The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 when America was still affected by the McCarthy regime. During this era, communism was regarded as a serious threat, and many people were under suspicion of being or sympathizing with communists. Therefore, in order to avert suspicion from themselves, people testified against their fellow citizens, even though many accusations were false. Miller reflected this public hysteria in The Crucible. However, he used witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, which occurred in 1692, as the subject of his play. One can see significant parallels between the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials because both of them caused public fear and hysteria. The overarching theme of Miller’s The Crucible is that mass hysteria reveals the darkest sides of human nature because individuals seize the opportunity to achieve their personal goals at the expense of others’ well-being.
In The Crucible, people live in constant fear of being accused of witchcraft. The least intelligent characters, such as Ann Putnam, believe in witchcraft and attribute all their sorrows to its effects. For example, Mrs. Putnam is confident that her seven children died in infancy because they were murdered by witches. Moreover, when she fails to find an explanation for something, such as her daughter’s illness, she ascribes it to “some power of darkness” (Miller 13). The most reasonable characters of the play, including John Proctor and Giles Corey, understand the underlying motives of accusers and oppose witch trials by trying to defend the falsely accused in court. However, the court is represented by a very principled Judge Danforth, who strictly follows the law and is confident of his rightness. Under these circumstances, any search for justice fails, and the only way for people to escape execution is to accuse others. The play shows how some characters reveal their vile nature under the conditions of public fear and exploit this situation in their favor.
The theme of fear uncovering the dark human nature appears at the beginning of the play when Abigail refuses to admit that she and the other girls performed a ritual dance in the woods. Abigail was a maid in the house of the Proctors, but after Elizabeth Proctor learned about her affair with her husband, she dismissed her. Abigail tries to use witchcraft to dispose of Elizabeth, but when she gets caught, she denies doing so. Under pressure, she accuses Tituba, Parris’s slave, of using witchcraft. Tituba, in turn, admits that she talked to Devil but did not comply with his orders. In order to save herself from the execution, she accuses other women – Sarah Good and Goody Osburn. Abigail decides to seize the opportunity to save herself, too and supports Tituba’s accusations: “I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 42). Thus, by their false accusations triggered by fear, the girls start the sequence of witch trials.
Miller’s demonstration of what vices people are capable of in the midst of public hysteria is fully apparent in Act 3, in which the motives of Thomas Putnam and Abigail are disclosed. At George Jacobs’s trial, Giles Corey presents evidence that Jacobs was falsely accused of witchery. Corey claims that Putnam forced Betty to testify against Jacobs so that he could appropriate Jacobs’s land after his execution: “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property – that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece” (Miller 86). Thus, Putnam, one of the richest Salem citizens, takes advantage of the hysteria to become even richer. Abigail’s motives are not material; she aims to get rid of Elizabeth to marry John Proctor. In order to accomplish her goal, she forces Mary Warren to give Elizabeth a poppet with a needle inside and, later, pretends that Elizabeth used the doll to hurt Abigail. Proctor tries to protect his wife in court, disclosing his affair with Abigail and saying that Abigail “thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave” (Miller 99). Although Proctor reveals Abigail’s dark nature, the court does not believe him because Abigail’s story sounds more dramatic.
The theme of the consequences of public fear ends in Act 4 when John Proctor agrees to falsely confess to using witchcraft. However, when Proctor is asked to testify against others to save his life, he responds, “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another” (Miller 127). Thus, Proctor serves as an example of a strong man who has been able to withstand the pressure and not surrender in the face of death. If there were more people like Proctor, reasonable and devoted to justice, the public hysteria would not become so widespread and would not take the lives of innocent individuals. Yet, Proctor also becomes a victim of public hysteria and ends up on the gallows, marking the victory of fear and vice.
In conclusion, by using the theme of fear and public hysteria, Miller shows the darkest sides of human nature, such as lust and a quenchless desire for wealth. The fear of death makes people reveal their true selves: while some retain compassion and yearn for justice, others betray their neighbors and try to get the most benefits for themselves. The Crucible encourages the audience to look into themselves and reflect on what kind of persons they are and how they would behave when faced with fear.
Work Cited
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Classics, 2003.