Crucible : tension fear and hysteria

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The play opened in 1953 written by Arthur Miller based on the real life circumstances happening in those times in America. The Crucible is a study in the mass hysteria that led to the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials. Salem in 1692 is a small town. As you read the script you feel as though it is a very close community. Everyone knows each other, and the girls all play together and their parents know each other and so on. However you feel as though the majority of them don’t share friendship. Either one of them is wealthier than the other or they’re just jealous for various reasons. For the assignment I have chosen two scenes to analyse, one of them being, the opening scene and the other being act two (the arrests). I have chosen these scenes because I feel that these were the scenes in which the hysteria, fear, and tension is at its highest. Firstly I will analyse the opening scene by explaining what happens, the main points and characters who are involved.

Act 1; the Opening Scene

One night in 1692, the minister of Salem village, Reverend Samuel Parris, finds his daughter Betty and niece Abigail dancing with their friends in the forest. His slave Tituba is also present supposedly, casting spells. The play opens a few hours later with Betty lying on the bed and seemly unable to wake. Rumours of witchcraft are already spreading through the village. Mr Parris is terrified for the effect on his reputation. The introduction to various villagers show a community split by guilty secretes personal disagreements and arguments over land rights. Among them is John Procter, who has had an affair with Abigail, but now wants to have nothing to do with her. Rebecca Nurse arrives trying to calm things down, but after a the arrival of Reverend Hale, a noted witch hunter, Mr and Mrs Putnam arrive trying to exploit the situation for their own ends. To save herself Abigail blames Tituba. Abigail tells John they were only playing in the forest. Mr Hale forces the terrified Tituba to confess that she made a pact with the Devil. She names two other witches. Suddenly Abigail sees the chance to escape punishment, so she joins in the accusations, supported by the now fully conscious Betty.

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         The opening scene starts off with the atmosphere surrounded by fear. Reverend Parris is a very weak and self-centred person in the story many people despise him, for example John Procter and Mr Putnam. However, Parris is respected in the village as a Reverend because the church was very important and influential in those days, and the beliefs in witchcraft well known. Laws were based from influence from the Bible, and the Church used them to control every aspect of people’s lives. If people in those times had other ways of believing in the ...

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