The destabilized and demoralized situation indicated, according to the Puritan interpretation, that God had turned his face away from his chosen people and that Satan was reaching out for power. The disasters that they endured, coupled with their strict theology, led to persecutions, including the Salem witch-hunts. Their creed was a snobbish sort who “carried about an air of innate resistance.” They forbade anything having to do with any sort of enjoyment, and in the instance of vacationing from work they found themselves concentrating harder upon prayer.Īs Miller makes plain in his explanatory notes to the play, even though the belief in witchcraft was widespread throughout the Christian world, New World Puritanism was much harsher than Old World Protestantism because of the Puritans’ trials in the wilderness. Miller portrays these Puritans as a selfish group of people who can claim witchery upon their neighbor or someone with whom they’re disputing for the simple purpose of self-benefit, without even feeling any hint of remorse about it. Miller relates the actions of the people in 1692 to present day by stating that when one rises above the villainy displayed, one can only pity them all, just as we shall be pitied someday. The cruel persecution of minorities and the interference of the state in the individual’s conscience became the key concerns of Miller’s criticism of this people’s actions and beliefs. Miller saw in history a parallel sequence of events: a mass hysteria that gripped people and destroyed the social fabric of their community. When John Proctor tries to save his wife and friends, he is forced to question his own values and beliefs and is made to choose between the purity of his name and the value of his life. Lies build upon lies as the chain of events escalates and results in many deaths. In so doing, she hopes to be able not only to affect vengeance on Proctor, who had earlier rejected her after an affair, but to regain him by eliminating her competition. Abigail Williams, the prime motivator behind these series of events, takes this opportunity to accuse Elizabeth, the wife of John Proctor, of practicing witchcraft.

This coincidence only helps exceed the villagers’ beliefs of supernatural possession. When one of the girls falls ill, accusation of witchery becomes their escape from suspicion.

Crucible by Ash Adler