The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, depicts the human struggle against vengeance and the wrath of another human being. It explores many relevant topics such as hysteria, morality, and reputation, many of which relate back to Miller's experience with McCarthyism during the 1950s. The play unfolds in the town of Salem during the 1690s, where an outbreak of rumors claiming witchcraft wreaks havoc among the small Puritan community with an excessively rigid social system. The hysteria instigated by a group of young girls, led by Abigail Williams, demonstrates their fear of being caught straying from their stiff social regulations. Scholars have argued The Crucible is a morality play as it represents elements of society and contains the main character who embodies either a whole or a fragment of society. Playwright Arthur Miller stated “The Crucible was meant to represent a conflict between right and wrong in { } major political movements,” demonstrating the play’s connection to the McCarthy era and universally to times of conflict.
The town of Salem followed a very strict and conservative set of rules that made it very easy for the community to disobey them. This is especially the case with Abigail Williams once she is confronted, begins to place blame on other people. Abigail's strong concern for her reputation reveals how Salem required people to act according to its rigid social and religious rules. Essentially, a ruined reputation meant a ruined life in Salem. “How may I live without my name?” “My name is good in the village! I will not have it spoiled!” These rigid social regulations were put in place in order to maintain the town’s relationship with God since religion was so heavily ingrained into their society, as well as to keep Salem in order. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything…” However, as the play progresses, these regulations separate Salem into bands of ‘good’ and evil’, and questions are raised as to whether the actions towards those accused of witchcraft are moral or not. In religious terms of that time, a person either belonged to God or the Devil. The court in Salem belonged to God, therefore, anyone who went against it or opposed it, like John Proctor and Giles Corey, was ultimately against God and hence deemed an enemy of the court. “...a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” This displays the predominance of religion in the judicial system of Salem as well as the immoral structure on which that system was based.
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Reverend Hale, as well as other major characters such as Proctor and Corey, serve as a strong example that leans The Crucible towards the direction of a morality play. This is due to their strong sense of righteousness as well as Miller’s characterization of them. “More weight” when referring to Hale embodies the “Good” in him as he tries to reason with the insanity plaguing the town. He enters the play as a man full of knowledge and dignity having prior dealing with ‘witchery’ and the mention of his books “...weighted with authority” serves as a symbol of his education. Unlike so many others in Salem, Hale wants to believe in solid evidence and proof before condemning a person rather than taking the word of one’s accusation towards another. Likewise, Proctor represents the rationality and the moral ground that the town notably doesn’t possess and has been characterized by Miller as level-headed and able to look past the hysteria and absurdity. “Is the accuser holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers?” Proctor becomes suspicious of the outbreak of witches informing the court of his fears. Ironically, on the other hand, Judge Hathorne and Deputy Governor Danforth who should represent goodness ignore the pleas for extra time to investigate and pridefully continue with the court's proceedings. Not only do Hathorne and Danforth have no proof of the crimes other than the accusations of the people of Salem, but they leave the accused no options; either lie to save their lives and 'admit' to the wrongdoings accused of, or they die telling the truth, which indicates that society is so corrupt and immoral that truth or justice will not prevail. “It profits nothin’ to keep this conspiracy. Will you confess...?”
On the other side of the spectrum, however, Abigail, Harthorne, and Danforth, to only name a few, embody the “Bad” in Salem. “Let either of you breathe a word...I will come to you...of some terrible night and will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” They refuse to reason with rationality, throw away what little morality they may have had, and instead succumb to the hysteria originally instigated by Abigail by condemning people based on accusations rather than believing in rationality and proof. “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil... I saw Sarah Good with the Devil!...” The people of Salem look for reasons to accuse one another, even for details of extremely minor importance without considering the consequences nor the morality of condemning what may be an innocent person. This is especially the case with Abigail as she, as well as the other young girls in the town, continually lies to keep their reputation intact while simultaneously dragging the names of innocent people towards death. “ A cold wind has come...” “Suddenly from accusatory attitude, her face turns, looking into the air above…” “They’re pretending!”
The Crucible brings to light how the power to bring wrath upon others and vengeance can lead people to lose their sense of morality. This is clear through Miller’s characterization of both the “Good” and “Bad” characters in the play as well as the progression of the hysteria that washes over Salem. Therefore, when Abigail attempts to maintain her reputation, her wrongdoings can easily start a chain of hysteria that ultimately leads to the collapse of morality and loss of humanity.
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