The Crucible By Arthur Miller: The Theme Of Jealousy And Lies

Imagine having someone like Abigail who is jealous of you and starts accusing you of for something that you didn’t do just to get her own way. Arthur Miller develops the theme of jealousy and lies in the play The Crucible.

There might be consequences when you get jealous and start accusing others for no reason, therefore just try to prevent it even if it’s hard not to. It will save you from a lot of trouble. The play took place in a small town called Salem in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. A historical content was that one man was crushed to death, seven others died in prison, and the lives of many were irrevocably changed. A social context was that Puritans believed that they needed to be in an agreement with God in order to be saved from one’s sinful condition.

Elizabeth Proctor was a dynamic and flat character. She had a great change throughout the play. She lied in the court about her husband cheating on her to save his name. Her emotions throughout the play were accurate. Elizabeth’s motivations is that she wants John Proctor to feel guilty about what he had done, but once he got accused of witchcraft she just wanted to be with him. Elizabeth Proctor was a christian women. She tied to her beliefs and she realizes at the end what she has done wrong. If this play would have not had Elizabeth in it there would have not been more suspension, forgiveness, and acceptance in the play. People’s characters would have to change a lot because they communicated in one way with Elizabeth. The conflict type in this play is man vs. man (primary) and man vs. society (secondary). A specific conflict is that people were being falsely accused of witchcraft. For example, when the girls went to the woods and they danced. T

he protagonist in this play was John Proctor because he forgave, confronted Abigail, and protected his wife. The antagonist in this play was Abigail because she made accusations and kept it going. The conflict contributes to the progression of the plot because John Proctor has to sign lie and sign the confession to save himself from being hanged. The conflict resolution is that when Procter signs the confession form, but he can’t hand it over so he rips it up before they take it up. He then is taken to go hang in the gallows. The tone with any shifts of the play is that the tone throughout the play is panic and bitter. Its panic because people have been accused of witchcraft and didn’t know about it and they panicked about it. Also, its bitter because people would get angry at others and accuse them for no reason. One literary element is a simile. When Abigail says, “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near. ”

Abigail was comparing John Proctor to a stallion by how he was so affectionate towards her. Another literary element is hyperbole. It was taken place when John Proctor said, “On, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!” He means that Elizabeth does not care and that she has no compassion. She is very cold. There was so many differences in the book and movie. One substantial similarity was that Hale denounces the court proceedings because he sees that the girls are lying. One substantial difference was that in the movie Tituba is beaten until she confesses. In the book Elizabeth Proctor says to tell her sons she’s gone to visit a sick friend.

The play The Crucible is about witchcraft and people being accused of it and reveals that they are jealous and lie. In the play they lie by how they accuse people of being witches when they are not and they are jealous by what other people have that they don’t. Abigail wants Elizabeth dead so she can be with John Proctor. Thomas Putnam wants other people's property. John Proctor did not say anything about being alone with Abigail. Abigail makes other girls not tell the truth by forcing them to follow her on what she does. There was a lot about jealousy of people wanting other thing they had that they wanted. Also, they would lie to get what they wanted and they would get the people accused to get the things they wanted. Yes, the theme relates to the readers today because lots of people get jealous of others by what they have, their looks, and by who they hang out with. Many lie to get what they want, to stay out of trouble, and to not upset other people by telling them the truth.