Dramatic Irony in the Crucible
English 10, essay
The Crucible, option 2
In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller uses dramatic irony to create anxiety, frustration and to demonstrate the tension between the people about the lies of witchcraft in Salem.
I. The author creates tension in the story by using Abigail who accuses innocent people of witchery.
1.) Abigail wants Elizabeth to get hanged so she can be back with John again.
2.) Abigail turns herself against Mary Warren after she confessed in court.
II. The author creates anxiety in the story by making the court so powerful.
1.) If the court thinks you are a witch, you can’t defend yourself.
2.) The court believes the lies of Abigail which causes a lot of people to hang.
III. The author creates frustration in the story by the use of dramatic irony.
1.) The audience can’t help the characters.
2.) The audience knows what will end bad and what will end well.
In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller used dramatic irony to create anxiety and to demonstrate the tension between the people about the lies of witchcraft in Salem. Because of the use of dramatic irony the audience knows about everything that is going on, but the characters themselves do not. This is why so many innocent people in Salem get hanged. The judges and eventually the people of Salem fall for the lies of Abigail Williams and the girls. Dramatic irony in “The Crucible” is not only used for the false accusation, but also for many other things in the play.
It all starts with the girls in the woods. We know the girls were in the woods attempting to conjure spirits and that they were lying about what they were doing there. This leaves the other people in town clueless. Abigail threatened the girls that she would kill them if they told anyone about it. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” This creates anxiety because
The Crucible, option 2
In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller uses dramatic irony to create anxiety, frustration and to demonstrate the tension between the people about the lies of witchcraft in Salem.
I. The author creates tension in the story by using Abigail who accuses innocent people of witchery.
1.) Abigail wants Elizabeth to get hanged so she can be back with John again.
2.) Abigail turns herself against Mary Warren after she confessed in court.
II. The author creates anxiety in the story by making the court so powerful.
1.) If the court thinks you are a witch, you can’t defend yourself.
2.) The court believes the lies of Abigail which causes a lot of people to hang.
III. The author creates frustration in the story by the use of dramatic irony.
1.) The audience can’t help the characters.
2.) The audience knows what will end bad and what will end well.
In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller used dramatic irony to create anxiety and to demonstrate the tension between the people about the lies of witchcraft in Salem. Because of the use of dramatic irony the audience knows about everything that is going on, but the characters themselves do not. This is why so many innocent people in Salem get hanged. The judges and eventually the people of Salem fall for the lies of Abigail Williams and the girls. Dramatic irony in “The Crucible” is not only used for the false accusation, but also for many other things in the play.
It all starts with the girls in the woods. We know the girls were in the woods attempting to conjure spirits and that they were lying about what they were doing there. This leaves the other people in town clueless. Abigail threatened the girls that she would kill them if they told anyone about it. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” This creates anxiety because