As a result, neighbors distrusted one another and feuds broke out regarding property rights and clear deeds of ownership. Miller incorporates this aspect of the period into the play through the character of Mr.
Like Abigail, a hidden agenda guides Putnam, namely his greed for land. He too, will stop at nothing to satisfy his desire, even if attaining his goal means murdering his neighbors by falsely accusing them of witchcraft so he can purchase their lands after their executions. Miller's title, The Crucible, is appropriate for the play. A crucible is a container made of a substance that can resist great heat ; a crucible is also defined as a severe test. Within the context of the play the term takes on a new meaning: not only is the crucible a test, but a test designed to bring about change or reveal an individual's true character.
The witch trials serve as a metaphorical crucible, which burns away the characters' outer shells to reveal their true intentions and character beneath. Throughout the play, Miller carefully peels away the layers of each character so that the audience not only can identify the character's motivation, but also can reevaluate the character through his or her actions.
In other words, the audience observes the character as he or she is tested, and the audience ultimately determines if he or she passes the test. Proctor provides an excellent example.
His affair with Abigail results in a fall from grace, not only with his wife Elizabeth, but also within himself. Proctor believes he is damned and cannot possibly regain Elizabeth's love and respect, not to mention his own self-respect and moral uprightness. Proctor is tested severely when he goes to the court to defend Elizabeth.
In order to save his wife, he must publicly announce his sin and, therefore, lose his good name. Although he gives up his good name in court, he regains it at the end of the play by destroying his signed confession. The audience watches Proctor as the play progresses and judges his actions according to his motivations and reactions to the various "tests" through which he passes. In the event, many were accused of witchcraft and some were even executed.
This event had left many curious as to what caused the people to accept witchcraft and treat it as a crime. To explain the trials, Paul Boer and Stephen Nissenbaum wrote the book Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft in which they analyzed and broke down key components of the witch trials. The True Crimes In a town full of religious-imposed justice, is the crimes happening in the towns actually considered true crimes? Should the people that committed the crimes be held responsible?
The problem is that they aren't witches, but normal people to be hanged. Cotton was a true believer in witchcraft and accused many people. Increase Mather was his father, who was the Boston Minister and mostly believed in witchcraft until his wife got accused of it, then he knew it was all.
Over individuals were suspected to be witches in result to weird behavior before a disaster happens. The puritans set fairly high standards on themselves and others. True puritans could show their commitment by going to church and working their hardest. They also believed God was not the only powerful force among their community. The idea of witches stemmed from religious folks believing that the Devil could give certain people, known as witches, the power to harm others in return for their loyalty Smithsonian.
Due to the popularity of religion and supernatural beliefs, many people believed that the source of evil was the Devil. This idea appeared in Europe as early as the 14th century and it was quite popular in New England colonies. Villagers often blamed unfortunate things upon the Devil and other spectral sources of evil due to their lack of knowledge.
The significance of the title The Crucible is that it relates to the characters in the play because of the views of the society at the time. It relates to the characters John Proctor, and many others. In the play, John is put to a severe test during many occasions because of his belief and what he thinks is right. The Crucible is a play based off historical events that unfolded in the town of Salem that highlights the effects of hysteria and explores the fear that can create critical issues in a society.
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