Critical Response to The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free

Critical Response to The crucible by Arthur Miller EssayFrom its ominous opening, to its dad ending, The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a tactical manoeuvre driven by panic and desire, mirroring the McCarthy trials of the Communist hating 1950s. Though its set in 1692, the tone of the ply and the themes of superstition, madness, and done for(p) reputation were very prominently felt during 1953, when the play was published. The title, and the actual item of a crucible, suggests something seemingly immobile melting away under immense stress. The hard structure of society in puritanical the States and the spotless reputations of many good folk melt away to nothing in the fire of fear and trials caused by accusations of witchery. Miller uses the imagery of the crucible in the play also, in a quote from Mr. Danforth, We open fire a hot fire here, it melts down all concealment, though what ends up being revealed is the fear and intolerance that control their society.The protag onist, toilet Proctor, has before the opening if the play had and ended an affair with the Antagonist, Abigail Williams. In this telling of the commence of the witch trials, it is Abigails desire for revenge that leads the girls into the woods to perform a magic spell against Johns wife Elizabeth. It is dialog amongst Abigail and John, and later dialogue of the vindication of some of the girls, which reveals the affair mingled with them and Abigails deep desire to arrive at John back at any cost. John is attempting to right his wrong in the affair between himself and Abigail, but spurning her only causes more tension. When Abigail cannot easily win john back, and faces punishment for her actions in the woods, she turns the towns fear of witchcraft and the girls hysteria into her own device for revenge, at any cost. The playwright reveals the depth of his characters Abigails ruthlessness, Johns remorse, and Elizabeths faith, through dialogue. Parentheticals within the schoolb ook reveal tone and motivation behind simple words said, from emotion words such as enraged to the simple act of a character folding their hands or sitting. Miller has worked in these small gestures and nuances in his lines, giving each character a subtext.The characters change as the plot progresses, Abigail goes from dismissing the girls hysteria to using it for her own ends to nearly buying into it herself, beating and hurting herself convinced that what she is doing will win John back and save them both. We see Abigails maniacal conviction in her own motivations in the scene between her and John alone in the forest.Abigail is convinced John still wants her and will do anything, even impeach him of witchcraft in the end, to have John for herself and no one else. The conflict between Abigail and John mirrors the larger conflict of the play between the real truth and the truth society in its fear wants to believe. Abigail voracity and covetousness is that of their society, and J ohns struggle to do the right thing is the plight of the honest man within that society, caught by the tide of accusation.Each new action within the play such as the initial accusation, the meetings of Abigail and John, and the confession of Mary Warren drive the characters in different ways, and their reactions to those actions create a domino effect that that drives the plot and action of the play. THE CRUCIBLE does not have a happy conclusion, Abigail run away from the disgust she has caused and John, along with many other honest people, dies at the hands of the supposed saviors of their society. But a play such as this, and the lesson it teaches, does not need a happy ending. In his play, Arthur Miller has held up a dark mirror to the society of that time and his own, showing how fear and intolerance can kill ingenuous people, and people who tout right and just motivations can be the real vehicles of destruction that they seek to clay sculpture out.SourceMiller, Arthur. THE CRUCIBLE. Dramatist Play Service, 1982.