Arthur Miller - The Crucible: Explore How Characters Illustrate the Mentality and Values
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Based on Arthur Miller's drama The Crucible, the Nicholas Hytner directed film "The Crucible" readily illustrates the mob mentality and irrational fear of Puritan society that led to the Salem Witch Trials. The characters in the film also clearly express the values of Puritan society that fueled mob fury and fear during the events involved in them. Abigail Williams, played by Winona Ryder, is a teen girl accused of witchcraft after she is seen drinking blood and dancing naked with other girls in a pagan type of ritual. To save herself, she accuses others of being witches and involves John Proctor, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, a man who has spurned her affections. These events result in Judge Thomas Danforth, a noted witch hunter, coming to town to preside over the trials. This analysis will explore how "The Crucible" and its characters illustrate the mentality and values of Puritan society that were responsible for leading to the Salem Witch Trials. "The Crucible" makes it clear that Puritans were a culture of people who viewed themselves as "God's chosen" people, with Puritan leaders believing they could detect good or evil in individuals. Puritans believed they served as agents to rid society of evil, believing rigid controls on behavior were necessary to curb evil or lustful desires in people. We see this capacity to determine good and evil and the mixing of the temporal and spiritual world in the value system of the Puritans expressed by Judge Danf
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lly harsh and morally rigid in her relations with others, "Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer" (Hytner 1996).
"The Crucible" also shows the mob mentality and irrational fear that led to the Salem Witch Trials. This is clear in a number of ways. First, fear of witchery and being hanged if convicted made people like Abigail inform on others, even close friends, in order to save their own skin. Second, we see that the irrational fear of witchery is so strong due to Puritan beliefs in witchcraft and the intermingling of temporal and spiritual worlds that evidence was not needed to be found guilty of being a witch. No one, including Judge Danforth, can define what a witch is and still people are convicted to die from being witches. Yet this is used as reverse psychology on those accused. When Martha Corey says she is not a witch and does not even know what one is, Judge Hathorne tells her, "If you know not what a witch is, how do you know you are not one?" (Hytner 1996). The mob fury and irrational fear were so great that, as the film clearly shows, merely the accusation that one was a witch is enough to get one convicted.
"The Crucible" also demonstrates that persecution of others in an atmosphere of
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Approximate Word count = 1230
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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