The Crucible By Arthur Miller - 2535 Words

The year is 1692. The village is t. In an upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, a young girl lays in a deep slumber. Doctors can not do anything for her, for no natural cause can be found. The village looks to otherworldly causes and in a moment of weakness, a woman confesses to witchcraft. The village erupts in a mass hysteria that leaves nineteen people dead. That is the story we know. But what really happened? How can we possibly imagine what life was like in these harsh times? In his timeless classic, The Crucible, Arthur Miller reimagines this dark part of our history. Taking a few liberties, Miller is able to weave a web of seduction, betrayal, and chaos. His beloved tale gives depth to the names of the dead. Without†¦show more content†¦Further, as with the alleged witches of Salem, suspected Communists were encouraged to confess their crimes and to â€Å"name names,† identifying others sympathetic to their radical cause. Some have criticized Miller for oversimplifying matters, in that while there were (as far as we know) no actual witches in Salem, there were certainly Communists in 1950s America. However, one can argue that Miller’s concern in The Crucible is not with whether the accused actually are witches, but rather with the unwillingness of the court officials to believe that they are not. In light of Mc Carthyist excesses, which wronged many innocents, this parallel was felt strongly in Miller’s own time To truly connect to the piece, one must submerse themselves in what life was like for these people. Upon reading the text, it may be hard to visualize the characters. Before doing any research, many visualize them in black and white, very similar to the classic pilgrim may be because in many images of the time, people are shown wearing black clothes. This is because in the 1620s, best clothes were often black, and people usually had their portraits painted while wearing their best clothes. Brown, brick red, yellow and blue were common. Everyone wore stockings to cover their legs. The stockings came up over their knees and were tied with garters to keep them up. Everyone wore leather shoes or sturdy boots on their feet. Both men and women wore aprons to help keep their