The Crucible within the play Essay Example for Free

The Crucible within the play Essay What is The Crucible within the play, and how does it bring about change or reveal the individuals true character? A crucible is a cup-shaped piece of laboratory equipment used to raise metals to very high temperatures, and extract impurities. Therefore, I think that the court is the crucible within the play. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller based on the events which actually happened in 1692, which led to the Salem witch trials, a series of hearings before the court, which prosecuted over 150, on the grounds that they were practicing witchcraft. These events occurred in Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. He likened the events in his play to the situation with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller wrote the play to warn people to plead for freedom. Later, Miller himself was called upon to appear before the McCarthy Committee and was questioned about his activities with the American communist party. Arthur Miller was an American playwright, who lived from October 1915 till February 2005. He was an important figure in American literature for over 60 years, and wrote many plays, including very famous plays, such as The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman, which are still studied and performed all over the world. He was born to Jewish-American parents in Manhattan, in New York. His father owned a womans clothes manufacturing business, which failed in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. After the business failed, his family moved to Brooklyn. Because of the effects of the Wall Street Crash on his family, Miller had little money for college after graduating in Abraham Lincoln High School. In order to gain a place at the University of Michigan, Miller had to work in a number of low status jobs to pay for his tuition. In order to fully understand The Crucible, we must first understand some of the plays background and history. The term Witch-hunt was first used to describe the searching out and persecution of a religious minority, or a political group with ideas different to the majority of the population. After World War Two, US relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated, and there followed a period known as the cold war. A large amount of people feared Russia, and believed that they intended to take over the world. This is what started the fear of Communism in the US. We must also understand what the Puritan societies in Salem were like. Salem was originally founded by Pilgrim Fathers, who had left their own countries in order to practice their religion in peace. The Puritans had very strict moral codes, and this is probably what caused the girls to rebel, and experiment in the forest.