FREE ESSAY ON THE CRUCIBLE BY ARTHUR MILLER

THE CRUCIBLE BY ARTHUR MILLER

English - The Crucible by Arthur Miller 
The True Devils in Salem
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in
great detail. There are many theories as to why the witch trials came about, the
most popular of which is the girls' suppressed childhoods. However, there were other
factors as well, such as Abigail Williams' affair with John Proctor, the secret
grudges that neighbors held against each other, and the physical and economic differences
between the citizens of Salem Village. 
From a historical viewpoint, it is known that young girls in colonial Massachusetts were
given little or no freedom to act like children. They were expected to walk
straight, arms by their sides, eyes slightly downcast, and their mouths were to be shut
unless otherwise asked to speak. It is not surprising that the girls would find
this type of lifestyle very constricting. To rebel against it, they played pranks, such
as dancing in the woods, listening to slaves' magic stories and pretending that
other villagers were bewitching them. The Crucible starts after the girls in the village
have been caught dancing in the woods. As one of them falls sick, rumors start
to fly that there is witchcraft going on in the woods, and that the sick girl is
bewitched. Once the girls talk to each other, they become more and more frightened of
being accused as witches, so Abigail starts accusing others of practicing witchcraft. The
other girls all join in so that the blame will not be placed on them. In The
Crucible, Abigail starts the accusations by saying, I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand.
I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw
Bridget Bishop with the Devil! Another girl, Betty, continues the cry with, I saw George
Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil! *From here
on, the accusations grow and grow until the jails overflow with accused witches. It must
have given them an incredible sense of power when the whole town of
Salem listened to their words and believed each and every accusation. After all, children
were to be seen and not heard in Puritan society, and the newfound
attention was probably overwhelming. In Act Three of The Crucible, the girls were called
before the judges to defend themselves against the claims that they were
only acting. To prove their innocence, Abigail led the other girls in a chilling scene.
Abby acted as if Mary Warren sent her spirit up to the rafters and began to talk
to the spirit. Oh Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot
stop my mouth; it's God's work I do. The other girls all stared at the rafters
in horror and began to repeat everything they heard. Finally, the girls' hysterics caused
Mary Warren to accuse John Proctor of witchcraft. Once the scam started, it
was too late to stop, and the snowballing effect of wild accusations soon resulted in the
hanging of many innocents. 
After the wave of accusations began, grudges began to surface in the community. Small
slights were made out to be witchcraft, and bad business deals were blamed
on witchery. Two characters in The Crucible, Giles Corey and Thomas Putnam, argue early
on about a plot of land. Corey claims that he bought it from Goody
Nurse but Putnam says he owns it, and Goody Nurse had no right to sell it. Later, when
Putnam's daughter accuses George Jacobs of witchery, Corey claims that
Putnam only wants Jacobs' land. Giles says, If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his
property - that's law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so
great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land! Others also had hidden
motives for accusing their neighbors. Once the accusations began, everyone
had a reason to accuse someone else which is why the hangings got so out of hand. The
wave of accusations can be likened to mass hysteria, in which the people
involved are so caught up that they start having delusions of neighbors out to do them
harm. One of the main accusers, Abigail Williams, had an ulterior motive for
accusing Elizabeth Proctor. In The Crucible, Abigail believed that if she got rid of
Goody Proctor, then John Proctor, her husband, would turn to Abby. John
Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed
it to be true love. She told John that he loves her, and once she destroys
Elizabeth, they will be free to love one another. John is horrified at this, but can do
nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's
twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. It is the hidden motives
behind the accusations that fan the flames of the Salem witch trials.
To get the complete picture of the causes behind the witch trials, you must look at the
physical reasons as well. Two historians, Paul Boyer and Stephen
Nissenbaum, drew a map of Salem Village and plotted the accusers, the defendants, and the
accused witches. An interesting picture arose when a line was drawn
dividing the town into east and west. It became clear that nearly all the accusers lived
on the west side, and almost all the defenders and accused witches lived on the
east side. To determine the cause of the east-west split, the historians examined many
disputes, chief among them being the choice of ministers. Once Salem Village
was granted the right to have its own meeting house, quarrels arose over who would preach
in the pulpit. There were four ministers between the time period of when
the meeting house was built and the end of the witch trials. The arguments over ministers
soon became a power struggle. There were two factions that arose during
this dispute, and it was noted that one group supported two ministers while the other
group supported the other two ministers. Each group wanted to prove its
influence by choosing a minister and making him the spiritual guide to Salem Village. The
two groups were found to coincide closely with the east-west division.
When the economical divisions of the village were examined, it was found that in general
the western citizens of Salem Village lived an agrarian lifestyle and were
hard-pressed economically. The land on the western side was well-suited to farming and
grazing. By contrast, the villagers on the east side were mainly merchants
and lived fairly opulently. The road to Salem Town traveled through the east side of
Salem Village. Many innkeepers and tavern owners lived on this road and made
a good profit off all the travelers. Tension often arose between the two groups because
of their vastly different lifestyles
. 
It is not difficult to see why a catastrophe such as the Salem witch trials occurred.
Once one accusation was made, it was easy to release all the buried suspicions
and hatred into a wave of madness. The Crucible simplifies the cause to make for a better
story, but in reality the reasons for the witch craft accusations were much
more complex. The reasons behind the accusations would result in many more quarrels over
the years, but none as interesting or as horrifying as the Salem witch
trials. In such a straight-laced Puritan society, there lived many people with hidden
darkness in their hearts, and the Salem witch trials exposed and magnified the
consequences of those black desires. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the madness of the
Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. There are many theories as
to why the witch trials came about, the most popular of which is the girls' suppressed
childhoods. However, there were other factors as well, such as Abigail
Williams' affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors held against each
other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of
Salem Village. 
From a historical viewpoint, it is known that young girls in colonial Massachusetts were
given little or no freedom to act like children. They were expected to walk
straight, arms by their sides, eyes slightly downcast, and their mouths were to be shut
unless otherwise asked to speak. It is not surprising that the girls would find
this type of lifestyle very constricting. To rebel against it, they played pranks, such
as dancing in the woods, listening to slaves' magic stories and pretending that
other villagers were bewitching them. The Crucible starts after the girls in the village
have been caught dancing in the woods. As one of them falls sick, rumors start
to fly that there is witchcraft going on in the woods, and that the sick girl is
bewitched. Once the girls talk to each other, they become more and more frightened of
being accused as witches, so Abigail starts accusing others of practicing witchcraft. The
other girls all join in so that the blame will not be placed on them. In The
Crucible, Abigail starts the accusations by saying, I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand.
I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw
Bridget Bishop with the Devil! Another girl, Betty, continues the cry with, I saw George
Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil! *From here
on, the accusations grow and grow until the jails overflow with accused witches. It must
have given them an incredible sense of power when the whole town of
Salem listened to their words and believed each and every accusation. After all, children
were to be seen and not heard in Puritan society, and the newfound
attention was probably overwhelming. In Act Three of The Crucible, the girls were called
before the judges to defend themselves against the claims that they were
only acting. To prove their innocence, Abigail led the other girls in a chilling scene.
Abby acted as if Mary Warren sent her spirit up to the rafters and began to talk
to the spirit. Oh Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot
stop my mouth; it's God's work I do. The other girls all stared at the rafters
in horror and began to repeat everything they heard. Finally, the girls' hysterics caused
Mary Warren to accuse John Proctor of witchcraft. Once the scam started, it
was too late to stop, and the snowballing effect of wild accusations soon resulted in the
hanging of many innocents. 
After the wave of accusations began, grudges began to surface in the community. Small
slights were made out to be witchcraft, and bad business deals were blamed
on witchery. Two characters in The Crucible, Giles Corey and Thomas Putnam, argue early
on about a plot of land. Corey claims that he bought it from Goody
Nurse but Putnam says he owns it, and Goody Nurse had no right to sell it. Later, when
Putnam's daughter accuses George Jacobs of witchery, Corey claims that
Putnam only wants Jacobs' land. Giles says, If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his
property - that's law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so
great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land! Others also had hidden
motives for accusing their neighbors. Once the accusations began, everyone
had a reason to accuse someone else which is why the hangings got so out of hand. The
wave of accusations can be likened to mass hysteria, in which the people
involved are so caught up that they start having delusions of neighbors out to do them
harm. One of the main accusers, Abigail Williams, had an ulterior motive for
accusing Elizabeth Proctor. In The Crucible, Abigail believed that if she got rid of
Goody Proctor, then John Proctor, her husband, would turn to Abby. John
Proctor had an affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed
it to be true love. She told John that he loves her, and once she destroys
Elizabeth, they will be free to love one another. John is horrified at this, but can do
nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's
twisted plot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. It is the hidden motives
behind the accusations that fan the flames of the Salem witch trials.
To get the complete picture of the causes behind the witch trials, you must look at the
physical reasons as well. Two historians, Paul Boyer and Stephen
Nissenbaum, drew a map of Salem Village and plotted the accusers, the defendants, and the
accused witches. An interesting picture arose when a line was drawn
dividing the town into east and west. It became clear that nearly all the accusers lived
on the west side, and almost all the defenders and accused witches lived on the
east side. To determine the cause of the east-west split, the historians examined many
disputes, chief among them being the choice of ministers. Once Salem Village
was granted the right to have its own meeting house, quarrels arose over who would preach
in the pulpit. There were four ministers between the time period of when
the meeting house was built and the end of the witch trials. The arguments over ministers
soon became a power struggle. There were two factions that arose during
this dispute, and it was noted that one group supported two ministers while the other
group supported the other two ministers. Each group wanted to prove its
influence by choosing a minister and making him the spiritual guide to Salem Village. The
two groups were found to coincide closely with the east-west division.
When the economical divisions of the village were examined, it was found that in general
the western citizens of Salem Village lived an agrarian lifestyle and were
hard-pressed economically. The land on the western side was well-suited to farming and
grazing. By contrast, the villagers on the east side were mainly merchants
and lived fairly opulently. The road to Salem Town traveled through the east side of
Salem Village. Many innkeepers and tavern owners lived on this road and made
a good profit off all the travelers. Tension often arose between the two groups because
of their vastly different lifestyles. 
It is not difficult to see why a catastrophe such as the Salem witch trials occurred.
Once one accusation was made, it was easy to release all the buried suspicions
and hatred into a wave of madness. The Crucible simplifies the cause to make for a better
story, but in reality the reasons for the witch craft accusations were much
more complex. The reasons behind the accusations would result in many more quarrels over
the years, but none as interesting or as horrifying as the Salem witch
trials. In such a straight-laced Puritan society, there lived many people with hidden
darkness in their hearts, and the Salem witch trials exposed and magnified the
consequences of those black desires.