The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play that has become famous and renowned as an American drama. Written in 1953, The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials that took place circa 1692.
It is a fiction story based on a true story with several major themes running through the play in its entirety. Essentially, The Crucible is a story about a group of young girls who decide to make up lies about various women in the town practicing witchcraft in order to protect themselves from being labeled as witches. Abigail Williams is the ringleader of the group.
The Crucible is often required to be read in many English courses. Teachers and professors tend to ask students to write papers discussing main issues. That’s probably why you are here! We’ve created a list and some further explanation of The Crucible essay topics to help you get started with your college writing assignment.
The Power of Lies over the Truth
When Abigail and others within the community began accusing various women of being witches, the young girls realized it gave them immense power. They were deciding the fate of the people they accused. Normally, teenaged girls do not hold any authority within society, but through the paranoia and hysteria of this town, they and Abigail especially had newfound power through their lies.
Community vs. the Individual
By writing this play, Miller was under fire for supporting communism, and it is an evident theme and issue presented in The Crucible. There are a few characters in the story that are more interested in their personal protectiveness and gains than in the good of the community. This mindset comes back to bite them in the end.
Irony
At times. irony can be hard to understand. It can be hard to find real examples, but it is present in The Crucible. Irony is a figure of speech when the opposite of what you expect happens. The irony in this play is that the people want to purge their community from evil and make it a better and safer place. In reality, this attempt at normalcy drives the town into becoming more and more chaotic and destroyed.
Paranoia
Hysteria and paranoia are very obvious issues in The Crucible. As readers, we get to see that these two things are capable of wielding. We see what happens when paranoia takes hold of people’s minds. It makes them believe things they, otherwise, wouldn’t believe, and do things they wouldn’t normally do. It can easily spiral out of control and all common sense goes out the window.
Feel free to use one or more of the four example issues we’ve provided here in your upcoming essay. Once you have identified a central issue like the ones presented here, you can use the play to find exact examples and quotes to back up what you are claiming in your paper. Doing this makes you more credible and will lead to success in your The Crucible Essay. Good luck!