Crucible

Crucible


Fear in The Crucible
The Crucible is an intense play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, set during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible not only tells the story of the witch trials, and the events surrounding them, but also contains hidden meanings that ridicule the absurdity of McCarthyism, a 1950’s movement designed to stop the spread of communism, which dominated the lives of many Americans at the time this play was written. In the following, I will suggest that fear, specifically fear of death and fear of a tarnished reputation, is so deeply embedded in the hearts of the characters in The Crucible that it is the main cause and motivator for everything that happens in the play. This argument will be demonstrated through an analysis of instances of those types of fear in action throughout the play. Prior to beginning this analysis, a brief synopsis of the text is offered here.
The Crucible opens up in Salem, Massachusetts as Betty Parris, the daughter of the town minister Reverend Parris, lies sick in bed. When the play revelas that Ruth Putnam, daughter of another important town figure, Thomas Putnam, also lies sick in bed, rumors of witchcraft begin to arise. In Act Two, the witchcraft ideas start to manifest as a group of ill- intentioned girls led by Abigail Williams, begin to falsely accuse other people of witchcraft. Included among the accused is Elizabeth Proctor, wife of the protagonist of the play, John Proctor. Many innocent people are taken to court and condemned to hang for “committing witchcraft”, while those who weren’t accused stood in the shadows, fearful of being accused as well. Some people even begin to “confess” to witchcraft before being sentenced to hang, effectively saving their lives. However, John Proctor, along with a few other men, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse, stand up to the court and try to prove that the girls are lying. However, things turn out bad for these men as they too are accused of witchcraft and both...

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