Title Of The Crucible As A Theme
Essay, Research Paper
Towards the late 1600 & # 8217 ; s and early 1700 & # 8217 ; s, the Puritan & # 8220 ; Utopian & # 8221 ; society which had been established in the colonial America began to deteriorate. This was a consequence of many factors, but is by and large considered to be the consequence of a failed experiment in s
ict applied divinity. One of the early symptoms of this degeneracy was the Salem enchantress tests, which serve as the topic for Arthur Miller & # 8217 ; s The Crucible. This terror over witchery became a type of & # 8220 ; heat trial & # 8221 ; for the Puritan society, correspondent to the
foots of trials performed in ceramic melting pots in the survey of scientific discipline. In titling his drama, Miller uses the impression of a crucible as a metaphor for the transmutation and testing of American Puritanism.
Webster & # 8217 ; s Collegiate Dictionary defines a crucible as & # 8220 ; a pot & # 8230 ; used for runing a substance that requires a high grade of heat ( 200 ; Webster ) . & # 8221 ; Fire is applied to the vas and the contents melt from their original solid signifier into a liquid. This is s
bolic of the thaw of Puritanism from its original and, non ironically, & # 8220 ; pure & # 8221 ; organize into a melted down version, with other influences defiling the mixture. It is evident that witchery is viewed as one of the evil & # 8220 ; drosss & # 8221 ; nowadays in their socie
which taints its unity as a uncontaminated, doctrine-bound community. The text itself denies & # 8220 ; that nil broke into this rigorous and drab manner of life ( 2 ; Act 1 ) . & # 8221 ; The eventual effect is a relaxation of the philosophy, symbolized in the thaw
wn of a substance to the point where it no longer maps as it did in its original province. Metaphorically, we anticipate that as heat continues to be applied, the crucible itself will non be able to defy the force per unit area and will check.
A 2nd, alternate definition of a melting pot is & # 8220 ; a terrible trial ( 200 ; Webster ) . & # 8221 ; This surely seems to ap
ply to Miller’s Salem. The mass craze environing the enchantress tests most surely did prove the solidness of colonial Puritanism, and although T
trial was so passed in the sense that Puritan society did non instantly prostration, its diminution in the old ages following proves that the stableness of Salem was to be questioned. As more and more apparently guiltless are condemned, the cleft in Miller & # 8217 ; s
ucible seems to be widening.
There is literary grounds to back up the claim that The Crucible dainties on the cold-war craze and McCarthyism, during which Arthur Miller himself was blacklisted. Miller even makes mentions to the analogy between Salem and the modern internal con
ict, observing that & # 8220 ; there are Communists and capitalists now, and in each cantonment & # 8230 ; undercover agents of each side are at work sabotaging the other ( 32 ; Act 1 ) . & # 8221 ; The crucible metaphor seems to use to this excessively, as the Communist viing universe power was, in some effe
, a trial of American democracy. The McCarthy epoch every bit good saw a divergence from the officially recognized public philosophy as the clearly defined enemy, the discrepancy being that Communism was chiefly a foreign influence, while witchery originated from tungsten
hin.
Not one time in The Crucible does the writer reference a crucible or any other important vas. We are, hence, left to pull our ain decisions as to the symbolism behind the rubric. In scrutiny of both definitions, a thaw pot and a terrible trial,
happen distinguishable analogues to the subjects of the drama, every bit good as to the more recent historical analogue during which it was written. Just as the melting pot is the medium for transforming and proving the ability of a substance to keep its physical province,
he crucible Miller refers to in his rubric is one interior of which the nucleus of American Puritanism is tried and transformed.
