful and revolted by this spectacle.

Q4: Bigsby claims that the Crucible is a play about the seductive nature of power. How so?

The allegations of witchcraft give the girls power -- power they lack in society…… [Read More]

Crucible the Film Version of Arthur Miller's

Crucible

The film version of Arthur Miller's hit Broadway play of 1953 "The Crucible" was released in 1996. Miller

himself wrote the screen play of the film which starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder in lead roles and was directed by Nicholas Hytner.

The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history surrounding the Salem witch trials in the year 1692. The film, as well as the play on which it is based, is however in no way an accurate description of history and takes considerable liberties with the actual events that took place during the trial. The film is set in the Puritan era in a small town (Salem) in colonial Massachusetts when twenty innocent men and women were accused of witchcraft and put to death and hundreds more suffered.

When Miller wrote his play, which has been reproduced on film with just a few changes, he had meant it to be an allegorical tale about McCarthyism and the witch-hunt of Communists (both imaginary and real) in the United States in the 1950s. Hence, while Miller was showing the characters of the Salem trials in his play, he was alluding to the paranoia prevailing in the U.S.…… [Read More]

Crucible Arthur Miller's Play The Crucible Is

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 years surrounding them.

In Act I of the play, one of the main characters, Reverend Parris, believes that his daughter has been involved in some form of witchcraft with a Negro slave. His daughter is now in a state of unconsciousness, and he believes that it is the work of witches (Classic, 1999). During the first act many of the main characters are introduced, and it is easy to see the power that the idea of witchcraft has over these individuals. Also easy to see is the petty jealousy that often runs rampant in a small town.

Impending doom is the mood that runs through most of…… [Read More]

Crucible by Arthur Miller How

However, Rebecca is convicted of witchcraft by the court, and Hale begins to see the hysteria at work in the community, and begins to feel he is responsible. He tells the judge, "I have this morning signed away the soul of Rebecca Nurse, Your Honor. I'll not conceal it, my hand shakes yet as with a wound!" (Miller 92). He begins to see how his own actions helped create more hysteria and confusion, and he questions his faith and his conviction that the Devil exists.

By the end of the play, Hale has become disillusioned with the trials and the hysteria. He says, " I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion; the very crowns of holy law I brought, and what I touched with my bright confidence, it died; and where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up. Beware, Goody Proctor -- cleave to no faith when faith brings blood" (Miller 122). He realizes his mistakes and his zealous ways, however, it is too late. His actions have set the trials and accusations in motion, and it is too late for him to control the outcome. He…… [Read More]

Crucible Movie Review the Crucible

QUESTION #2: Was John Proctor essentially a good man? Yes, Proctor was a good man in his heart; he made a mistake by getting involved with Abigail, but when she came back to him hoping to rekindle the flame between them, he turned down the chance for another sexual liaison with a woman much younger than his wife. When the community began to turn hysterical, Proctor was a voice of reason. He advised the arriving "expert" Hale that no children were "afflicted" with witchcraft. Proctor was very candid with his wife in confessing that he had an affair with Abigail. And when he and Abigail later fought, it was just part of the insane atmosphere of accusations and reprisals and guilt; the whole town was in turmoil, so Proctor's action cannot be absolutely held against him. In the effort to clear his wife's name, Proctor shows that he has a good heart, he is not perfect and in the trial he confesses; "I...am...not...that...pure!"

QUESTION #3: Select another character in the film. I select Abigail, an orphan, one of the accused, who was only doing the provocative things a youthful person would do. She is thrown to the wolves and accused…… [Read More]

Crucible by Arthur Miller Whether

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 be able to take it seriously" (Bloom 45). Thus, if the reader places himself or herself in the 17th century, the verdicts against the accused might make more sense, but they still indicate a lack of justice and reliance on the law.

The American people trust the courts for the most part, and trust them to make impartial and balanced decisions. Up until the decisions, most of the people of Salem trusted the courts as well. The judge follows the doctrines of the courts of the time, and gives confidence he will make an informed and just decision, at least until he states that he believes in the supernatural. He says, "You know, Mr. Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven…… [Read More]

Crucible by Arthur Miller The

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.

In conclusion, whether the title of Miller's play refers to any of these objects or vessels is not clear, but one can assume that "The Crucible" is a metaphor or a symbol for something much larger in context than a simple pot, a kettle or a trial by one's peers. Perhaps the title of this play refers to what is known as a witches' cauldron in which magical…… [Read More]

Crucible Directed by Nicholas Hytner

However, the storytelling itself seemed to take a backseat to the drama, and it made the film drag in spots.

It also could have been much more innovative in direction and cinematography. The scenes were rich and full, and the director did use some camera angles (such as above in the church/courtroom), and above again in a scene where Abigail "sees" a spirit above her and collapses in the court. However, for the most part, this film lacked real innovation or unconventional techniques, and I think that was a weakness in the film, and part of the reason it became boring by the end. Since it was based on a stage play, most of the film is dialogue, and without some other kind of action or direction, that can stagnate in a film, and it did that here. Sadly, I think this film could have had much more impact if it had been handled differently. Abigail is not played as a sympathetic character at all, and if there was anything truly evil in this village, it seemed to be her, and the way the people blindly followed her without question. This is a powerful story about religious believes, mob behavior,…… [Read More]

Crucible the Witch Hunt An American Tradition

Crucible

The Witch hunt:

An American Tradition

Off with their heads! Burn them up! We need to cleanse our community of good people from the malevolent designs of the wicked! Yes, people! We are at a critical point in the history of our great nation -- and our very existence is threatened by the Godless in our midst! We must, and we will root out the evil doers by any means necessary...and when I say any means necessary, I call upon the good citizens of this land to be vigilant -- to keep their eyes on anyone who might seem suspicious, for they hide amongst us, friends and neighbors -- yes they do.

Although this sentiment may seem a bit over the top, this is exactly the atmosphere that pervaded the town of Salem, Massachusetts during the period known as the Salem Witch Hunts...What? Did you think I was talking about something else? And it is also exactly the same atmosphere that again occurred in the midst of the dark period in American History known as the McCarthy era -- a time in which the newly emerging hysteria over the spread of Communism began to spread to unimaginable proportions.

Perhaps…… [Read More]

Parallels Between the Crucible and Guilty by Suspicion

Crucible and Guilty by Suspicion

McCarthyism: The American Witch-Hunts

The fear of communism ran rampant amongst the United States during the late 1940s to 1950s; throughout the nation, the fear of communist spies infiltrating the country caused the Second Red Scare, which was spearheaded by Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. This phenomenon became so well-publicized that its story has been immortalized in film and literature. Such is the case in Arthur Miller's 1952 play The Crucible and Irwin Winkler's 1991 film Guilty by Suspicion. In both McCarthyism-inspired stories, there is a degree of similarities within their thematic showcases of intolerance, hysteria, and reputation.

Both stories certainly have the underlying idea of intolerance, which is suffused in Miller's and Winkler's works. The authorities in The Crucible did not suffer witches, and those who were against the religious ideas of the community became ostracized and accused. In a poignant scene with Judge Danforth, one of the authoritative figures of the witch hunt trials in Salem, he remarks, "[A] person is either with this court or he must be counted against it," which shows the general opinion of those who've "strayed" from Protestantism. Likewise, the authorities in Guilty by Suspicion are relentless against those…… [Read More]

Arthur Miller the Crucible

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 forest. The first scene then partly deals with finding out what the girls were doing in the forest. This includes a range of people giving their thoughts or stating evidence related to what the girls were doing. This establishes one of the major themes of the play, which is how one is able to get to the truth. Reverend Parris is seen to be worried that the girls were engaging in witchcraft. This is partially backed up by Susanna's news that the doctor has not been able to find a cure for Betty. While this is not any real evidence of witchcraft, it seems to confirm Parris's concerns. More hearsay is then introduced as Abigail talks about the rumors of witchcraft that are circulating through the town…… [Read More]

American Crucibles the Crucible Contemporary World American

American Crucibles

The Crucible

Contemporary World

American Crucibles

The playwright, Arthur Miller, was born on October 17, 1915 (Hinman et al., 1994). While studying journalism at the University of Michigan he began to write plays and win awards. With a strong interest in the plight of common man, it was inevitable that Miller, writing plays with a current of leftist ideology flowing through them, would capture the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Subpoenaed to appear before HUAC, Miller refused to name names. Fortunately for Miller and American literature, the theatre scene in New York City was relatively immune to efforts to persecute leftists.

As a result of witnessing what was happening to American society under HUAC, Miller writes the now classic play The Crucible. This play is a fictitious account of the events surrounding the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Rather than write a play that merely depicts the events that took place, Miller used it as a vehicle to depict the moral dilemmas everyday Americans were being forced to make as a result of the 'Red Scare.' In the play, persons of integrity are faced with being hanged if they fail…… [Read More]

Family Crucible in the Book the Family

Family Crucible

In the book The Family Crucible, family therapists Carl Whitaker and Gus Napier (1978) team up to help a family with dangerous levels of discontent and animosity towards one another. At the center of the rift are the adolescent daughter Claudia and the mother Carolyn. At the periphery are the 6-year-old daughter Laura, an 11-year-old son Don, and the father David. On the surface, it is Claudia's behavior problems that are blamed by both parents for the family's woes. However, during the first meeting with the entire family present, it quickly becomes clear that problems with the marriage may be to blame. This essay will examine the parenting dynamics uncovered by Whitaker and Napier during their family therapy sessions, including the parenting styles used and attachment matrix that exist in the Brice family.

The Brice Parenting Styles

On the surface, the father appears to have an authoritative parenting style because he demands that Claudia be respectful to her mother. However, his primary concern about Claudia's behavior seems to be that she gets along better with her mother. He does not appear to intrude into Claudia's life to the degree that the mother does, nor set authoritarian behavioral guidelines.…… [Read More]

Letter From Abigail to John Proctor in the Crucible

Crucible

Dearest John,

I am writing this letter in the hopes that I can explain myself and make you understand why I have done what I did. You are angry with me now and perhaps I deserve your anger, but you must know in your heart that your wife stood between us. We never could have been together so long as someone else called herself Mrs. John Proctor. That is a name that should be reserved for the one you love and I know that you never have loved her truly or else you would never have turned to me. Perhaps I am getting too far ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning. Please just read through this letter all the way through and by the end everything will be explained and it will make sense to you my dearest and you will have no choice but to forgive me.

Everything started out so simply. My friends and I were frolicking innocently in the forest. We weren't even doing anything dramatic or terrible. All we were doing was dancing and singing and making braids of flowers with darling Tituba. Oh poor, poor Tituba. You must take pity on…… [Read More]

John Proctor From the Crucible

We see John making a determined effort to please Elizabeth -- he kisses her perfunctorily, he praises her cooking -- all this being done in a desperate effort to compensate for his guilty feelings. Elizabeth's coldness, however, augments his failure. Once her love has been betrayed, she lives in a continuous suspicion and doubts John's reasons as to why he would not testify against his former lover, Abigail, when Elizabeth urges him to. She is proud, slow to forgive and very accusatory: "I cannot speak but I am doubted," John defends himself, "every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!" (The Crucible, 54) Nevertheless, in spite of her self-righteous and her seemingly intolerant posture, Elizabeth loves John. She proves her endless love for him in Act Three when she lies to the committee of the court, against her principles, denying her husband's deed of adultery to save his reputation and life. At the end, Elizabeth overcomes her pride, becomes more open-minded and is able to forgive John. She even goes as far as taking part of the guilt upon herself, admitting that she was not as good a wife as…… [Read More]

Individual Power in The Crucible

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…… [Read More]

Family Crucible Oftentimes When Spouses Begin to

Family Crucible

Oftentimes, when spouses begin to have difficulties with their marriage, they lose track of the impact that their arguments have on the children. They are so wrapped up in their day-to-day difficulties, that the rest of the family becomes secondary. In the Family Crucible by Napier and Whitaker, the daughter becomes so depressed that psychological help is required. It is then that the family as a whole has to determine how to rebuild itself, if possible.

The book consists of the ongoing therapy of the "Brice" family, which consists of the parents (David and Carolyn), adolescent daughter (Claudia), six-year-old daughter (Laura), and 11-year-old son (Don).

The therapy begins by involving the father, who would have been more than pleased to have relinquished responsibility at this point. He soon explains that Claudia's problems may be of most importance, but there is a lot more taking place than that. As he talks, the father becomes more assertive and then aggressive -- which turns out to be the anguish that parents feel when they are fearful for their children. As he continues, Claudia's anger turns to tears. Therapist Carl Whitaker then asks David to go beyond Claudia's concerns to that of…… [Read More]

Crucible vs Mccarthyism Fear Over

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 people were silenced by the witch hunts. People who defended the accused were called witches themselves. This can be seen when Proctor and Mary Warren are both, at different times and for different reasons called witches. When they defy Abigail's desires, their nonconformity makes them vulnerable to being accused. Witchcraft and communism are shadowy forces in the public imagination because neither is fully understood.

Both witch hunts begin with dramatic events -- the 'fits' of the Salem girls; the take-over of Eastern Europe -- but the critical difference, many critics of Miller pointed out, is that unlike witchcraft, communism was a real historical force. Although McCarthyism destroyed many careers and many lives in America, communism resulted in the loss of millions of lives in Stalinist Russia and Eastern Europe. The…… [Read More]

Crucible Questions 1 Perhaps the

Indeed, the arrival of Hale, the specialist on witchcraft, brings with it a
gloomy sense of foreboding. With the sentence of death being the outcome
to such proceedings, I am moved by the remarkable errant authority.
Act III: The courtroom drama in this act is compelling if a little
overstated. Here, the genuine hysteria has set in and the outrageous
turnabout between first Mary and John toward Abigail and ultimately, Mary
and Abigail toward John demonstrates the greatest problem of the play. It
is clear that everybody is on trial.
Act IV: I am most surprised by the reversal of Hale in this act.
Initially, I viewed him as a sinister figure but it is clear by this
juncture that the forces governing Salem had leapt far beyond his intent or
control. The finality of the play here is unforgiving, as the accused are
hanged with no redemption.

4. Two major themes in this work are those of intolerance and justice.

5. The theme of intolerance is presented largely in the
descriptions by Miller, who portrayed the puritans as living in what "was a
barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics who, nevertheless, were
shipping out products of slowly…… [Read More]

Movie the Crucible Was Derived Entirely From

movie, The Crucible, was derived entirely from the book entitled, Salem Possessed: the Social Origins of Witchcraft by Paul S. Boyer, with only a few differences, owing to technical limitations in movie production. The movie had to reduce the number of characters of the books in order to produce it on cinema. Time lapses were shortened, due again to cinematic limitations in presenting the events. Furthermore, the nature of the charges against Giles Corey was not identical. In the book, he is charged with contempt of court for refusing to plead either innocent or guilty. In the movie, he is charged with contempt for refusing to name the person who told him about Thomas Putnam's intent to buy land by means of false accusation. And while Abigail Williams is presented as an 11-year-old girl in the book, she is 17 years in the movie in order to justify or make credible her being the lust object of John Proctor.

In all other aspects, details and views, the movie and the book are identical. They both talk about the same people: the "afflicted" girls Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Tituba, Ann Putnam, John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth, Mary Wolcott, Samuel Parris,…… [Read More]

The Use of Fear Tactics in Miller Crucible

Arthur Miller penned the play The Crucible in the context of McCarthy-era rhetoric and anti-communist propaganda in the United States. Although it has a literal and direct historical reference and application to the Salem witch trials, the play serves as an overarching metaphor for public persecution and the dangers a police state poses to the general public. Through The Crucible, Miller critiques American society and indirectly accuses patriarchy of dismantling some of the core norms and values upon which the nation was built. Moreover, Miller deftly draws analogies between Salem's persecution of women during the witch-hunts and Washington's persecution of all Americans during the Cold War. Whereas women were the only real targets during the witch trials of the late 17th century, all Americans had fallen under the indiscriminate policies of political discrimination. Miller therefore presents patriarchy within a Marxist as well as a postmodernist framework. As a Marxist, Miller draws attention to the owners of the means of production of power. As a postmodernist, Miller shows how institutional coercion and conformity to social norms create an entanglement of ideals and a conflagration of the ethos upon which nations are founded. Fear tactics become one of the core means by…… [Read More]

Three Essays Critiquing Miller S Crucible

Crucible and What I Have Learned

Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a dramatic, engaging work that challenges the reader/viewer to see beneath the "black and white" dichotomy by which the world is simplistically characterized via such "venerable" institutions in America as the "right" and the "left," the "conservative" and the "liberal" establishment, and the "patriot" and the "traitor" conception. In this play, Miller brings to the fore the fact that there can be and often are conflicting motives within every single human heart, a phenomenon that colors the way people act, interact, think, speak, and -- yes -- betray. At the heart of The Crucible is a drama of sexual tension and spite -- a girlish revenge twisted into something much more heinous by the cruel paroxysms of a community going mad with suspicion, condemnation, and holier-than-thou syndrome. It is a play that reflects one of the sinister secrets of the American experience -- the Puritanical roots of the New World society in which truth, love and mercy have no place and where fear, mob rule, and irrationality dominate. However, it is also a controversial play, which has been interpreted in many different ways by various critics. This paper will…… [Read More]

Arhtur Miller S The Crucible

Arthur Miller, notable playwright, wrote the 1953 play, The Crucible that focused on the partially fictionalized and dramatized story of the Salem witch trials that occurred between 1692 and 1693 in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The play was written as an allegory of McCarthyism due to the American government blacklisting of accused communists. Even Miller was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on what can be labeled as "Un-American Activities" during the late 1950's and was convicted in 1956 of contempt of Congress for the refusal of identification of others that were present during the meetings Miller had attended. Miller's drama was then translated into his play through themes of intolerance, hysteria, and reputation.

The first theme that The Crucible describes in the beginning of the play is intolerance. With the play's setting in a theocratic society, where the church and state serve as one, the government uses religion as a means of control through an austere, strict form of Protestantism, Puritanism. States laws and moral laws are treated as the same and a person's status and sin become matters of public concern. Practice of witchcraft in such a society will instantly place the practitioner into a position…… [Read More]

A Scene of Dialogue in the Crucible Contextual Analysis

Conflict in the First Scene of Dialogue in Miller's The Crucible

The piece of dialogue at the beginning of The Crucible in which Abigail and Parris reveal their respective characters through snippets and snatches of admissions is an important scene that sets the tone and initial conflict of the drama. The tone is serious but chaotic: a child is in danger; the doctor has no cure; foul play in the form of "possession" is suspected by the community, many members of which are talking in the parlor where the "rumor of witchcraft is all about" (Miller 9). Parris, who is a Reverend in the community, and who himself is at odds with his parish, is afraid because such talk will put him in a very bad light: "There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit. Do you understand that?" Parris cries to Abigail. He is not in control of himself: panicked both by the condition of his daughter Betty and by the fear of being chased out of his parish by individuals who do not want him at the head of the congregation, Parris is in a highly emotional state, unable to grasp the obvious.…… [Read More]

Power and Control in the

The court case scene also shows how focused the leaders are on maintaining their power. This is seen where Danforth says to Proctor, "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between" (Miller 94). This shows the complete lack of choice that the people of the society have. If they do not accept the will of the leaders completely, they are considered as being against them. This leaves no room for anyone to question anything. At the same time, it shows that the leaders of the town are intently focused on maintaining complete power. In this way, the leaders dominate completely, while the people are meant to be submissive to the point that they do not question any aspect of the leader's decisions.

It is in the context of this environment that the actions of the people of Salem can be understood. The people may disagree with the way the society is managed, but they have no outlet for their concerns. They are completely dominated and not even able to voice their concerns privately for fear that what they say will be reported. The hysteria…… [Read More]

Tituba Comparing and Contrasting Arthur

Miller focuses a created, heterosexual alliance in his fictional retelling, but I, Tituba concentrates on the outcasts, which formed the actual, majority of the accused.

This alliance between marginal categories of persons is humorously underlined with Tituba meets a famous fictional outcast from Puritan society, Hester Prynne, while in jail. Conde creates a jailhouse meeting between the two women, since who knows what transpired while Tituba awaited her fate? Marginal women do not abandon Tituba, even though her Christian owner, the girls she helped, and her beloved John Indian abandon her to her execution. Hester Prynne helps Tituba say the right things to be released. Confession in Miller is shown as weakness and capitulation to the mad witch hunters, but Conde sees this as careful and clever planning, a just action because of the injustice of Tituba's captors. Finally, the alliance of 'others' is shown when Tituba, is freed from captivity from a Salem jail as a result of Hester's assistance.

The alliance of 'others' after Tituba is bought a Jewish man named Benjamin Cohen who is sympathetic to her persecution. He frees her allows her to return to Barbados. The causes of the witch-hunt, racism and fear, are not…… [Read More]

Systems Theory Napier & Whitaker's 1978 Classic

Systems Theory

Napier & Whitaker's (1978) classic The Family Crucible is the benchmark book related to family therapy. The book is thorough, and divided into twenty chapters that cover the gamut of family therapy theory and especially practice. Napier & Whitaker (1978) are family systems theorists, and they openly divulge their appreciation for an approach to individual psychology that takes into account family systems. In other words, no individual can be understood or helped without paying attention to the family situation, its dynamics, and its role in identity formation and coping. The authors discuss dysfunctional family systems via a case study. By focusing on one case study, Napier & Whitaker (1978) show how family systems theory works, and what clients can expect from the process.

The authors weave their personal views and experiences throughout the case study, which clutters and bogs down the narrative, but which also provides a necessary context for how the theorists developed a family systems approach. There are also some outmoded issues discussed in the book, such as the perceived roles of mothers and fathers in the family. In spite of these weaknesses, though, The Family Crucible remains a valuable text offering all therapists insight into…… [Read More]

Resisted Embraced How Explored Prescribed Text The

Resisted Embraced

How explored prescribed text "The Crucible" Arthur Miller related text "Woolvs in the Sitee" Anne Spudvilas?

Societal insiders and outsiders in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the existence of outsiders in the tight-knit, homogeneous society of Salem, Massachusetts gives rise to a witch hunt that eventually results in the death of the protagonist John Proctor. Proctor is a plainspoken, honest farmer who refuses to condone the hysteria of the town, which he knows is at least partially stirred up by his former lover Abigail to enhance her social status and to separate him from his wife. Proctor also does not go to church on Sundays, out of guilt for his sin against Abigail. This makes him a pariah in a society where open professions of religion are required to be deemed 'normal.'

While Proctor, a respected farmer, holds himself back from Salem society, Abigail wishes to belong. She is looked down upon as a loose young woman, but her status as someone who can 'see' witches makes her special in the eyes of the town, and she gains power and notoriety as a result. This highlights how simply because someone is an outcast does…… [Read More]

Structured Poems Such as William

" Rather than endlessly musing upon his father's death, like a drumbeat Thomas simply repeats that his father must not "go gentle into that good night." With every tercet, the repeated lines take on a different nuance. Reading the poem is like hearing a favorite song sung in a different way, again and again -- every time, a different shade of meaning is brought forth in the refrain of the poem. It is all too easy for a free verse poem to say the same thing in different ways: Thomas uses the same words again and again to convey different shades of emotion: good men, wild men, grave men, all for different reasons, he states, have not borne the inevitability of death with meekness.

The reader comes to understand that repeated words are a paradox -- Thomas tells his father, begs his father, to do what is futile -- to resist death. But Thomas is so persuasive in doing so, the reader cannot help but support the poet in his quest, although why Thomas is so determined to hate the darkness of the afterlife remains a mystery, perhaps even to the poet himself.

Ance's comment is based upon the faulty…… [Read More]

Dichotomy and Struggle Between Authority

This type of certainty only signifies authority, but it shows Danforth to be truly powerless over his convictions or any sort of lasting truth. Like Proctor, he is also described upon his first appearance, with Miller commenting that he was of "some humor and sophistication that does not, however, interfere with an exact loyalty to his position and his cause" (Miller 73). Though Danforth has authority over life and death in Salem, he has no real power because he has already completely given himself over to his position as a Judge and his cause of seeking out witches. When the truth and all things eternal cease to matter, all power is gone, and though John Proctor and many others meet death essentially at Danforth's hands, they retain power over themselves in their refusal to give in to Danforth's authority.

Nowhere is the difference between power and authority made more clear than in the end of the play, when John Proctor refuses to let the court sully his good name for the people of the town and his two sons, and instead marches off to his death. Earlier, Elizabeth has given him news of Giles Corey's defiance, which allowed his land…… [Read More]

Brice Family Systems Napier and Whitaker Exemplify

Brice Family

SYSTEMS

Napier and Whitaker exemplify systems therapy with their presentation of the Brice family case. It is necessary to identify the origins of the systems approach in order to fully appreciate its value in the context of family therapy. It approaches the family unit as a system and therefore borrows heavily from systems theory. Systems theory is a general theory applies across many disciplines and looks at systems that have the ability to self-regulate. The theory applies to biological systems, climate, environment, and the family unit.

Systems approach recognizes the interdependencies that exist in the family as a system. The family unit consists of individuals related to one another forming a complex web that should act in congruence. Therefore, although a part of a system is essential, it is the relationship of the part to the whole that is paramount. The family as a system is dynamic since changes occur every day within the family as a unit and within individuals. Further, it is open in varying degrees to influences of the outside world.

Napier and Whitaker apply systems therapy quite well in their treatise, The Family Crucible. There are several ideas that stand out. First, there are…… [Read More]

Liberty and Fear Anti-Terrorist Politics

783). Gore sees a parallel between the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, after the attack upon Pearl Harbor and the treatment of Arab-Americans in the wake of the Bush Administration's fear-mongering and validation of public prejudices against Muslims. (This attitude conveyed from the top also fostered prejudice amongst ordinary citizens: A commonly-cited complaint of some airplane passengers is that too many 'non obvious' suspects are subject to routine frisks, while 'obvious' suspects pass, effective code words for non-Arabs vs. Arabs).

However, there is an essential difference in the curtailment of American liberties after 9/11 and after World War II: its racial and prejudiced nature. During the Cold War, because 'anyone' could theoretically be a communist, all individuals were subject to scrutiny. Thus, no matter how fearful, many ordinary Americans experienced just how onerous and self-defeating the McCarthy witch-hunts were to civil liberties. Additionally, because of the fact that all American young men could be drafted, the repercussions of Cold War militarism and the military-industrial complex's lies about Vietnam were suffered by almost all American families. This is not the case with the so-called war upon terrorism. The abuses of this so-called 'war' have been suffered disproportionately by members…… [Read More]

U S Foreign Affairs Since 1898

S. officials and other entities were very well informed), but rather on indecisiveness and incapacity to react with direct, concrete means in these situations.

5. The major issues of American foreign policy during the 1950s were generally circumscribed to the Cold War between the U.S. And the Soviet Union and the relations between these two countries, ranging form mutual containment to escalation (towards the end of the decade).

The first issue emerging from this policy was the Korean War. The Korean War, characterized by the initial invasion of South Korea by North Korean troops and the subsequent implication of American and Chinese troops, was a direct consequence of the post-WWII conditions when each superpower attempted to promote and spread its own military and ideological system.

With the American army first pushed back all the way to Pusan and then following General Macarthur's landing at Inchon behind enemy troops and the implication of the Chinese troops, the war waged on from 1950 to 1953. While South Korea retained its independence, the war itself could be more or less considered as a draw, but one that brought to evidence the apparition of a new strong potential power: China.

Besides containment, another major…… [Read More]

Ohio Frontier the Book The

The author shows how American history affected Ohio from the Revolutionary War to the beginnings of the Confederacy, and shows how Ohio tried to keep apart from much of the politics going on back east. Hurt also shows how Ohio differed from many other frontier settlements because of trade along the canals and rivers, and how many of the settlers in Ohio preferred a rural community to a "model" city like the ones they had left back East. The book follows white settlement throughout the area, and is a must for anyone who is interested in Ohio or western American history. It is rich in detail and interesting to read, and is a good introduction to further study of what made Americans pick up and move into new and unsettled territories such as Ohio. It is also a good way to understand how a new community matures and changes as it grows.… [Read More]

French and Indian War

French and Indian War

Cultural Analysis of French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is considered to be part of Seven Years War that took place from 1756 till 1763. It is one of the most fierce and bloodiest battles that ever took place and in which thousands of people were killed. Participants of the war included French, Indians and British. It is believed that the war was fought in order to gain control over North America and clash over colonies between France and England over power and wealth.

The French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is considered to be part of Seven Years War that took place from 1756 till 1763. It is one of the most fierce and bloodiest battles that ever took place and in which thousands of people were killed. Participants of the war included French, Indians and British. It is believed that the war was fought in order to gain control over North America and clash over colonies between France and England over power and wealth. The global war was seen as a product of rivalry that was found between French and British colonists living in the North American territories.…… [Read More]

Gold Rush the History of

Ah Toy is representative for the way in which immigrants and in her own case the Chinese were treated by the state authorities and the judicial system in particular. It was common practice the discriminatory attitude of the judicial system towards the Chinese immigrants given the fact that, on the one hand the legislature considered the immigrant population to be a threat to the well being of the Americans, and on the other hand, the Chinese' apparent lack of interest for the American judicial system would make them irrelevant in the face of the law. This is why the 19th century saw a number of legislative initiatives which legalized a discriminatory treatment of the Chinese immigrants and of miners in particular. Therefore, "in 1852, scarcely three years after the first Chinese arrived in California, the state legislature passed a discriminatory tax measure, aimed primarily at Chinese gold miners (an 1854 amendment made it applicable to the Chinese exclusively.)Moreover, additional measures were being taken in order to restrict the access of foreigners to the resources of the society that was emerging as a result of the Gold Rush, especially taking into consideration that the idea of competition was common among the…… [Read More]

Mau - Contrasting Views of

The United Kenya Club was founded in 1946 and was the first multi-racial social organization in Kenya; the organization sponsored concerts and cultural events open to all ethnicities (if you could afford a ticket price). The liberal paternalists pressed for programs that would introduce "profit-making crafts to landless laborers," would "encourage the growth of a prosperous rural elite" and also would encourage progressive agricultural practices among poor peasants. Moreover, the liberal paternalists (Kennedy 248) wished to "instill Western principles of hygiene and child care" among African women and their daughters.

Missionaries were traditionally among the liberal paternalists, Kennedy points out, and when Sir Philip Mitchell became governor of Kenya, he "sought to invigorate the peasant agricultural sector" in order to build a more diversified economy (Kennedy 249). Mitchell also believed "with some justification" that a few of the white leaders among the British settlers "could be persuaded to cooperate in the introduction of a multi-racial social order," Kennedy explained.

THIRD VIEWPOINT: The commercial sector of settlers grew "dramatically" in the post-war years, Kennedy continues, and while they were less paternalistic than the liberals mentioned in previous paragraphs, they sought to "transform Kenya into a society ordered along class rather than…… [Read More]

U S Foreign Affairs Since 1898

Proctor does not merely repeat of make empty allegations that horrific violations are occurring in Cuba upon the natives at the hands of the Spaniards. He has witnessed these abuses with is own eyes on an observational visit, where he went as a skeptic, with, in his own words, "a strong conviction that the picture had been overdrawn," regarding the terrible conditions of the Cuban populace. (Proctor, 1898)

Proctor came back to the United States convinced that, more so than the destruction of the Maine, the barbarities inflicted by the Spanish forces cry out for United States intervention. ("March 17, 1898: Senator Proctor's Visit to Cuba," 1999, Crucible of Empire: PBS Online) In his words, "if our people could see a small fraction of the need, they would pour more 'freely from their liberal store' than ever before for any cause." (Proctor, 1998)

The call of the advocates of intervention is often to remember the U.S.S. Maine -- but remember more than the Maine, remember our own history and our human rights obligation to other persons, located in this same region of the world as our own. Today, no longer a minor actor upon the world stage, we are a…… [Read More]

Terrorism in Yemen and IT's

Yemenite terrorism influences U.S. sentiments as regards terrorism, considering that Americans are greatly affected through knowing that the concept should not necessarily be related to particular countries or motives and that the authorities are virtually helpless in their struggle to eliminate it.

According to experts, Yemen is one of the countries that stand as a safe place for terrorists world-wide. However, experts have failed to observe that a terrorist does not necessarily need to receive training in the Arab Peninsula in order for him or her to represent a real threat to the U.S. One of the best examples regarding this is the fact that most of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were instructed in Europe and in the U.S. (Katulis, 2010).

Even with the fact that Yemen was not one of the central points in the Arab Peninsula considered to have connections to Al Qaeda, matters gradually changed and it appears that the country is presently similar to Afghanistan and Iraq when concerning each state's potential to generate terrorist threats. Yemen-based terrorists have previously shown interest in attacking Western countries. One of the most important Al Qaeda members who were considered to have been in charge of…… [Read More]

Women in American History Women

It also sought to stop the Atlantic slave trade between those three continents. It has also been referred to as the anti-slavery movement. As a result of the abolitionist movement, slavery was abolished in Europe and America by the last half of the 19th century. Africa finally stopped the practice of slavery by the first quarter of the 20th century.

Women's Contribution

Women, both white and black, made enormous contributions to the abolitionist movement.

Ann Yearsley, Hannah More, Susan B. Anthony, Julia Ward Howe, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances Ellen Watkins, and many others worked against the enslavement of other human beings. While the white women used their status, money and freedom to work against slavery and help the black women to "find their voices," the black women could tell eye-opening stories of their own experiences to elicit sympathy and support.

In the early years of the movement, women were not really activists because of their perceived "private" role in a male-dominated society. Then, as the movement gained some popularity, stories and poems regarding the ills and evils of slavery began to appear.

By 1825, the first women's anti-slavery societies began to appear. There was opposition to…… [Read More]

War Broke Out in 1756

The Seven Years War saw Britain established as the greatest colonial power, with control over India and North America seemingly secured, while Prussia emerged as the greatest power on the Continent, and the dominant force inside Germany, reducing still further the power of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Austria. Frederick II of Prussia (the Great) emerges as the most remarkable leader of the war. Prussia was the smallest of the main combatants, and yet Frederick survived year after year of campaigning, and despite coming near to defeat he emerged triumphant (Richard).

Histories of the American Revolution tend to start in 1763, the end of the Seven-Year's War, a worldwide struggle for empire that pitted France against England in North America, Europe, and Asia. Fred Anderson, who teaches history at the University of Colorado, takes the story back a decade and explains the significance of the conflict in American history. Demonstrating that independence was not inevitable or even at first desired by the colonists, he shows how removal of the threat from France was essential before Americans could develop their own concepts of democratic government and defy their imperial British protectors. Of great interest is the importance of Native Americans…… [Read More]

Mccarthy Blacklists the Influence of

And the costs...! Our meager savings, which would keep us for a couple of years in Mexico, " (Rouberol, Jean 2000)

So the influence of the McCarthy era and the black lists on literature was mixed. While we certainly lost the possible output of many talented writers who were young and unknown at the time, and who never recovered, so they just faded from the scene. Some people could not stand the pressure, so they testified and named names as required. Most were eventually forgiven by the community. Some, like Clifford Odets, never forgave themselves. The House Unamerican Activities Committee managed to restrain literature for a while, but more literature was created as a reaction to these purges, including Arthur Miller's The Crucible. There are those who claim that we have never fully recovered as a nation, but I believe the Internet has supplied the tools which have finally freed us from the censors.… [Read More]

Parthenon Was an Architectural Achievement

g., the finding last year at Athens of the hand of Zeus of the east pediment)" the Parthenon continues to yield intellectual fruit through archeological excavation and discovery (Bruno xiv). As age replaces age with new speculations, scholars reappraise this epic piece of architecture, for "speculations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are already mostly out of date, and original source materials are rare" (Bruno xiv). What historians do, as a rule, have to go on are the stories preserved by Plutarch, who reflects a "spirit that undoubtedly prevailed at Athens as a plan took shape to reconstruct the sanctuary which had been left in ruins by the Persians" (Bruno xiv). This plan was so Athenian to the core that even (as Plutarch mentions) the animals seemed to throw their very being into the operation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Greek architecture has produced some of the world's finest marvels, and was especially brilliant during the rule of Pericles in the Golden Age of Greece. Greek architecture employed a wide variety of tricks to keep its temples from seeming top heavy and to make them aesthetically pleasing to the eye. They were also masters of acoustics (as evidenced by their amphitheaters) and…… [Read More]

William Hearst

William Randolph Hearst, Sr.

Shortly after being expelled from Harvard, William Hearst acquired his first newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, from his father. In 1895, eight years later, Hearst purchased the New York Morning Journal and entered into a fierce competition for circulation dominance with Joseph Pulitzer, who owned the New York World newspaper. In order to make their stories more sensational and therefore increase readership and circulation numbers, both newspapers greatly exaggerated and distorted their reporting. At approximately this same time, Hearst began using color in a comics series called "The Yellow Kid." The yellow dye stained the pages, and the stain as well as the stain of fabricated journalism became known as "yellow journalism."

According to PBS, Hearst understood that "a war with Spain over Cuba would not only sell newspapers, but also move him into a position of national prominence" (PBS para. 6). Both Hearst and Pulitzer continually agitated the public with false accounts, and at one time claimed that a quarter of the population of Cuba had died under the Spanish colonialism (Freidel, p. 590). According to the New York Times, "he took credit for America's declaration of war against Spain in 1898" (Kennedy, para 4).…… [Read More]

Mccarthyism at a Speech in

President Eisenhower and his diplomats also chose to stop talking about the defeat of communism and instead focus on peaceful measures aimed at ending the "Cold War." And as the years passed, any attack on liberal thought which echoed "McCarthyism" automatically implied a paranoid and dysfunctional view of reality and placed the attacker in jeopardy. Congressionally, most of the members, both conservative and liberal, Republican and Democrat, considered the McCarthy era closed by the late 1950's despite several unpleasant episodes such as the Wherry Resolution (an attempt to stop Truman from sending troops to Europe or anywhere else without congressional approval) and the Bricker Amendment (aimed at preventing the "sellouts" of American interests during international summits like Yalta and Potsdam). As the 1960's came of age, the "Cold War" dragged on and the ramblings of Joe McCarthy faded away and were quickly replaced with the Cuban Missile Crisis and then Vietnam.… [Read More]

American Interventionism

U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

American Foreign Policy from 1890 to 1930

From neutrality to intervention

Early on in American history, President George Washington advised Americans not be become embroiled in foreign conflicts. However, at the end of the 19th century, it became increasingly difficult for America to remain isolated from the issues affecting its neighbors abroad. The period from 1890-1930 was characterized by a far more expansionist American foreign policy than had been the case before. Although this policy was often defended by the notion that the U.S. was making the world safe for democracy, self-interest rather than idealism was usually the real motivating force.

A good, early example of this in Latin America can be found in the form of the Spanish-American War (1898) which eventually resulted in the U.S. acquiring territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. Spain's repression of the Cuban pro-independence movement combined with the sinking of the Maine (sent to protect U.S. residents in the region) generated popular support for intervention ("Spanish-American War," 2015). Many called the Spanish-American War the first example of how 'yellow journalism' could fundamentally change the course of American foreign policy. "From Cuba, [William Randolph] Hearst's star reporters wrote stories designed…… [Read More]

Web Du Bois

WEB DuBois

Outline of Critique of W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk

Collective Nature of the Work

Black Spirituals as Thematic Introductions

Black Spirituals as conveyors of historical record

Black Spirituals as oral tradition

Truth Telling

Assassination of Booker T. Washington and others who agree with him

Capitulation to society as it is, rather than the way it should be for blacks

DuBois, is one of the greatest African-American thinkers, oraters and writers of history. His works are often bold assassinations of the development of the Black, former slave class in the U.S., through periods were they repeatedly faced bold and subtle racism but were simultaneously expected to be successful, because laws were, "better than they used to be." DuBois' work The Souls of Black Folk, though constituent of several divergent essays is to many the source and center of nearly all his messages regarding the truth telling that needs to be done, in history to properly place the plight of Blacks into the context and even to some extent the present. According to the editor of the W.E.B. DuBois reader, which republished the whole of The Souls of Black Folks in its pages, the work's purpose is "to…… [Read More]