As far as is known there were no witches in Salem the time if the accusations, although there were Communists in 1950s America when the play was written. McCarthyism extremes wronged many people in the time the crucible was set, this parallel was felt strongly in Miller's own time. There is little symbolism within The Crucible, but the play is symbolic of the Marxism paranoia that spread through America in the 1950s. There are similar points between House Un-American Activities Committee’s was getting rid of suspected communists during this time and the seventeenth-century witch-hunt that Miller portrays in The Crucible.
The characters in The Crucible are either developing, as are John, Elizabeth and Hale, or they are representative. Parris, Putnam and Giles Corey represent the struggles between each other and for land, social respect and power which were present in Salem. For a priest, the former businessman Parris is too concerned about material issues and his reputation, while Giles Corey has conflicts with almost everyone in the village. But in contrast to most of the other villagers he is open and direct. Rebecca is the "good soul" of the village, and seems to be the only flawless character in the whole play. Danforth and especially Hathorne symbolise authority.
In the Crucible hysteria is a major theme. It can participate in ripping apart a community. Hysteria overcomes logic and lets people to believe that their neighbours are committing strange and unbelievable crimes–involving the devil, killing babies, and making love potions. The most obvious case is Abigail, who uses the situation to accuse Proctor of witchcraft and have her sent to jail. The ruthless gains vengeance on by getting , Francis's wife, convicted of the murders of 's babies. Others prosper on the hysteria as well: reinforces his position in the village, by making scapegoats of people like Proctor who question his authority.
For my coursework I chose to do the beginning of Act 1. I chose to do this scene as it is the starting point of the play and contains a lot of background information and then goes on to back up this information by showing many relationships and reactions of many of the characters to an unusual situation. As the play opens, kneels, praying in front of Betty’s bed. Parris is a strict man suffering from paranoia. lies in a motionless, unresponsive way. Parris has sent for of Beverly, a specialist on witchcraft, to decide whether Betty is bewitched. Parris shouts at his niece, , because he discovered her, Betty, and several other girls dancing in the forest in the middle of the night with his slave, . Tituba was chanting and waving her arms, dancing, over a fire and Parris thought he spotted someone running naked through the trees. The word that Betty is the victim of witchcraft is spreading in Salem, and a crowd has gathered outside Parris's house.
Act one is an introduction to the play. It contains information such as the past of the characters involved in the play and the history of Salem, where the play is set. This is very useful to the audience as it prevents any misunderstanding and sets the scene and surroundings. For the vast majority of this scene the audience is in a way, getting to know the characters. By the end of scene one, the audience knows what the characters are like quite well and by act 2 (which is also an informative scene) the audience can almost imagine the characters mannerisms and predict how they would act in certain situations.
In The Crucible all events that happen lead smoothly from one event to the next. Everything happens from the natures of the characters. The story doesn’t seem at all contrived due to this, as many of the events that take place are easy to believe. The conflict in Act one is mainly of the conflict of opinions as all of the characters have their own opinions about the witch craft. Some, Abigail for example has told so many consecutive lies that she almost believes herself, especially she believes that Elizabeth Proctor is a witch.
There are a lot of tension and suspense in Act one as the audience is not sure about what has actually happened to Betty and Ruth. Act one covers basic human instincts and qualities. It shows the human necessity for survival, and the lengths at which a person will go to save themselves. There is the idea of honor and truth. Proctor tries to save his life but gives it up to reveal the truth and keeps his reputation. Through his struggle he achieves righteousness.
‘The crucible’ the film was produced in the 1990s. The film has been changed from the play in some minor respects. For example, the film opens with a scene of the town girls sneaking into the woods and participating is a ritualistic dance with the slave woman Tituba- until they are all caught by Parris. In the play this scene was referred to, but not performed. Another change is that the Slave woman Tituba is portrayed as black, when she was actually an Indian.
I conclude that act one is the most important scene in the play as it sets the scene and gives the audience important information on many aspects of the history of the characters and the town in which the play was set. The play reminds its audience of a nasty time in human history. It reminds us that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. However, even with these mistakes, we can cleanse ourselves and purify ourselves by making what is wrong right.
