The Crucible Analysis

The Crucible by Arthur Miller explores multiple Human Experiences that help to connect the audience to the play. Miller uses human experiences so that the readers can imagine themselves as the characters that are experiencing the same experiences that they have throughout their lives. The experiences that Miller chooses to display in this text can be seen as a flow-on effect from each other.

In the play, Miller looks at the human experience of lust. Lust plays a major role in the relationships in the play. The most important relationship that lust influences are that of Abigail and John Proctor. Proctor is married to Elizabeth but he commits adultery with Abigail who was his former servant. Although in the play Abigail is seen as psychologically and emotionally closed off after she was orphaned as a young child, Proctor after he “sweated like a stallion” argued that he had “known her” from “the proper place”. Proctor always knew that it was always physical but for Abigail, she saw it as more than that. She saw it as love which is how Miller links the human experience of lust to love.

Miller does not explicitly look at the human experience of love but does involve it in the play as it is often confused with lust. Within the ‘love’ triangle of Abigail, Proctor, and Elizabeth love is seen as a concept that is not shown as it traditionally is. Abigail sees love and lust as the same and believes that sex equals love which is where the misconception of Proctor loving her stems from. Although Proctor tries to explain to her that it didn’t mean anything and was merely physical she answers him with “you love me still”. Even though adultery is seen as a terrible sin against the bible, Elizabeth still makes excuses for Proctor's actions because “it were a cold house I kept”. The motif of temperature is used extensively throughout this idea to show that it was a cold or terrible thing that Proctor did to Elizabeth but he still thinks she is too tough on him and that her “justice would freeze beer”. Miller uses this misconception of love to lead the story into the experience that Abigail is filled with. Jealousy.

Another human experience that is a lead on from the experience of love is that of jealousy. In the play, Abigail is portrayed as the character with the most jealousy after the affair that she had with Proctor. Her jealousy stems from Proctor not wanting to be with her or having any loving feelings towards her. Her jealousy is expanded from Proctor still being with Elizabeth which angers Abigail to the point where she wants to “dance on (Elizabeths) grave”.  Jealousy in turn leads to the human experience of manipulation.

Manipulation is found in multiple forms in The Crucible. The main forms are Abigail's manipulation of the girls after they are caught doing witchcraft and Danforth's manipulation of the law in the courts. Abigail uses the threat of violence to manipulate the other young girls that were caught with her. The fear that she would “bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” manipulates the girls to follow her lead in the hope that they would remain safe from her threats. Throughout the witch trials, decision-making Danforth uses his power to manipulate the law. The manipulation is shown through the inconsistency of no evidence being used as evidence to prosecute people against witchery. The motif of weight emphasizes how much power Danforth has over the decision making in the courts as he changes his mind on what he wants such as saying they can write a plea but then not accept the plea. Miller uses jealousy in the play to form the lead on to the experience of manipulation.

In summary, The Crucible by Arthur Miller explores the human experiences of lust, love, jealousy, and manipulation to help connect the audience to the play. The experiences flow on from each other to show that each experience can impact and influence the existence of another.