Millers Tension in Act I of The Crucible Essay - 1262 Words

Millers Tension in Act I of The Crucible The anti-Communist hysteria during the 1950s led to a mass persecution of people associated with Communism. Post WW2 America was a nation if fear and suspicion because of the on going cold war with Russia, anyone one remotely connected to a known communist could be persecuted, this sparked a fear that Russia could take over the world. At the time a playwright, Arthur Miller could not express his feelings due to societys strong support for McCarthyism. So Arthur Miller wrote a play about the Salem witch-hunts during 16th century America. Miller had to be subtle in how he expressed his feelings about the political movement McCarthyism, so he used the play†¦show more content†¦I will explore the techniques used in creating the play, to create various moods in the mind of the audience, in Act I. In Act I we discover Parriss and Mrs. Putms daughters - Betty and Ruth, lying inanimate on their beds. The people in the village are all ready jumping to conclusions that the Devil is involved, and Parris is putting that off, scared for his name in the village. We find out that Abigail and friends had been dancing in the woods and trying to use black magic. We do get clues that the girls are faking their illness, as Betty wakes up when Parris leaves the room but ideas have been planted in the villagers. We find Abigail quickly becomes the leader of the girls dancing in the forest. Worried for the villagers the town order an expert in to help then solve the satanic actions occurring, - called Mr. Hale. The main events that take place in brief: are that Abigail takes the chance to talk to John Proctor, who becomes the main character. Tituba, Parriss slave, as usual is blamed for witching the two children in the woods. This cause a lot of the girls to say they saw each other with the Devil. In terms of this plot tension is created within the audience, this is because we can see that they all mistrust each other, and that a lot of secrecy will occur as the play deve lops. Also the fact that the plot thickens so quickly would make theShow MoreRelatedThe Effectiveness of the Closing Scene of Arthur Millers The Crucible973 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effectiveness of the Closing Scene of Arthur Millers The Crucible Arthur Miller was born in 1915 and was only fourteen years of age at the time of the Wall Street crash, this clearly affected his life. His plays often concentrated upon contemporary society and problems it may face. This is why at first sight The Crucible seems to break this mould, instead of a play showing contemporary society; it concerns a study in the mass hysteria which led to the 1692 Salem witchcraft Read MoreSimilarities Between Apology Speech And The Crucible793 Words   |  4 Pagesown motivations. 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I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!† This is when Abigail Williams confesses to being a witch. This outburst shows the hypocrisy in Salem as well as ignorance towards the idea of the witch trials. Beginning with confessions of a meeting w ith the devil, continuing with declaringRead MoreMillers Presentation of the Theme Of Greed And Envy within The Crucible1071 Words   |  5 PagesMillers Presentation of the Theme Of Greed And Envy within The Crucible The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller in the time of the cold war, although the play was set in 1692. The play is about a town called Salem in America and about the witch-hunts that took place there. Because it was written in this time period there is a feeling of mistrust, greed and envy echoed in the play. Arthur Miller plays on these feelings and produces a theme of greed and envy that