Setting Analysis of The Crucible
Setting Analysis of "The Crucible"
The Crucible is a play set in a small Puritan town, Salem, Massachusetts. Accusations of witches cause hysteria in the theocratic society and leads to the death of innocent people. Several motives, accusations, and evidence can support the logical explanations behind the witch-hunt.
The initial logic behind the witch-hunt is that Salem was a theocratic society where everything was either pure or sin. The government and religion acted as one unit and the Puritan belief was the only standard allowed. Since Salem was a Puritan society, it enabled citizens to accuse each other as witches over the simplest religious matters that could be thought of as a sin. For example Parris has a motive against Tituba because of the fact that she is not a native to Salem but rather a slave from Barbados. He accuses her of witchcraft only based on his motives that she conjures with the Devil. (p.44) Furthermore, in Act Two, when Hale is gathering information on the Proctors he questions Proctor because he has not been to church on Sabbath Day (p. 64) and can not state all ten of the Commandments. (p. 67) Another example of a biased accusation based on religion is when Danforth questions Proctor of his Christian ideals discussing how he plows on Sunday. (p. 91) The intolerance in the society was the overall logic behind the society and the citizen’s accusations. The theocratic society of Salem is a major logical explanation of the witch-hunt in The Crucible.
Another logical explanation of the witch-hunt is the hysteria surrounding it. The hysteria causes the citizens of Salem to misjudge their own neighbors and accuse each other as witches. The hysteria also allows citizens to accuse each other based on personal grudges and revenge. For example, Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor because she wants to take her place as the wife of John Proctor. In Act One Abigail says to Proctor about Elizabeth, “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!” (p.23) Later, Abigail gets her revenge on Elizabeth by accusing her as the person who is responsible for the needle found in her stomach. (p. 76) Another example of a personal grudge is the accusation of Rebecca Nurse. Ann...