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Foreshadowing
Genre
Explanation and Analysis:
The Crucible by Arthur Miller fits into several genres, but it’s primarily a historical drama. It’s based on real events, with characters drawn from the real events of the Salem witch trials in 1692 Massachusetts. Miller uses period-specific speech and customs to depict the Puritan society’s hysteria and claustrophobic atmosphere accurately. The play is intended to both entertain and educate, as it both teaches about real events and engages the audience with those events on a deeper level.
Within its historical designation, the play also has an element of the allegorical. Miller wrote it referencing another historical “witch hunt,” the US “Red Scare” of the McCarthy era. Anti-communist sentiment in the country was high, and there was intense fear and paranoia about Communism in the United States. Like the Salem witch trials, this period of fear led to widespread blacklisting and the investigation of anyone suspected of leftist alignments. The play shows how fear and suspicion can lead to widespread injustice in any circumstances.
The play also belongs to the tragedy genre. Characters like John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams are faced with moral dilemmas that have obvious origins in extenuating circumstances. Despite their best efforts—or, in Abigail’s case, because of them—they have to endure severe consequences for crimes they didn’t commit. In line with the conventions of the drama, the play ends with almost all its central characters experiencing ruin or death.
Related Themes:
