The Crucible
The Crucible a play written by Arthur Miller is a story about the Salem witch trials. The word crucible has multiple meanings, Miller chose The Crucible as a title to try to express the intricacy of the play's message. The usual and most widely used definition for crucible, according Webster's Dictionary, is: "a pot or vessel made of a substance, such as porcelain, that will withstand extreme heat for the use of melting various materials." This definition is easily connected to the play. First off, witches supposedly use cauldrons to brew their magic potions, and a synonym for cauldron is crucible. Not only do witches use cauldrons, but the word crucible also could have some meaning as a metaphor. The actions in Salem were like that in a brewing cauldron, there were many heated arguments, and people were being 'stirred' and 'mixed' around like a vile potion. The forest girls along with Tituba, Abigail, Betty, Mer
Salem was a melting pot of different ideas and diverse opinions of who wasn't a witch, who was a witch, and what a witch was. To most people, the trials were a very scary and negative time in history; therefore, it is hard to dissociate the defaming images of the Salem Witch Trials from the word crucible. Do as you will, do as you will' (Miller 138) The play can, without a doubt, be likened to this definition as well. A severe test is another definition for crucible that is not quite as distinguished as the first mentioned. If you look at the witch trials themselves, while the accused were in the courtroom, they were enduring a test of their character and moral values. Another definition of a crucible according to Webster's is: "a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change that produces something new. People associate the play, and the word crucible, with the Salem Witch Trials. There are so many viewpoints that are looked at and expressed in the play, and the way they interact with each other makes the play a crucible on an extreme level. When you look at the play from all angles, you find this definition easily. This generalization is totally false. I have come to think that a third definition has taken form because The Crucible was chosen as the play's title. cy, and Mary were all conjuring their own spirits upon people in the town in the cauldron before the play begins. Through the whole ordeal of the Salem Witch Trials, the whole town was morphing and transforming. "A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer; I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!" (Miller 111)When has a pot or a thing that brings forth change become distrustful? One reason could be because it was chosen as the title of the play.
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Acceptance Essays
