Tension Built Essay Example for Free

Tension Built Essay Arthur Miller was an American playwright who was born in 1915. Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 during the McCarthy period when Americans were accusing each other of Pro-Communist beliefs. His purpose through writing The Crucible was to express his own views on McCarthyism, and he does this through the main plot, the 17th century Salemwitch hunt, which has a stark similarity to the trials during the McCarthy period. The citizens of Salem were against each other in every way, and one accusation would lead to the arrest and murder of another person, unless they told of other names. At the end of the play, the two most honest and noble people are killed, Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor. This is an exact replica of what was happening in America during the 1950s and this play is an attack upon the McCarthy period of America. The setting of Act 3 can be understood as an attack on the harshness of the authorities in Salem and 1950s America. Act 3 starts with the stage directions and these go on for a few sentences, each one being quite specific about the situation. The language used is negative and disheartening, creating an unwanted feeling throughout the audience, almost as if they are not meant to be there; even forbidding. We are told that sunlight (is) pouring through two high windows in the back wall but is being swallowed by the darkness beneath. In the play, these stage directions can be understood as the two windows being Giles and John Proctor, who tell the truth, but Danforth, the darkness beneath, is hiding the truth. This is also an attack on McCarthy and the 1950s American society, the two windows representing the innocent people of America, who refused to name names, and the darkness, Senator Joseph McCarthy and his communist supporters, the people who refused to put up with citizens who went against his views. Also, the light is shown to be outside, and the darkness inside, which represents the ignorance of the American people, as the truth is shown to be distant, and the lies near. The opening lines of Act 3 are said by Hathorne and Martha Corey. Hathorne is questioning whether Corey is a witch, a claim that she denies. Throughout their argument, there are regular interruptions, predominantly by Giles, the village idiot. This attacks McCarthy and his laws, as Miller is showing the village idiot clever enough to know that the allegations are false, and yet Danforth is unable to realise this. Because of the fact that Giles is threatening Danforths position, he is ordered to be taken away, Remove that man. This shows Danforth, and McCarthy, to be weak, as their only power is the fear they put into peoples hearts, not their education or their understanding of the case. Danforth is repeatedly shown to be weak throughout this act, as well as in the play on a whole, degrading him and McCarthy. The language Danforth uses towards the characters is very humiliating, Your old age alone keeps you out of jail. He does not want to be argued with, and sticks by his rules no matter what. By doing this, Miller is showing McCarthy to be weak, as people who stick by their rules often have nothing else to say, and control people by their only source of power-authority. This suggests that the citizens of Salem and in America during the 1950s were very naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, and would follow whatever they were told to do, but the ones who stood up for themselves, lost everything-including their lives. This shows any individual would die, but if groups of people were to stick together and lie, then, and only then, would they able to live. This puts fear into people, and they feel as if they have to lie in order to live, There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires. Proctor, the tragic hero of the play, dies at the end, saving the life of his wife and his unborn child. This shows what an unselfish and noble character he is, but is lead to death because of the injustice of the court. Miller is attacking the McCarthy courts by killing the two most noble characters at the end, and the ultimate evil, Abigail, is shown to live till the end of the play and further. In the movie, we are shown the scene where John Proctor is privately taking to Elizabeth, about what he should do. This scene is probably the most moving scene in the movie, and we are made to feel sorry for the situation he is put in. As well as sympathising with proctor, we are also angered, as to why he should die. By showing this scene, and perhaps lengthening it-it was about 4-5 minutes in the movie-Miller is expressing his anger towards McCarthy and his laws.