The Crucible :: English Literature

The Crucible Explore how Miller dramatises the conflicts within John proctor and presents him as a good man, despite his failings. How does Miller make him spectacularally effective for an audience?Refer to Act two and Act four.Millers aspire through pen The Crucible was to express his ownviews on what was happening in America at the time in 1953 -McCarthyism, a period of ardent anti fabianism. Miller uses thecharacter of John Proctor to put across his views. He is interested inthe character who does not allow himself to be caught up in hysteria,but thinks for himself and stands up for his values. Miller wants to give lessons us, his audience, close loving awareness with deep insights intopersonal weaknesses through his characters. Miller in like manner wants to teachus the important moral lessons about human nature of the caprice ofgoodness. Millers play deals with difficult and controversial issuesmaking the audience think about the pleasant and unpleasantexperiences of huma ns and relating them to todays modern world.When writing The Crucible Miller was influenced partially bywitchcraft. For many hundreds of years there was a belief inwitchcraft throughout Europe. This belief in witchcraft persistedamong the English colonists in America. In 1692 there was an outbreakof accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, which lead to 20 innocent tidy sum executed. In the play John Proctor was bingle ofthe twenty innocent people executed. Of those women accused many wereold women with fellowship of herbal medicine or other folk remedies, anexample of a character with this description would be Rebecca Nurse,who was hanged with John Proctor in the dramatic last scene. TheEnglish colonists were Puritans and they felt surrounded by ungodlypeople and associated the forest with savages and evil. Miller usesthis belief in the play at the beginning, when Betty, Abigail and ten-spotor twelve other girls were seen dancing in the forest this termination wasgre atly frowned upon in the village and led to many accusations.Miller also links his characters to the Salem witchcrafts as duringthe witchcrafts one man was pressed to dying by stones this links tothe character Giles Corey. This trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem,Massachusetts deteriorated the rational and emotional stability of itscitizens. This exploited the populations weakest qualities, andinsecurities. The obvious equipment failure in Salems social order led tothis tragedy.McCarthyism also influenced Miller when writing The Crucible. In theearly 1950s Joseph McCarthy, a senator, exploited his fear ofcommunism and managed to create a national campaign againstCommunists, ex-Communists and anyone associated with them. The playwas produced when McCarthys anti-Communist campaign was at its height