The Crucible Final Essay

Pragmatics and Cognition, 2018

Apart from the stylistic and cognitive studies which have already been done separately on Miller’sThe Crucible, this paper provides a new insight into the play and its system of characterization by integrating these approaches. To this end, the paper draws on Jonathan Culpeper’s cognitive stylistic theory of top-down and bottom-up processes in literary text comprehension and characterization. Based on this holistic framework, the paper takes advantage of such stylistic tools as speech acts, the Cooperative Principle and politeness theory to examine features of the language used by the characters Proctor and Danforth. In this regard, the article assimilates those linguistic elements with the embedded schemata within the play. Consequently, the study reveals that Proctor’s complex characterization does not coincide with the readers’ schema and thus they form their impression of his character based on piecemeal integration. On the other hand, Danforth’s character reinforces the readers...

In the period immediately following the end of World War II, American theatre was transformed by the work of playwright Arthur Miller. Miller tapped into a sense of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American psyche because he was profoundly influenced by the depression and the war that immediately followed it. His dramas proved to be both the conscience and redemption of the times; allowing people an honest view of the direction the country had taken.1 Miller has his own concept of tragedy as a modern playwright. He believes that tragedy may depict ordinary people in domestic surroundings instead of talking about a character from a high rank, a king or a queen. Miller’s main concern lies in dramatizing the whole man as he is part of a family and as he is part of a society. In this paper, The Crucible is going to be considered in detail as one of the major tragedies of Arthur Miller. Miller’s The Crucible is based on the events surrounding the 1692 witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. Miller used that event as an allegory for McCarthyism and the Red Scare, which was a period of time in which Americans were in fear of communism and the government blacklisted accused communists. The play was first performed on Broadway on January 22, 1953. The reviews of the first production were hostile, but a year later a new production succeeded and the play became a classic. The play in the present time is often studied in high schools and universities because of its status as a revolutionary work of theatre and as a document to political events of the 1950s. This play is regarded as one of the best plays of the modern age, due to its deep and captivating plot.2 Miller’s The Crucible is essentially a critique of McCarthyism and the communist scare of the 1950s. Miller saw the parallels between the witch hunts and the McCarthy trials, and found the witch trials to be a compelling vehicle for discussing modern events. The play is a great tragedy, but remains a tragedy for the modern times. The characters in this play suggest what Miller tries to show his readers the lessons from the witch hunts which still apply.3 After performing, the audience is convinced that this play remains relevant and powerful in the twenty-first century. This play can be related to the contemporary world events. It shows the willingness of human beings to blame anyone but themselves. It reinforces the belief that humans are not ready to take responsibility for their actions and would rather find a scapegoat. Miller went back to American history and dug up the records of the Salem witchcraft trails and created his own characters based on the few facts of “known behavior” of the persons involved. The result is a powerful indictment of mass hysteria and savage fury born of terror and superstition. In John Proctor, the tragic hero of The Crucible, Miller has created one of the few heroes of modern drama. A blunt, honest man, but neither an exceptionally good nor a complicated one, Proctor grows with the pressure of circumstances. Like most of Miller’s heroes, Proctor asks to preserve the honour of his name, his right to face himself and his children without apology. However, when a society has gone mad, such a simple reasonable desire makes a man on enemy of the state.4 This paper deals with Arthur Miller as a great playwright of tragedy. It consists of an introduction and two sections. The first section tackles Miller’s concept of tragedy and his view about the common man. Then, section two deals with The Crucible as Miller’s special tragedy and the conclusion reflects what is found out in this paper.

2010

2017

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is one of the most controversial American plays in the 20th century. Although it deals with the Salem witchcraft trials in the 17th century, Miller intended it as an allegory about McCarthyism and as a basis for the censure of political issues after WWII. Being aware of the readers’ acquaintance with the events of Salem witchcraft trials, Miller chose the 17th century historical context in such a way that the readers understand the political circumstances of their own time through equating those religious schemata with the political ones a couple of centuries later. This paper tries to shed light on the fact that the readers’ awareness of the political conditions of the time can be enhanced by their familiarity with religious conditions of the period of confrontation with witchcraft. To that end, the article addresses the historical context of The Crucible adopting a cognitive point of view. It subsequently distinguishes the opposing discourses (dominant...

2014

English Studies, 2018

Our analysis will radicalise the notion of frame, which has been used in the field of the humanities, especially in a semiotic sense but also as a replacement for the often-used term of "context". Arthur Miller, for one, was framed by Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. In response, Miller put his own point forward, the distance point-a point that organises perspective-of a theatrical play (The Crucible) whose power resides in the use of allegory against the political spectacle of its time. Theatre intervened in this case to confront the real life political theatre of the televised trials (a national spectacle) of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The historical narrative and the anecdote of the Salem processes of 1692 in the play simultaneously provide an appropriate metaphorical link and distance from the situation in Miller's present to strengthen his frame at two different levels.

Spectrum, Association of Christian Teachers, 1991

is widely proclaimed as a moral writer whose aim is to bring out the good in man rather than the bad. This is perhaps why his so-called moral plays, including The Crucible, have become standard reading in American High Schools and popular set-books for British G.C.S.E. candidates. Miller's plays are also on the reading list of most schools on the Continent and they are studied avidly in the English Departments of universities all over the world. Miller claims that The Crucible is the authentic story of the Salem Witch Trials held in Massachusets, New England in 1692. During these trials 150 suspects were imprisoned, twenty of whom were executed for committing crimes in the name of the Devil. The Crucible ought to be of interest to readers of this magazine for several reasons. Firstly, it is a play that many of our children will be confronted with at some time or other during their school or college days. Secondly, it is an attempt to come to grips with the problem of evil in man and to provide a solution to this problem. Thirdly, Miller puts the blame for much of the evil in American society at the feet of its founder Puritans and their successors whom he identifies with the right-wing enthusiasts of the McCarthian era. Fourthly Miller points the way to his idea of a 'free' but 'good' society in which a moral mentality fully opposed to Christian standards reigns.

International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation,, 2021

The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, was an adaptation of the Salem witch trials, which took place in the American province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692 and 1693. In the Crucible's play, all characters are all based on real people who lived in Salem. Although there are several similarities to our own time in the play, it is full of ideas and attitudes that were unique to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. To clearly understand the play, some knowledge of Salem is required. As a result, the following information discusses essential Puritan beliefs and customs, as well as history including its historical Salem witch trials. In particular, Miller's use of such Salem witch trials to critique upon this McCarthy trials in the 1950s discussed all these things throughout this paper.

IJELLH, 0

Witchcraft plays an important role in Arthur Millers' The Crucible. A negative character in the play justifies her action with the help of it. The situation is build up on the bases of Puritans' view, evidences are collected and case is filed. Millers' use of this technique is commendable.This work will help one to UNDERSTAND the serious reality on which the drama is build.

In its authentic depiction of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible is often considered the epitome of American Realism. Written during the era of McCarthyism however, evokes the question as to whether or not Arthur Miller had written the play with political intentions to critique American society of the 1950"s. This essay will thus answer the question: