The Crucible Analysis

Arjun Dheer   Period 3   Other forces within the society also support Miller’s choice of a title for this play. The constant feeling of paranoia that the characters exhibited throughout the play contributed to the intense pressure that forced people to either confess or die. As stated before, this society was a Puritan one that shunned anything that could be connected to the Devil. Accordingly, the villagers were determined to rid their town of the Devil’s influence, and the ideology of judges such as Danforth only added to the fear and hysteria. Danforth consistently stated that he would not rest until every corner of the village was cleansed. This internal pressure only added to the feelings of hopelessness and fear that permeated through the society. People were scared of being blamed for witchcraft and many blamed others in order to avoid being blamed themselves. Others got caught up in the hoopla and believed that their neighbors truly were witches and blamed them for the pettiest occurrences.   Hundreds of people succumbed to all this pressure and were hanged as a result. This play truly embodies what a crucible is, because the intensity of the trials ended up coming out with the truth: that the girls were simply lying. That is exactly what a crucible does as it separates fact from fiction via heat and pressure. Though much was sacrificed in the form of human lives during the trials, the good came out on top as the executions stopped and people realized that the girls were just being dishonest. It is for these reasons that The Crucible is an ideal title for Arthur Miller’s play.