Paul B.'s Project

The Crucible was a very well written, interesting and excellent choice to read. The play is written about apparent witch craft business going on in the small town of Salem. It all started when a group of girls suddenly became ill and started seeing things. This starts to occur more and more until their families and other residents of the town start to accuse random people of consorting with the devil or casting spells over the village. Arthur Miller writes and explains very well the scene at the beginning when Abigail and various other girls from the town were dancing and singing in the woods, when the whole witch craft talk first came to life. In the play there is also a reoccurring theme of jealousy surrounding one of the main characters, Abigail Williams. She was previously a worker in the house of John and Elizabeth Proctor but got fired from that for allegedly having an affair with John. Throughout the whole play, Abigail’s acts upon her jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor because she is obsessed with her husband. Abigail’s outrageous lies and actions throughout the novel end up with many innocent people dying who should not be. As for John Proctor, he can be viewed as the play’s tragic hero. The reason for this being that John in all ways is a honest and up-right man who makes one mistake that eventually leads to the down fall of his family and his life. The one mistake he made was his lust for Abigail, which then created her constant obsession and jealousy for Goody Proctor, which ultimately sets the whole play off with the witchcraft hysteria and nonsense. Another main character in this play is Reverend John Hale. Reverend Hale is called into Salem during Act I because he is an active witch hunter. Reverend Parris ultimately summoned Hale to Salem to figure out the problems the town has. However, by the end of the play, Hale has given up on the whole hysteria and has decided that it is all fake and being feigned.




I think that basically anyone who enjoys reading a well written play would like reading The Crucible. The main reason for this is because its interesting, kind of funny and most importantly it keeps you reading. That is what makes plays as popular as they become, how enjoyable they are, and as for me at least, this was very enjoyable to read.