The Crucible Essay
Possible Essay Topics for The Crucible
1. Which character in the play best exemplifies courage and integrity, and in what ways?
2. The causes of the witch-craft hysterias include many things: vengeance, jealousy, greed, power (the formerly powerless accusers suddenly gained total power), sexual repression, guilt and shame and the need to confess one’s sins, the need to blame others for one’s own misfortunes ... pick a character who sees and recognizes all these true motives and argue that of all the play’s characters, this character demonstrates the most insight into the root causes of the hysteria and also into human nature. Consider: Proctor, Hale, Rebecca Nurse.
3. A more highly evolved thinker is someone who can, in part, transcend dichotomies (or, Dualism, a simple way of dividing the world into paired opposites, such as black-white, night-day, good-evil). Which character, of all of the characters in the play, comes closest to being able to see beyond simplistic, Dualistic thinking? Consider: Proctor, Elizabeth, Martha and Giles Corey, Reverend Hale.
4. Argue that if the vast majority of Puritans in Salem had not had a Dualistic way of viewing the world—that is, they all transcended dichotomous ways of thinking—that the witchcraft trials would never have happened. Do this by showing how central their Dualistic way of viewing the world was to the witch-hunts and trials.
5. Redemption is a common theme of a lot of religious, particularly Christian, stories and Christian-influenced cultures. Which characters in the play seek redemption, and how do they go about it? Who actually finds it? (Redemption is when someone has done something bad, and atones for, or makes up for, the bad stuff to ‘redeem’ their soul, or character, to make themselves—if not pure—at least, better than they were, to ‘balance the scales’ again). Bear in mind that confession is a huge part of the process of redemption for many Christians, but that the Puritans
1. Which character in the play best exemplifies courage and integrity, and in what ways?
2. The causes of the witch-craft hysterias include many things: vengeance, jealousy, greed, power (the formerly powerless accusers suddenly gained total power), sexual repression, guilt and shame and the need to confess one’s sins, the need to blame others for one’s own misfortunes ... pick a character who sees and recognizes all these true motives and argue that of all the play’s characters, this character demonstrates the most insight into the root causes of the hysteria and also into human nature. Consider: Proctor, Hale, Rebecca Nurse.
3. A more highly evolved thinker is someone who can, in part, transcend dichotomies (or, Dualism, a simple way of dividing the world into paired opposites, such as black-white, night-day, good-evil). Which character, of all of the characters in the play, comes closest to being able to see beyond simplistic, Dualistic thinking? Consider: Proctor, Elizabeth, Martha and Giles Corey, Reverend Hale.
4. Argue that if the vast majority of Puritans in Salem had not had a Dualistic way of viewing the world—that is, they all transcended dichotomous ways of thinking—that the witchcraft trials would never have happened. Do this by showing how central their Dualistic way of viewing the world was to the witch-hunts and trials.
5. Redemption is a common theme of a lot of religious, particularly Christian, stories and Christian-influenced cultures. Which characters in the play seek redemption, and how do they go about it? Who actually finds it? (Redemption is when someone has done something bad, and atones for, or makes up for, the bad stuff to ‘redeem’ their soul, or character, to make themselves—if not pure—at least, better than they were, to ‘balance the scales’ again). Bear in mind that confession is a huge part of the process of redemption for many Christians, but that the Puritans