Religion in ‘The Crucible’: the Perils of Extremism and the Quest for Integrity

Hysteria in Salem: Unraveling Collective Fear and Miller's Commentary on Human Nature

The 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about Salem witchcraft, and the author of this play, Arthur Miller, wrote it even though he was not living at this period of time. He wrote this play to compare it to the Red Scare and how it affected him since he was a communist supporter and was investigated during the red scare. The play shows how the whole court was against the witch trial, and people were being hanged because they got accused.

The Crucible has many different themes that represent the main idea of the play. Some of these themes are Reputation, Intolerance, and Hysteria. These themes will be seen in this essay, and it will also talk about how different perspectives would view it.

A prominent theme in The Crucible is hysteria. This theme is demonstrated in the book at several points, for example, when Abigail accuses Tituba of making them do the dance in the forest. Another example is when she blames Marry for doing witchcraft and says that they had seen her spirit attack them at night and in court when the girls and Abby acted like marries spirit was a yellow bird that wanted to destroy their faces and take their beauty away. The portrayal of this theme in the book tells the reader about Miller’s worldview of humanity. Miller intended this portrayal to show that humans will believe in anything.

Religion in The Crucible: Abigail's Hysteria and Proctor's Quest for Reputation

In the novel, Abigail represents hysteria because she is the one that breaks everyone's heart because of the accusation that she made. Miller’s portrayal of hysteria is manifest in Abigail when she tries to threaten Danforth because she wants John Proctor to stop exposing her lies. In the part of the play when Abigail says 'let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about 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!!!” it shows that she is threatening the girls to scare them. When reading about Abigail, the reader should feel bad for her because she is just an evil, selfish person who only worries about herself. Abigail is portrayed in the play as an antagonist and in the aftermath of Millar’s massage because an antagonist is a negative person; therefore, Abigail is represented as a substandard person in the play.

A main theme of The Crucible is reputation one character in this play that cares about his reputation is john proctor; when he is trying to help marry tells the truth in court and shows the judge that there is no such thing as witchcraft and that Abby and her friends are lying about everyone. But Mary gets scared of Abby and tells the judge that Proctor is also part of the witchcraft thing that is going around in Salem; Proctor denies it and says that he won't be sorry for something he did not do and that he won't backstab his innocent friends, but he will die telling the truth and protecting his name.

Reputation and Intolerance: Proctor's Dilemma and the Court's Blind Faith

In this play, the Proctor represents reputation because he cares about his image and his family's image. The court told him that if he confessed to witchcraft, he would not be hanged and that he would be able to see his unborn child. But he denies it when they say that the papers of his confession will be on the walls. One quote he said is, ¨Because it's my name because I can not have another in my life!¨ this shows how he represents reputation.

Another theme in the play is intolerance. The court represents intolerance; they are all against witchcraft. They hang people that get accused even though they don't know the truth if the person is actually witchcraft or not. They fall for Abby's false accusation all the time and think that they are protecting their religion, kids, and Salem.

Abby's Deception and the Conservative Stance on Witchcraft

One person that is mainly in the court that represents intolerance is Abby. She tells the court how people in Salem were dancing and doing witchcraft. She cried hysterically and acted like she was attacked by evil spirits along with her friends and that the devil was taking over all the good religious people in Salem and no one would be on god's side anymore. Everyone would go to hell. She also threatened johns wife because she wanted them to be apart so that she could be with john proctor. In court, when John tells the truth about him and Abby, she tells the court that she loves god and would never commit a bad sin. One quote that shows she is a backstabbing liar is.“ she comes to me every night to go and drink blood.” this shows how she gets away with everything and blames others for her mistakes.

Conservatives that would read this play would think that it is a good play. They are against those who do not follow the rule of government; in their country, they want one religion to be followed and one culture. They would think that it is good to hang the people that don't confess to witchcraft and that don't turn to god for help. In the book, the court is conservative. They hang those who do not confess to witchcraft. They would also look down on those who are absent during church on Sundays. So I think conservatives would enjoy this book very much.

Varied Perspectives: Liberals, John Proctor, and Christian Interpretations

If a liberal would read this play, they would definitely hate it. They would want the government to give people their freedom. To believe in anything they want to believe and to have a cultural change. They would hate for all those people to get hanged for no reason.

They would want people to be living their life as they want and not to be judged by others. In the play, John is a liberal. He does not go to church often because he does not think it is that important to go to church because it does not change what he believes in at the end of the day.

If Christians were to read this play, I think that they would like it. They would want everyone to be a good Christian. They would want the government to be in control of everything. And if anyone were against it or they broke a rule, they would be punished. I think that Christians would also like their culture not to change. This is why I think Christians would very much like this play.

Religion's Grip: Evaluating The Crucible's Themes in a Modern Context

The author's overall message is that religion is controlling. The author is showing a message when he says that people get judged when they do not attend church, and they are considered bad. Another message he says in the play is that people get hanged just for not confessing. The message is not relevant today. People have different beliefs and have the right to do that. The government does not go after people for stupid things anymore. People are not judgemental towards others.

The 1953 play The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a really good play. It shows how the world was different and all the different things people faced during their time. It also compares to his life in a way when he was part of the red scare. If I could change one thing, it would be the part when John and his friends get hanged because they do not deserve it.

References

1. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Classics, 2003.

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