Overview-The+Crucible

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· “Belonging”, or fitting into a group/environment and be part of something is integral to human existence and brings more meaning to one’s life · “Belonging” is feeling comfortable with the people you interact with and the environment you are in. · The play examines pressures to belong to society, the negative aspects of belonging and the repercussions of the choice not to belong. · Miller allegorises his own American society using 1694 Salem.  ‘The Crucible’ presents the Salem witch trials, written in response to the investigation of un-American activities held by Senator McCarthy. Miller intended to highlight the similarities between the two events, just as Puritans accused each other of being witches and consorting with the devil as an excuse to eliminate personal and political rivals, Americans were accusing others of being communists to eliminate their own enemies. · “The Crucible” operates on the assumption that all humans want to belong. Salem society is strongly repressive and strict, a Puritan society. Christianity holds these people in check and we quickly come to understand that this is a strict Christianity based on a literal reading of the Bible. This reading includes a very real belief in the existence of the Devil. · In Salem, the Church and the legal system work together, known as a “theocracy”. In a sense, belonging is enforced in Salem. Everyone has the same beliefs and conforms to the same social values. · When the audience first enters the world of Salem it appears to be a close-knit community based on belonging. · The opening scene introduces the main characters and the tension of the play. As the curtain rises the audience is directly plunged into the tension as we see and inert Betty on her bed with her father frantically praying at her bedside. We soon come to realise that all is not as it seems. It is their religious beliefs and rules that everyone in Salem agrees on and this should unify them. But it doesn’t. Basic Christian values have been distorted. The very embodiment of God’s word in the town is battling off accusations that his daughter is suffering the effects of contact with the devil. Rev Parris does not exhibit Christian values. He is selfish and insecure in his position. He covets things like gold candlesticks and has alienated members of the congregation. He preaches “hell fire and damnation” and never mentions God · Parris shows no concern for the condition of his daughter- all he cares about is how her condition and the rumours could be bad for his reputation. His insistent, even hysterical tone in the opening scene indicates this to the audience. Rev Parris’ paranoia starts the witch hunting. Miller tells us “He believed he was being persecuted wherever he went, despite his best efforts to win people and God to his side.” Early in the play he tells Abigail “There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit.” · Rev Parris, a leader of the Puritan society, is introduced in a negative light. In his introductory interpolation(“interruptions”), Miller tells us, “There is little good to be said of Parris” and “in history he cut a villainous path”. Using these interpolations, Miller is able to criticise his characters before they even enter the dialogue. · Barely halfway through Act 1 and the audience can see that, although Salem is supposed to be a place of general belonging, there is something else under the surface. · Audience discovers that a group of girls have been found dancing in the woods. Miller uses dramatic irony to heighten the audience’s awareness of the true cause of the subsequent events in Salem. The audience is able to more critically assess the impact of the accusations, knowing that they are based on the fear of punishment felt by the young girls rather than the real existence of witchcraft. This, of course, makes Miller’s point about the Communist scare in his time. · Dramatic irony allows the audience to more accurately assess Abigail’s character and behaviour/motives. We are more inclined to see the injustice of what is going on in court. We see Abigail as manipulative and selfish, and a good actress. · Dramatic irony is present in Act 1 when the girls are alone. From this scene the audience is made aware of what really happened in the woods. No other character in the play knows. · We come to understand that young, unmarried females have no status in Salem society, so it’s not surprising that they group together. This group exists because they are ostracised from society. The girls belong to the group as they cannot belong elsewhere. Further, there is no outlet for the self-expression. This pushes them together and encourages rebellion. Their actions give them respect. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The fact that the young people in the community are not respected and are denied an ability to participate in the life of the community is seen as the reason why this society is so susceptible to fall into abuse. Being forced to belong to a dominant religion and worship in a certain way is represented as a negative pressure by Miller. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Power of belonging for the girls is best demonstrated in Act 3 when Mary Warren, at Proctor’s insistence, goes to court to tell Danforth that it’s all pretence. Mary is trying to belong to the adult Salem society. By closely questioning Mary, Danforth effectively tries to bully her into once again changing her story. As he has executed some on the strength of the girls’ story, he cannot afford for the story to be unfounded.His investigation was “thorough”. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mary holds form to her story with Proctor’s support, until Abigail enters the scene. When Abigail “sees” the yellow bird, and then talks to it as though it is Mary, she is unable to resist the pressure of her peer group. The girls break her down with their chanting, repeating in unison everything she says. Eventually Mary turns on Proctor calling him “the devil’s man”. The strength of her commitment to her group is shown. Mary would rather lie about Proctor and see others hang than break with her group and be excluded. This is because this group offers her her only place of belonging. She is too young to be a member of the Salem community in any other way. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some argue that Salem society deserved the actions of the girls. They are the by-product of the strictness and hypocrisy of Salem. They wield so much power because of the superstitious beliefs that hold the theocracy together. Hale came looking for the devil and Abigail delivers. She avoids a whipping for dancing in the woods. · **__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Choosing not to belong __**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. We meet Proctor, a married man, in Act 1.Hw has had an affair with 17 year old Abigail Williams, and she is still in love with him. Miller’s use of stage directions creates empathy and bias towards the protagonist, and mistrust towards less laudable characters. Miller tells us that Proctor is a “worldly man” when his character is introduced, inviting his audience to side with his character. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Miller’s protagonist carries the authorial voice of his text, enabling Miller to use him to criticise his societies. He establishes Proctor as a pillar of truthfulness among a myriad of chaotic lies. Proctor is a man of great physical and emotional strength, who “hung the door on the church”. During the witch hunts, he serves as a “voice of reason” in this “world gone mad”. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Miller uses Proctor to embody his tragic view of the human condition. Proctor is a good man, with a fatal flaw, in a fundamentally alien and hostile society. Ironically it’s a society based on the highest moral and ethical principles. It’s through Proctor that this society is exposed: his isolation in it and his rising above it on matters of principle creates the tragedy’s greatest irony- the sinner is less sinful and less criminal than his religious and judicial superiors because he has integrity and a morality by which he lives and for which he is prepared to die. He will not sacrifice his integrity to live. It is his “name” which counts. “How can I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Abigail attempts to achieve adult status through her sexuality · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Proctor believes he is unworthy to belong because of his affair with Abigail. His sin, even when only Elizabeth knows about it makes him uncomfortable in terms of belonging in Salem society. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At end, Proctor belongs to his own values as he chooses truth over lies. When Proctor dies, symbolically alight goes out, but the fires of the crucible die away. It is a highly dramatic, theatrical touch that, after the harrowing drum roll, the final light of the play, the new sun of the morning, pours in on the place where he once stood. The light pours in on Elizabeth’s face giving hope for the future. The man who was engulfed and isolated has found by dying a freedom for him and others, and this brought back a light of sanity and reason to a world gone mad. Miller repeatedly refers to the presence of light entering the darkness of the rooms, symbolising humanity’s innate goodness. This establishes light and darkness as recurring motifs. · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The title used figuratively in the play explores the harsh, exacting test designed to transform the characters and expose their true identities, just as a crucible fuses or melts metals. Proctor as the protagonist, faces this test. He is plagued by guilt and cannot forgive himself. It’s not until he confronts the hellfire of the court that is destroying innocent people, and faces his own impending death, realising that he has courage, conviction and integrity, that he is able to have “his goodness”. Proctor chooses not to belong by failing to comply with the actions and demands of the majority. His refusal to name others reveals his humanity and his understanding of true communal belonging: “I have three children- how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Abigail juxtaposed with Elizabeth. Abigail’s love for John is selfish lust, while Elizabeth’s devotion is selfless to the point that she’s prepared to lie for him and allows him to find goodness and choose death at the end.

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