Themes in The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay - 773 Words

In every literary work, there are themes. A theme is a broad idea, moral or message of a book or story. One individual may construe the themes of a book or story differently than another, but that is the pure beauty of themes. One great literary work is The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. Succinctly, the play is about the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. Throughout the story, the townspeople indict their neighbors of being a witch and practicing witchcraft. On the surface, this historical drama has a few universal and enduring themes. Themes are universal because regardless of where in the world, the ideas still relates to everyone and is understood. Themes are enduring because the ideas are found†¦show more content†¦A second theme revealed in The Crucible is empowerment. During the trials in the play, many characters were given power, which they never had before. These characters were the women. Women in Salem are generalized to be go verned by the men and have no choice in anything. The women either work as servants to men or get married and have children. An example of this theme is Abigail Williams. She’s seventeen-years-old and has a great amount of power with the witch trials. In one scene with Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, Abigail, Mrs. Putnam and Tituba, Abigail is explaining to Reverend Hale about the incident with Betty. Once she sees Tituba, Abigail points at her and says to Reverend Hale, â€Å"She made me do it! She made Betty do it!† Abigail also says, â€Å"She sends her spirit on me in church, she makes me laugh at prayer!†With these serious accusations, Tituba is imprisoned just because Abigail accused her of practicing witchcraft. The idea of empowerment is universal and enduring because anyone in the world with no supremacy, can suddenly have all the power. Today in modern society, people all over the world set aspirations in order to gain authority and be ahead of everyon e else. Furthermore, many people in the world have power and authority over others. Empowerment will always be in societies around the world. A third theme that is developed in The Crucible is hysteria. Hysteria is defined as a state of violent mental agitation. Hysteria plays a great role in the storylineShow MoreRelatedThe Themes Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible By Arthur Miller1685 Words   |  7 Pagesaccuse others to save oneself. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller emphasizes mass hysteria caused by people accusing innocent people to save oneself from death. Even though the Salem witch trials and the McCarthyism era took place in different time periods, they both show the reoccurring theme of chaos caused by lying and accusing others to save oneself. 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