The Importance of Context in The Crucible by Aurthur...

Context influences all texts, whether it be a novel, play or movie. It is the reader’s knowledge of the historical and cultural background influencing a text, which allows enrichment of reading and understanding that can be gained from a text. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which is a fitting example of this statement. This is due to the multiple references Miller has made to both the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and to the McCarthy era, the period in which the play was written. Although Miller states â€Å"this play is not history†, it serves as an allegory for both time periods and it was the appreciation I had for the historical and cultural context of these time periods which enriched my understanding and reading of the play. The†¦show more content†¦They also believed that confessions of their sins saved them from themselves, a similarity with characters from The Crucible where blame placed on someone else constantly, to take guilt from ones self, Abigail began accusing others by saying: I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osborn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!(2) Accusations needing to be on anybody but her, Abigail disregards others and accuses them. The Salem Witch Trials, encouraged people to make accusations against their friends and neighbours to gain their own freedom, in scenes as the ones listed previously Miller emphasises and dramatises this idea. Another example of a Puritan theocracy is the punishment of an alternative opinion, as John Proctor yelled in The Crucible, â€Å"I say-I say God is dead!†(3) He caused uproar within the community and inevitably the end of his own life. The town felt that because John Proctor believed in something against that of the Court’s which was God’s then he must be working for the Devil and must be killed. The referencing in the play to the periods of time where similar issues of right-wing, conformed views were present was not only linked to The Puritan society but also with McCarthyism, present in the 1950’s. Arthur Miller wrote the play in the 1950’s at a time where America was undergoing strife under the anti-communist regimes of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The time was riddled with right-wing views, whirlwinds of