Hysteria And Madness In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller wrote the novel The Crucible as a way to reflect the state of hysteria the United States was in at the time. The novel was written during the time of the Red Scare, when people believed that there were communists inside the United States’ government. The fear of communism grew when Joseph McCarthy accused 205 people of being communist within the government, this is why many people refer to this hysteria as McCarthyism. In the novel, parallels are drawn between Joseph McCarthy’s accusations and the acts of a group of girls in a small puritan town called Salem. The girls throw false accusations of witchcraft towards people causing a mass hysteria within their town.

In his play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller depicts the massive blood hunt for witches in Salem, Massachusetts. This play shows the intricate relationships between characters and how they exploit a situation to carry out their own needs and grudges against others. Many were responsible in creating a group to take down the hellish powers of the Devil, but I believe that Parris was the mastermind behind the intricate, criminal syndicate. Reverend Parris is guilty even before the play begins. He is the new community preacher and has only been in Salem for a few years now.

Though his appearance was different, Parris was still the pretentious man he had been in Salem. He knew what he was about to do for God was very risky and if anyone found out his past he could end up in jail. Thus, when he was close enough to see Boston, Parris took a break to ask God to protect him from the devil who would do anything to prevent him from fulfilling God’s plan for him to preach the gospel. After praying, Paris realized he had no clean clothes and was hungry, but no representative of God lived on the streets and begged for food. His only choice was to break into a bakery and borrow some food.

Parris is an odd character, a minister who is the slimiest snake of them all, because he lives simply to satisfy his needs. The play makes him partake in nothing but evil, even in the end when he wishes to, “Postpone these hangin’s for a time” (Miller 127). He had wanted the hangings for a time, but he then realized hanging respectable people like Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor will cause the town to revolt. He takes many evil actions later on as well. No one’s evil intentions are repeated in the play as much as Parris, because it the play here is proving the theme that only the informed can be righteously judged, and Parris is a minister as well as witness of whatever happened in the forest, completely contrasting with the foolish but seemingly innocent

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.

Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.

This suggests that the proceedings are not fair and are based on one perspective. 5. Why does Proctor confess lechery? Why does he think Danforth and Hathorne will believe his confession? Why don’t they believe him?

I’m hoping that you stop putting so much faith in him. Parris is a very greedy man and acts in ways that godly men should not act. While his daughter, Betty Parris, was sick, all he could worry about was that he wanted more money so that he could get more firewood. If everything going on wasn’t bad enough, he continued to be greedy by asking for golden candlesticks for the church.

His own worries are expressed when Parris exclaims, “But if you trafficked with the spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will and they will ruin me with it”(Miller 1131). He knows that if people were to find out, he could lose everything he worked for. Therefore, Parris does everything in his power to at least prove someone guilty, and in the process, completely goes against the morals he teaches. He is seen as a Godly man who is supposed to teach integrity. However, instead he becomes a man that cares less about the truth and more of preserving his own

Even after being promised wood, a nice home, and the support of his community, Parris constantly reminds his constituents that “The salary is sixty pound . . . I am not some preaching farmer with a book under my arm; I am a graduate of Harvard College” (Miller 29) and then calls his situation poverty. It is revealed earlier in the exposition that Parris was once a businessman, so it is likely that the way he lives now, in a modest home with little extra income, is not as glamorous as his life once was. However, Parris chose to give his life to God and bring the people of Salem closer to religion. Salem funds his lifestyle in gratitude for choosing to be their reverend but he still complains to them how it is not enough.

Danforth will not accept or believe Proctor’s confession unless it is written and signed. Danforth’s refusal to accept verbal evidence, and all evidence equally, keeps him

This causes a problem because Reverend Parris then spreads the lies. When Reverend Parris realizes he is spreading lies, he keeps it to himself to protect him from his enemies. Abbotson wrote, “By fixating so much on sin, the religious extremists, represented by men like Parris and Danforth, become sinful and turned from God” (1). Abbotson is saying how Reverend Parris has turned his back on God and is a sinner. Reverend Parris is brought to believe cruel and deceitful lies by his niece,

Reverend Parris is the minister of Salem's church and has been for a short time. The church is the central body of authority in this community along with the court. One night, Parris comes

The Crucible is a story by Arthur Miller this story was released during the Mccarthyism era and is written to relate what is going on during Mccarthyism time and compared to what had happened during the time of the Salem witch trials. The setting or the crucible will impact the characters, the plot and the tone of the story. The setting of The Crucible affected the characters because during this period of time Salem Massachusetts was a Puritan colony. The Puritans were very strict people, for example on page 1154 of Arthur Miller's The Crucible Paris the town's Minister threatens to beat his slave Tituba “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to death Tituba” that statement says that the fact that Parris is going to whip Tituba to death if she doesn't do what he says and confess that he is willing to kill anyone who does not follow the rules. Another

Public hysteria is a psychological phenomenon that affects a group of people, resulting in fear or irrational behavior. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, many innocents were wrongfully accused, causing many to be hanged without trial. Miller uses this public hysteria and fear to create social divisions, and to change the Puritan societal structure. The Puritans were often associated with being spiritual, purified, as well as being “sophisticated”.