In a crucible, vey high temperatures are needed to fulfil its purpose. In the play this is illustrated in several ways. Danforth states to Proctor a clear remark, which suggest the heat and tension of his acts: ‘We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment.’ Also the idea of heat is created in the sexual tension between John and Abigail, especially in Act One when the talk alone together: ‘I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come here.’ This is shown in huge contrast to Proctor and Elizabeth’s relationship which is ‘cold’, this can be seen when Proctor goes to kiss Elizabeth and ‘She receives it.’ This contrast shows tension throughout the play, which refers back to the original term ‘crucible’ as tension, heat and pressure are required during the process. Furthermore heat is also illustrated through Proctor’s struggle with the court, to prove that Abigail and the other girls were lying to protect their own mischief and also to protect his wife’s and his friends’ reputation from the barrage of false accusations. The pressure in the definition of a ‘crucible’ is shown through the girls’ hysteria and the spread into mass-hysteria across the whole village, and the dramatic tension caused by this. Also pressure is exerted from Danforth and his power in the court. The pressure from him and his accusations caused innocent people to slip into the illusion that perhaps they were in fault and that they had been involved in witchcraft. This happens to Sarah and Tituba, as in Act Four they are under the impression they are under the Devil’s influence: ‘Take me home, Devil! Take me home!’
The term ‘crucible’ also has the meaning of severe test or trial. Elizabeth Proctor in the play is depicted as a good Christian wife who follows all of the Ten Commandments. This is also enforced through John Proctor telling Danforth that Elizabeth would never lie: ‘In her life, sir, she have never lie.’ But due to the pressures of the trial and her love for her husband she lies to Danforth to protect her husband from his act of lechery, but unbeknown to her, John wants her to confess. The pressure and intensity of this court scene also displays connections to the theme of high temperatures. Also this leads on to the fact of John being a sinner and explores his dilemma through the trials of lechery. He had an affair with Abigail, who was at the time his servant. This sin causes John a great deal of guilt, and regret. He feels guilt for betraying his wife, and anguish as she knows about it and some how does not fully trust him until the witch hunt trials, this is shown in Act Two when they are both in the kitchen: ‘He gets up, goes to her, kisses her. She receives it.’ In the Puritans society follow the bible is of the utmost importance. And John breaking the Ten Commandments, and committing adultery not only causes him guilt for betraying his wife but also guilt at betraying his religion. We find this out in Act Four, where he does not wish his name to be dirtied: ‘Because it is my name! I cannot have another in my life!’
In addition, Miller creates dramatic tension throughout the play, which intensifies the idea of heat and pressure. Miller uses several devices to do this such as though the stage directions. An example of this is when Elizabeth is talking to John: ‘(quietly, fearing to anger him by prodding him)’. Here Elizabeth lowers her voice to speak to John in an attempt to diminish the tension between them; yet for the audience this decrease in volume increases the dramatic tension and creates a feeling of unease. Also dramatic tension is increasingly presented as the play progresses through the setting of the actual play. At the beginning, scenes contained few people and less pressure in conversation, such as in the Proctor household where there is speech between John and Elizabeth. However, as the play progresses more and more people are present during scenes, for example in the courtroom scenes. This gives the idea of increased claustrophobia and unease, which tenses the audience and therefore increases dramatic tension. The structure of the Acts also creates tension, as there is a clear pattern of a scene beginning where the audience is not entirely sure what will happen. As the act progresses the stage directions and speech built up the unease, mystery and dramatic tension. This built up continues until the end of the act where there is a climax; as a result of which the dramatic tension drops for the audience therefore allowing it to built up again in the next act. All of the devices used by Miller give the idea of tension and pressure, which refers to the definition of a ‘crucible’.
The separating of pure and impure in a crucible is a metaphor for the characters, as during the play different characters are depicted as more ‘pure’ than others. The obvious impure characters would be the girls who condemned innocent people after the mess that they had caused trying to cover up their mischief. Abigail is the most impure character, as she is the ‘leader’ of the girls and started the cover up story of blaming the other girls. She also is the person who tempted John away from his wife, and into adultery. Danforth is a questionable character as to if he is ‘pure’ or ‘impure’, as his actions to the reader seem to be impure during the play. This is because he blindly condemned people and took biased views on things. But he is also a slightly pure character as he wanted justice but he was naively misguided. Elizabeth and Rebecca Nurse are probably the purest characters toward the end of the play, as they kept their faith and did not condemn anyone. John Proctor is an ambiguous character as he is impure in the sense that he sinned in committing adultery, but all throughout the play his character is quite pure, as he defends his wife and friends again false accusations, and in the end dies to prove the point of the court being wrong. So in a way he dies a martyr and ‘rises to the top of the crucible’. But there is a sense on irony in this metaphor as in the end of the play; the court and the girls (impure) are the people who are left untouched and unaccused, but the pure characters such as John and Rebecca and the other innocent people who were charged ended up hanged and dead. This suggests that somewhat the impure should rise to the top of the crucible and the pure should sink to the bottom.
In conclusion, the definition of a ‘crucible’ directly shows a metaphorical link to many parts and emotive features of the play. The play was called ‘the Crucible’ because of the clear relevance to most of the themes and issues that the play explores. The title is very effective due the fact it is provocative and encourages you to reflect on the play, its meaning and also its contemporary truth.
