Literary Analysis of The Crucible - Free Essay
Uploaded by ash__ on Sep 28, 2012
An article/essay featuring the abuse of power in The Crucible (by Arthur Miller) using quote analysis and other literary devices used
The use of Power in The Crucible
Would you live your life with a tainted name or die protecting it?
Article featuring: the destructive and redemptive power of love in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and why Arthur Miller is the master of drama in the 20th Century.
The Crucible, a modern tragedy, 1953, is a sombre play and an analogy of the McCarthyism era by Arthur Milleras it denotes aconflict of authority, self-interest and most importantly the abuse of power that leads to the killing of nineteen men and women and one man, Giles Corey, who is pressed to death; which is all a mimesis that dates back to 1692, a time of Salem witch-hunt, of Miller’s own writing, where the society is subject to communism, or parallelincidence tothe ‘witch-hunts’.
The play, however, is still relevant to this day as the terrorism experienced nowadays can be viewed as the modern equivalent of both communism and ‘witch-hunts’. Miller also constructs an ideal combination of the destructive power, mainly through Abigail’s resentment and scorn, Putnam’s corrupt greed and Danforth’s haughty abuse of power, with the redemptive power of love, by means of John’s will to die to defend his name, Elizabeth’s white lies for her husband and Giles’ willingness to die in contempt of the court.
The text ofThe Crucible also indicates why this modern drama is the best our society has ever come across as Miller achieves a flawless integration of tragedy by the use of language techniques, symbolic plot, characterisation and the use oftension and climax, which this play is all about.
Miller largely signifies the power of destructive love with the character of Abigail Williams as she is the antagonist of the plot, which is made apparent by the fact that she danced in the forest and how she schemed nineteen people to their deaths bythe false witch craft accusations to safeguard herself from her own punishment, as she states to Betty Parris upon her interrogation, “Shut up! All of you. We danced. That is all, and mark this, let either of you breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other things, I will come to you in the black of some terrible night, and I will bring with me a pointy reckoning that will shudder...