The Crucible Play Analysis

Arthur Miller, American playwright, essayist, and figure in twentieth-century American theatre, wrote The Crucible during the height of the Cold War and Red Scare in the twentieth century about the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. With people all around him calling out “Communist!” Accordingly, Miller felt he could relate to the people involved in the witch trials calling out “Witch!”. The definition of a crucible according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is composed of three parts, a pot in which metals or other substances are heated to a very high temperature or melted, a difficult test or challenge, and a place or situation that forces people to change or make difficult decisions (Crucible). Based on how Miller was able to …show more content…
In a real crucible there are often violent reactions to bring about a change or purification of a substance in a very small amount of space, in the play this parallels the violent hysteria in the small village of Salem. When the audience first encounters John Proctor, he is in the process of purifying himself in the eyes of his wife Elizabeth Proctor and in some respects Abigail Williams. John and Abigail had previously had an affair and since that instance, he has attempted to clear his conscience of his wrongdoing. In the beginning of the original panic John and Abigail find themselves alone together. Moreover, John’s attempt to fix things is apparent in this section of their conversation, “Proctor. Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby. Abigail. Aye, but we did. Proctor. Aye, but we did not.” (Miller 177). Evidently, John’s persistence to rectify his offense is clear. Furthermore, another support for this branch of the definition comes from John Proctor at the end of the play. His last line of the play in act four expounds his final view of himself, “Proctor (his eyes full of tears). I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs…” (240).

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