 Thematic concerns of The Crucible.

A theme is a central topic that is addressed by a work of literature. Themes can

be expressed in many different ways. In the case of a play like The Crucible,
themes are revealed mainly through the dialogue of the characters. They're also
revealed though events in the plot. Themes tell us what the purpose of the work
is. What is the writer attempting to convey to the viewer? The Crucible's themes
are more or less universal to the human experience across time.
Intolerance:
The Crucible is set in a theocratic society, in which the church and the state are
one, and the religion is a strict, austere form of Protestantism known as
Puritanism. Because of the theocratic nature of the society, moral laws and state
laws are one and the same: sin and the status of an individual’s soul are matters
of public concern. There is no room for deviation from social norms, since any
individual whose private life doesn’t conform to the established moral laws
represents a threat not only to the public good but also to the rule of God and
true religion. In Salem, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the
devil; dissent is not merely unlawful, it is associated with satanic activity. This
dichotomy functions as the underlying logic behind the witch trials. As Danforth
says in Act III, “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against
it.” The witch trials are the ultimate expression of intolerance (and hanging
witches is the ultimate means of restoring the community’s purity); the trials
brand all social deviants with the taint of devil-worship and thus necessitate
their elimination from the community.
Hysteria:
Another critical theme in The Crucible is the role that hysteria can play in tearing
apart a community. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that
their neighbours, whom they have always considered upstanding people, are
committing absurd and unbelievable crimes—communing with the devil, killing
babies, and so on. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in
the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it
gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held
grudges. The most obvious case is Abigail, who uses the situation to accuse
Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and have her sent to jail. But others thrive on the
hysteria as well: Reverend Parris strengthens his position within the village,
albeit temporarily, by making scapegoats of people like Proctor who question
his authority. The wealthy, ambitious Thomas Putnam gains revenge on Francis
Nurse by getting Rebecca, Francis’s virtuous wife, convicted of the supernatural
murders of Ann Putnam’s babies. In the end, hysteria can thrive only because
people benefit from it. It suspends the rules of daily life and allows the acting
out of every dark desire and hateful urge under the cover of righteousness.
Reputation:
Reputation is tremendously important in theocratic Salem, where public and
private moralities are one and the same. In an environment where reputation
plays such an important role, the fear of guilt by association becomes
particularly pernicious. Focused on maintaining public reputation, the townsfolk
of Salem must fear that the sins of their friends and associates will taint their
names. Various characters base their actions on the desire to protect their
respective reputations. As the play begins, Parris fears that Abigail’s increasingly
questionable actions, and the hints of witchcraft surrounding his daughter’s
coma, will threaten his reputation and force him from the pulpit. Meanwhile,
the protagonist, John Proctor, also seeks to keep his good name from being
tarnished. Early in the play, he has a chance to put a stop to the girls’
accusations, but his desire to preserve his reputation keeps him from testifying
against Abigail. At the end of the play, however, Proctor’s desire to keep his good
name leads him to make the heroic choice not to make a false confession and to
go to his death without signing his name to an untrue statement. “I have given
you my soul; leave me my name!” he cries to Danforth in Act IV. By refusing to
relinquish his name, he redeems himself for his earlier failure and dies with
integrity.
Goodness:
In The Crucible, the idea of goodness is a major theme. Almost every character
is concerned with the concept of goodness, because their religion teaches them
that the most important thing in life is how they will be judged by God after they
die. They want to be found good, because being good will make them right with
God. Their neighbours’ opinion guides them, too. The characters want to be
seen as good by the whole village. From the opening of the play, when the Rev.
Parris is far more concerned with what his parishioners will think of him than his
daughter’s illness, this theme is clear. Parris bullies his niece and slave to get
them to reveal what they’ve done to tarnish his reputation. When Abigail follows
Tituba’s example by falsely confessing to witchcraft, she does so because she
sees an opportunity to convince the residents of Salem that she is a good person.
Other characters, such as Mary Warren, confess, because being seen as good is
more important to them than telling the truth.

Several characters’ concern over goodness goes beyond how they are seen and
requires that they actually examine what it means to be good. We see the
struggle in the Rev. Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor,. Hale enters the
play convinced he’s a good man who can spot a witch easily. By the end of the
play, he has examined his conscience and realized that if he wants to be at peace
with himself, he has to encourage the prisoners to falsely confess. Elizabeth is
also convinced of herself as a good woman, but by the end of the play, she has
reconsidered her treatment of her husband after he confessed to an affair, and
realizes that she was unforgiving. John struggles the most with goodness: it
takes signing a false confession, then ripping it up, for him to recognize that the
only way he can be good is by being honest and true to himself.
Judgment:
Another major theme in The Crucible is that of judgment, especially seen in the
characters of Danforth and Rev. Hale. In the third act of the play, Deputy
Governor Danforth sits in judgment over the accused and imprisoned residents
of Salem. Danforth’s judgments, which he is always firm and resolute about, are
clearly wrong: Elizabeth, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, and many others are not
witches at all. Danforth is unable to change his mind, even when all evidence
and logic points him towards concluding he is incorrect. Danforth mistakenly
believes that a reliable judge never reconsiders his stance. Hale, on the other
hand, Hale learns the foolishness of sitting in judgment over his fellow humans.
By the end of the play, he no longer cares about the official judgments of the
court of the land, only about saving peoples’ lives. Danforth has not learned the
danger of judging others, while Hale has.
Puritanism and Individuality:
Puritan society required that its members follow strict guidelines of social order.
An excessively strict social order also provides no outlet for personal grievances.
Over time, unvoiced resentments build up among individuals, primed to
explode. The witch trials depicted in The Crucible can be considered an attack
against individuality: those accused and convicted of witchcraft were mostly
people who prioritized their private thoughts and integrity above the will of the
community. The trials provided a legally sanctioned forum for the expression of
anger and grievance. If your neighbour once sold you a pig that died soon after
you bought it, and that neighbour stands accused of witchcraft, it seems only
natural to bring up the dead pig as possible evidence. The trials also gave people
like the Putnams the chance to voice their festering bitterness by accusing those
whom they had quietly resented for years.
Lies and Deceit:
Most of the characters in The Crucible are lying—if not to other people, then to
themselves. Abigail lies about her ability to see spirits, as do the other girls;
Proctor is deceitful first for cheating on his wife and then for hiding it; and the
judge and lieutenant governor and ministers lie to themselves and everybody
else in saying that they serve the cause of God’s justice. The twist in the story is
that by telling the truth (“I am not a witch”), you die, but you also gain your
freedom—that is, you retain your standing with God, and you become a martyr.
Supernatural:
The supernatural is real to the people in The Crucible. They see evidence of God
and evidence of the Devil everywhere. Yet nobody actually sees spirits—though
the girls claim they do. But the play makes it clear that they are pretending. Their
pretence may be a group psychological phenomenon, but in the world as the
reader understands it, if there is a Devil, he’s not in Salem: there are only
people—some good, some misled, some greedy, some jealous, some vengeful,
some evil.
There are many moments in the play when Miller makes the people of Salem
seem more stupid than was necessary for dramatic purposes. Even though Rev.
Hale starts out with a firm understanding of the supernatural, his knowledge is
based on books. In Salem, he learns that there is evil, but it is not necessarily
manifested in supernatural ways.
Jealousy:
Many of the characters are motivated by jealousy and greed in The Crucible.
Abigail is motivated by jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor; she wants Elizabeth to die
so she can marry John, Elizabeth’s husband. Thomas Putnam is motivated by
jealousy of other people’s property; he wants George Jacobs to die so he can get
his hands on a great piece of land. Little attention is devoted to the subject of
envy by any of the characters, even though it is the hidden force driving most of
the drama in town.
Abigail’s actions have no justification other than envy, pure and simple.
Although Abigail is jealous of Elizabeth Proctor, she is not the only source of evil
in the play. John Proctor’s deception during his affair with Abigail, when he made
a physical “promise” to her, is the source of the play’s conflict.
Ownership and Property:
In The Crucible, concerns over property and ownership affect many of the
decisions characters make. John Proctor reveals to Reverend Hale that he
doesn’t go to church because he doesn’t like Reverend Parris’s obsession with
money. Tituba falsely confesses to witchcraft because she knows, as a slave, she
is the legal property of Parris, who can beat her if she doesn’t confess. Mr.
Putnam, who has a long history of false accusations, encourages his daughter to
falsely accuse their neighbours of witchcraft so he can claim their property after
the neighbours are jailed or executed. Giles Corey dies rather than falsely
confess so that his children can inherit his land. In the new world of America,
owning property was one of the few ways people could feel secure. The
relentless ambition to own more and more land created an environment that
encouraged falsehoods and deception among neighbours. The extreme lengths
characters go to protect what they own leads to the witch trials.
Consequences:
John’s affair with Abby has ended by the time the events of the play begin, but
the consequences of that affair have just begun. Because Abby doesn’t believe
that John no longer is interested in her, she seizes upon accusations of witchcraft
as a way to get rid of Elizabeth. Because John allowed Abby to believe that he
loved her, she thinks she can take Elizabeth’s place as his wife. She’s wrong, but
doesn’t realize her error until both John and Elizabeth have been accused of
witchcraft. Another example of the unexpected consequences of one’s actions
can be seen in Tituba’s false confession. She says she performed witchcraft in
hopes of ending her master’s beating, but soon the girls of Salem realize that
they can punish many of their neighbours by accusing them. The girls fail to
anticipate the consequences of their lies. Giles Corey also brings about
unintended consequences when he tells Reverend Hale that his wife sometimes
hides books she was reading from him. The result of this revelation is that
Corey’s wife is imprisoned and Giles himself is accused of, and killed, for
witchcraft.