This resource is for Mainstream English students studying the play ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller in the Victorian Curriculum.
- Vengeful Community & Suffering
Salem contributes to their own destruction through a toxic combination of fear, intolerance, and a desire to find scapegoats. Message of Miller = The text argues that the greatest threat to a community can come from within when people reject rationality and become victims of their own blind prejudices. Widespread belief in the active malevolence of the Devil underpins the mayhem that is unleased in Salem. The desire to lay blame is strong and the poor and marginalised are obvious scapegoats in this God-fearing community. Driven by jealousy Abigail manipulates the town’s fear and superstition in her personal vendetta against Elizabeth Proctor. The erroneous assumption that the Devil is loose in Salem is exploited by unscrupulous individuals whose wickedness and greed are all too recognisably human.
- Judgement and persecution (closely connected to guilt)
Message of Miller = The text explores the relationship between judgement, punishment, and forgiveness and how the judgement of others impacts upon individual’s reputations and sense of self-worth which is punishment in itself. At the end of Act 4, John Proctor arrives at an impossible impasse—save himself through false testimony and damn his friends, or be executed alongside them. He seeks Elizabeth’s counsel and blessing, but she attests ‘I cannot judge you …’ (p. 120). The burden of the moral decision rests with John, just as he must bear the consequences of his final actions.
- Guilt
Message of Miller = He is interested in the way in which good men can be persuaded to doubt themselves and how damaging the effects of guilt can be and the corrosive effects of guilt. John Proctor judge himself harshly and has a sense of unworthiness makes him complicit in the retribution demanded of him. Hale blames himself for his role in the witch hunt and his crisis of conscious pitches him against the court of which he was a crucial part. Danforth is so convinced of Salem’s guilt that even the news of Abigail’s defection fails to weaken his resolve.
- Hysteria
Message of Miller = The text argues that the greatest threat to a community can come from within. The social compact, including respect, goodwill and shared history, is irreparably damaged when people reject rationality and become victims of their own blind prejudices and hysteria. There are many examples of hysteria within The Crucible. Wild accusations, violence and absurdist behaviour erupts in an ever-growing climate of fear. Modern readers recognise the power of suggestion and mob mentality at work in the girls’ frenzied behaviour in the courtroom, their ability to turn cold, and to faint. However, this is interpreted by the Judges as weighty evidence in support of the notion that the devil is alive in Salem. Act 3 provides one of the most dramatic examples, perhaps because the tension and fear has become so palpable. Mary Warren has presented her deposition and the news of John’s lechery is brought to light. There is a real chance that both Abigail and John will ‘slide together’ into the moral pit of their own doing, the court proceedings exposed as farce.
- Love & Forgiveness
Message of Miller = The Crucible demonstrates how closely love is allied with forgiveness. The Proctor’s love each other deeply but Proctor’s adultery has damaged the couple’s marriage. Act 2 reveals how strained relations between them have become as Elizabeth tells herself that she has forgiven her husband but still an ‘everlasting funeral’ (p.55) marches around her heart. Arthur Miller explores the tortured soul of John Proctor. His immense guilt and attempts to earn back the trust and forgiveness of Elizabeth form an essential component of his tragic state, and without these traits the audience would not feel so much for him by the end of the final Act 4. For a long time, it is clear that Elizabeth cannot forgive John. He becomes enraged after her suspicious questioning, remarking that ‘an everlasting funeral marches round your heart.’ (p. 55). The imagery of her solemn and dark heart reveals that John has injured his wife deeply and that forgiveness is not easily given. Through the adversity they face, each gains a new perspective and, in their final conversation, both seek to repair their broken bond and ask forgiveness. Therefore, love is presented as a powerful force for good, challenging the bigotry and hatred that threatens to overwhelm events.
- Revenge and shifting power
Message of Miller = The text reveals a shift within the power structures that have historically held strong in Salem. Those who held absolute power at the start of the play now find themselves doubted by the community. Hale still maintains his role as an advisor, but now he is a ‘broken minister’ and asks fellow Christians to belie themselves. Hale urges Danforth to postpone the execution warning of rebellion in Andover. Judge Danforth’s reluctance to admit wrongdoing only succeeds to further unloosen his final grip on power. The society of Salem is fated for annihilation at the hands of vengeance.
- Abuse of Power
Message of Miller = Power and the abuse of it is in the text as the patriarchal society meant men-controlled society and could abuse their wives with impunity. However, in Salem the concept of female empowerment was alien, yet Abigail is instrumental in shaping the crisis that plays out in the town. The power she exercises in malevolent and self-interested. Her intimidation of the girls demonstrates the force of her personality and the strange hold she develops over them. The witch-hunt gives her status and influence and even the judges believe her every accusation no matter how far-fetched. Danforth and Hathorne represent the highest power in the province, and his authority is corrupted on a grand scale rigid in believes and self-serving in his priorities, he rules by fear and embodies the face of the public fear unleashed in Salem. In a perverse rationalisation, he refuses to pardon the condemned prisoners on the basis that 12 have already been hanged for the same crime. His own reputation and that of the government he represents, is more important that the lives of the innocent people he convicts.
- Outcasts, Hypocrisy, Memories & the Past
Message of Miller = The text focus is on the plight of the outcast and the way they are made scapegoats. Tituba is an outcast in Salem, as a woman from Barbados, and as a slave. She is the property of Reverend Parris and her background sets her apart from the Puritan faith. She is powerless and, unsurprisingly, is the first to be accused as a witch. Tituba faces the impossible decision to falsely confess, or be hanged. She acts on survival instinct. Tituba’s cooperation with Reverend Hale not only raises her low social status, it enables her to finally express her feelings towards her master, ‘mean man’ Reverend Parris. Tituba shocks the congregation by saying the Devil, ‘he bid me rise out of my bed and cut your throat’ (p. 48), revealing her repressed anger and feelings of helplessness.
- Secrets, Hypocrisy & Conformity
In the town of Salem, we see a pretence born from an intense social pressure to conform, coupled with the fear of others’ retribution. Proctor’s words “common vengeance writes the law” reveal that the townsfolk have always harboured feelings of resentment towards one another. They have also always known each other’s business, yet stood mute. This is illustrated when Mary Warren bashfully admits to John that she knew of his affair— ‘I have known it sir’ (p. 74). Message of Miller = The witch trials provide an outlet for people to unburden themselves of the repressed feelings that accompany long-held grudges. Even those with little power, such as children, could suddenly assert their power, metaphorically possessing the keys to heaven and wreaking cruel vengeance on anyone who had wronged them in the past.
- Truth, Deception, Illusion, Hypocrisy, Memories, the Past is too full of Pain
Message of Miller = In The Crucible, there is a disconnect between what people are ready to believe about themselves and the world around them, and what is actually true. Truth is an expendable commodity in this community. Abigail’s fundamental contempt for Salem’s hypocrisy is one of the factors that enables her to rationalise her outrageous lies. In setting her terrifying fraud in motion, ignorance and the prevailing religious ethos play into her hands.
Sarah Good is an outcast in the community and is one of the first to be used as a scapegoat during the first frenzied accusations. This final remark from Sarah Good is quite beautiful, evoking imagery of freedom and transformation in death. We see the same camaraderie between Sarah Good and Tituba in this scene. The women within The Crucible also avoid the topic of their impending fate. Tituba says ‘we goin to Barbados soon’ and there ‘him be pleasure man’, ‘singin’ and dancin’ (p. 108). The two women, bound by their shared persecution and exile, console themselves with the image of flying southerly towards a brighter future.
- Suffering has an impact on mental state
Ann Putnam suffers the fate of mourning the loss of her babies in the public arena of Salem. She is bitterly envious of women, such as Rebecca Nurse, who have been blessed with fruitful families. This jealousy turns to rage when Rebecca Nurse chastises her about her immoral behaviour. Message of Miller = The character of Ann Putnam once again highlights the power of grief. Even the fear of God’s wrath is not enough to stop her from sending her only daughter Ruth to conjure the spirits of her lost babes.
- Acceptance and forgiveness
Message of Miller = John Proctor speaks of the exact compassion and selflessness. Proctor has the option to save himself, yet he considers the impact of this decision upon other people. He recognises that tragedy does indeed include everyone, and he is not willing to ‘blacken’ the names of his friends and set an example of deceit to his sons. John Proctor is a respected pillar within his community and his and his friends’ death represents a critical moment in terms of dismantling an archaic system of judgement.
- Vengeance & Motif of Fire is a Powerful Symbol
The motif of fire is a powerful symbol employed by Miller. John Proctor tells Danforth that they will ‘burn together’ as payment for their cowardice. John accuses Danforth of being too afraid to stand against evil, like the brave Malcolm and Macduff were able to do. One of Miller’s central messages = is that we must oppose injustice in the world and work to keep powerful institutions accountable. In fact, the final scene where Proctor, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse are executed occurs at the beginning of a new day. Elizabeth’s final comment ‘he have his goodness now’ (p.126) is uttered as ‘the sun is pouring upon her face’, symbolic of a new dawn where goodness has prevailed.