The Power of Authority

A detailed Summary of The Power of Authority


Authority is a power that has been shown through many different ways in history and in present day. In the play "The Crucible" Arthur Miller shows how the power of authority was shown in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600's. Throughout "The Crucible" Arthur Miller illustrates authority through the authority of the court in Salem, the authority of the Puritans church or religion, and how authority was shown through Judge Danforth.

Another way that the power of authority can be shown throughout the play is through the power of the court that ruled and decided who to be convicted as a witch. The people of Salem in the play had a "prodigious fear of the court in [there] country. (Hale pg.98)" The fact that they had a fear of the court showed that it had authority because of the fact that the people were all afraid of the court's power. During the play the court charged and jailed many citizens on the acquisitions of being witches or being associated with the devil. When the many people were jailed there were many "orphans wondering from house to house; abandoned cattle [bellowing] on the highroads; and the s


One way that the power of authority can be illustrated in the crucible is through the power of the church. The authority of the Puritan's conservative religion can be shown in several instances throughout the play. During the play the convicted witches could be dismissed of the charges is they "confessed [themselves] to witchery" because they would become blessed by god for admitting to the horrible sin in the Puritan religion. This shows the church had authority in the play because it shows that they can have to the power to say that witchery is a sin and they have the power to forgive the sinner of that sin. The entire Puritan religion and politics can show that the church has authority and power in Salem during the play. The reason they have power is because there whole political structure was based on the church, the church made the laws, which the people lived by, the church made the laws that let the people be killed for witchery in the play, and this demonstrate the church's authority. In the play all of the head judges of the church were all "ordained, therefore the light of god is in [them] (Hale pg.66

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Approximate Word count = 752
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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