”The Crucible” by Arthur Miller Literary Analysis

An outlook on gender roles in today ‘s advanced society is drastic contrast to the views portrayed in the crucible written by Arthur Miller depicts women as weak . None of the females in crucible posses extreme power but the truthful pre-hearted and family oriented women seemed to be even less powerful than the others . Therefore, Miller has also shown women sufferance In crucible through interpretive evidence on how tituba was being accused for all witchcraft and how she demolished the puritan society rules. According to the document women are not as inferior as men , despite how literate they are , their always fictionalize as barmaids, bitches, whores, or brainless housewives .

In crucible ,Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca nurse are two of the powerless women characterized by Miller. Arthur Miller has also depicted the theory of objection of women through out crucible where Abigail Williams serves as the catalyst for the plays events .Hence, it is her false accusations which initiated the witchcraft hysteria in Salem (miller 11-13) .Therefore, sexism may be defined as the negative response to a threat that is either real or imagined. In society today, sexism plays major role in terms of image reputations and perceptions similarly in crucible puritan society was that women were required to be meek and yet protected by their honor , in order to that Women would be disciplined physically and publicly for not being modest, obedient, and quiet. Women who were out-spoken were typically targeted for accusations of witchcraft, as were women deemed to be too attractive and therefore guilty of “bewitching” men into lusting after them.

The society of salem is a very patriarchal society where the men have power is one of the main driving forces that contribute to the dynamics of the community and how people, interact with each other. Authority and power is dominant in two areas in puritan society it’s the church and males. For instance Reverend Samuel Parris uses the authority of the church to place himself higher then others in the community. He makes his own requests through the church, demanding that he should be given golden candlesticks. This shows manipulation on a small scale; on a much larger scale, Abigail and the other girls, who have no power whatsoever in the beginning of the play (miller 42).

Gender stereotypes present a conventionally simplified and standardized conception or image concerning the typical and social roles of male and female which consists of human society are two natural and contradictory forces in cosmos .In society men have always been addressed as the most powerful and dominating gender whereas they have the power to enforce the decision and dominate over women , who have always been addressed helpless and fearful for example tituba was accused for witchery , in the court records or contemporary accounts is Tituba said to have taught the practice of fortune telling to the girls in Rev Parris’ house. The fortune telling technique that the girls’ used, as reported by one of them to the Reverend Hale (miller 44-48) , Miller showed the significant of dominance through social and cultural aspect as been noted that women are always unimportant and negalated in the society.

In conclusion gender stereotypes are changing and crossing along the social structure, when this structure undergoes change such as women participation the paid workforce in 20th century , connecting back to contemporary society. Such as in crucible ,Miller conveyed through his literary work that women were mostly consisted of false accusations of witchery, it was a female who was dancing on the woods (miller 22) that broke puritan law resulting in the beginning of “finger pointing” which indeed induced the salem witch trials. Subsequently It was also a woman who seduced John Proctor into cheating on his wife resulting in false accusations that spiraled out of control( miller 29-31) .Thus ,Arthur Miller also pointed