The Crucible

A detailed Summary of The Crucible

It was with ardent horror that the prehistoric man first witnessed a solar eclipse---the sun swallowed by the predator moon until all light ceased and darkness fell on to the land. We, the more enlightened descendants, have also suffered eclipses. One such eclipse was the darkness of evil that fell upon Salem in 1692, when many men and women were accused of compacting with the Devil. These charges were what snowballed into the huge misfortune known as the "Salem Witch Trials." The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play based upon these witch trials, in which John Proctor, a prominent member of their Puritan community, falls into the hurricane of the accusations. Not willing to blacken his name, John hangs for not confessing to compacting with the Devil. When John destroys his untruthful confession, he condemns himself to die and by doing so becomes a true symbol of tragedy.

John Proctor, a respected and followed Puritan, although an adulterer, became one of the most afflicted men in Salem when vengeance was sought upon his wife. Abigail Williams envied Elizabeth, John's beloved wife, when John ended their affair. Abigail accused Elizabeth of sending he

Miller provides insight for the reader of The Crucible as he exposes the many failings that are within his characters. The trials of Salem are not based upon moral or religious issues, but primarily on personal motivations. The Putnams and Abigail accuse many for their own personal gains while Reverend Parris hides behind religion as he supports them. We can note that all these characters are after the same goal. They concern themselves over issues and possessions that exist in their world. The worst aspect of human relations result from these trials. Although the actions in the book may not have truly taken place, many people fell victim to the horrific consequences of the real trials. The characters within The Crucible struggled with their status in society as did the real people of Salem. Their behavior shows what will happen if we succumb to our desires without realizing the moral wrong that we may subject to others and ourselves. In order to prevent that possibility, we should recognize the consequences of our actions before it becomes too late to do anything. Miller exhibits his understanding of human nature by revealing these characters to our face and forcing us to watch as they warp their values and ideals to uphold the acceptance of this behavior. As The Crucible is read, people are forced to see how wrong it is to place the value material things over the price of a human's life; and by knowing this, hopefully people will start to discover these aspects within themselves, and will gain the courage to change.

Finally, we discover the flaws of many characters as they value self-preservation over moral and religious concerns. Although Reverend Parris heads the church of Salem, he exhibits other motives when the trials begin. He cries to Danforth, "There is danger for me..." Parris' real motive for conducting the trial is to improve his image in Salem. As soon as he discovers the town's dissent, he retreats and urges the court to halt the trials. Throughout the play he tries to preserve his good image. To Parris, the witch trials are not a religious cleansing, but a personal boost of esteem and importance. To prove her innocence by pleading to God , Abigail saves herself by accusing others of witchcraft before she can be accused. She confesses, "She made me do it! She made Betty do it!" Abigail lies saying that Tituba forced her to perform the barbaric acts in the woods. She uses her status to her advantage and hides behind the veil of religion and salvation as she accuses various people of witchcraft. The strings of trials all result from her attempts at gaining support of the town. Loosing sight of morality and hiding behind religion, Abigail tries anything to save herself from punishment.

r spirit out to stab her with a needle so that Elizabeth would be either hung or jailed. By pushing Elizabeth out of John's life, Abigail thought that John would rediscover his love for her. In an attempt to save his wife's life, he pressures his maidservant, Mary Warren, to confess that the groups of girls crying "witchery" were faking. When Abigail breaks Mary's confession by scaring her publicly, Mary turns and accuses John of coming to her in the night and threatening her for her life if she did not save Elizabeth. John, being accused of witchery, had no choice but to be jailed and hung in order to further cleanse the country of evil. On the day of John's hanging, Min

Some common words found in the essay are:
Reverend Parris, Arthur Miller, John Proctor, Proctor God, Giles Putnam, Elizabeth Proctor, Betty Abigail, John Whatever, Rebecca Nurse, Character Sketch, john proctor, arthur miller, witch trials, moral religious, abigail accused elizabeth, goody putnam's, crucible written, scare 1952, communist scare, written arthur miller, written arthur, crucible written arthur, salem witch, communist scare 1952, salem witch trials,

Approximate Word count = 2307
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English