english coursework
English Coursework
The Crucible
The Crucible
By Arthur Miller
‘Which characters in The Crucible most attract our sympathy? By what means does Miller influence our response to these characters as the play develops?’
The Crucible was written in a difficult period of time when in America the government was burly tracking communists as the enemies of the state. The play reflects this period but in the way a parable can apply to any period. A. Miller was also interrogated for sympathising with ideology and had friends who belonged to the communist party he was certainly experiencing how the law can be manipulated and perverted. He couldn’t have written a play that would openly refer to his own life.
The Crucible was certainly parallel to Miller’s circumstances, when Giles Corey forbids giving the names of those friends. Miller set The Crucible in the Salem community, which was deeply religious and strict about their beliefs. Although strictly religious were many grudges held among the members against other members, which led to witch hunts. There are many themes we can tell in the play namely, rising over adversity and standing for truth, the frantic hysteria of the mob; hysteria supplants logic, it suspends the rules of daily life, it thrives because people benefit from it and most importantly intolerance: as moral and state laws are the same in theocracy, sin and status of an individual’s soul are the public concern; dissent is unlawful and all must conform – can be only with God or with the devil and the dissent is the satanic activity and must be removed to heal the community.
One of the main themes in The Crucible is intolerance. This is extremely important to the message that the play is trying to portray; intolerance must be removed to 'heal' the community and to make society a better place. This reflects the people of Salem of the resentment, feuds and rivalries: Abigail has a grudge against Elisabeth Proctor: Parris, paranoid and
The Crucible
The Crucible
By Arthur Miller
‘Which characters in The Crucible most attract our sympathy? By what means does Miller influence our response to these characters as the play develops?’
The Crucible was written in a difficult period of time when in America the government was burly tracking communists as the enemies of the state. The play reflects this period but in the way a parable can apply to any period. A. Miller was also interrogated for sympathising with ideology and had friends who belonged to the communist party he was certainly experiencing how the law can be manipulated and perverted. He couldn’t have written a play that would openly refer to his own life.
The Crucible was certainly parallel to Miller’s circumstances, when Giles Corey forbids giving the names of those friends. Miller set The Crucible in the Salem community, which was deeply religious and strict about their beliefs. Although strictly religious were many grudges held among the members against other members, which led to witch hunts. There are many themes we can tell in the play namely, rising over adversity and standing for truth, the frantic hysteria of the mob; hysteria supplants logic, it suspends the rules of daily life, it thrives because people benefit from it and most importantly intolerance: as moral and state laws are the same in theocracy, sin and status of an individual’s soul are the public concern; dissent is unlawful and all must conform – can be only with God or with the devil and the dissent is the satanic activity and must be removed to heal the community.
One of the main themes in The Crucible is intolerance. This is extremely important to the message that the play is trying to portray; intolerance must be removed to 'heal' the community and to make society a better place. This reflects the people of Salem of the resentment, feuds and rivalries: Abigail has a grudge against Elisabeth Proctor: Parris, paranoid and