The Crucible As A Tragedy

The crucible is a representative of tragic works. This is a novel written by Arthur Miller, which uses real language to describe the tragic encounters and desire of people to live in a situation where Puritans are full of society. According to an online article: Tragedy in Arthur Miller ’s The Crucible, I figured out why The crucible is a tragedy. The first is the feudal thought of society, the second is human indifference, and the third is selfishness. I will find evidence to support my three points in the following three paragraphs.

In the crucible, Betty and Abagher danced with some other girls in the woods at night, but their father and uncle misunderstood witchcraft. Indifference in society can cause misunderstandings between people. Say what? My daughter and niece found me dancing like a pagan in the forest ‘(Miller10). Their Betty father and Abigail’s uncle (Parris) said from him that In his words, he will feel uncomfortable with girls dancing and afraid of others. In the online article, the author also describes people’s traditional thinking and the prevention of witchcraft rumors. ‘When about Salem witchcraft When the news spread, that kind of fear, delusion was imminent, and the tragedy began. The rumor came out with the fear of someone ‘(page 1). The fear of rumors and the backwardness of thought led to the beginning of the tragedy of the whole society. Whether in the play or online articles, readers feel that they are living in society Panic.

Human indifference is also fully reflected in the play. In the play, Betty tells Abigail to drink chicken blood and curse Elizabeth to protect herself. ‘You did it, you did it! You got drunk and killed John Proctor’s wife! You got drunk and killed Goody Proctor.’ This sentence describes Betty telling Mary Warren, because she was so scared, she angrily accused her of being a way to protect herself and avoid charges from others. But Abigail did not admit that she drank chicken blood and cursed Elizabeth. Betty’s relationship with Abigail has changed from dancing together to being so indifferent. In this article, the author also assesses the indifference of society. “Fear is society’s tool. In Puritan New England paranoia was a common aspect. The people lived in fear of the devil, a physical devil that existed and walked among them”(page1). The central idea that the author wants to express is that fear can make human nature indifferent. In order to achieve his or her own purpose, regardless of the result of others, Indifferent society is also one of the reasons this play becomes a tragedy.

In the play, we can clearly understand the selfishness of each character, not only that, but also the selfishness of the entire society. The selfishness of society makes everyone dare not stand up and face the facts. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes” (Miller24). This scene describes Abigail’s angry complaint against Proctor because Proctor defended his wife Elizabeth, and told him the foolishness and selfishness of the society. In the article, the author also mentioned Salem’s selfishness and the residents who harmed each other in order to avoid charges. “People turned against each other saving themselves by accusing their neighbors. All of these consequences sprouted from fear in the hearts and minds of the people of Salem”(page1). In this society, in order to achieve their own interests, people choose to let selfishness flood the entire society. That’s why The crucible became a tragedy.

The crucible gives readers a sense of what a traditional, indifferent and selfish society looks like. Articles on the Internet also link this tragedy, showing the details of social analysis and the details of how people hurt others in order to protect themselves. Reading the articles on the Internet gave me a deeper view and better understanding of this play.

1. https://schoolworkhelper.net/tragedy-in-arthur-millers-the-crucible/