Arthur Miller, writer of The Crucible, depicts women as weak individuals, subordinate to men and only accessing power through dishonesty. The Crucible, a play written in 1953, reinforces stereotypes of how women were treated in the 1950’s, by misrepresenting their roles, attitudes, and rights in society. The roles of women in The Crucible are very similar to the actual role of women in America during the 1950’s. Women during this time adopted standard roles such as being the “perfect mother” and an obedient wife, by cooking, cleaning, and maintaining chores around the household. The “Kelvinator Refrigerator” commercial from 1950, accurately portrays women. In the commercial, Hillary Brooke said, “What a wonderful setting for you,” suggesting that the kitchen was a women’s place. The television, magazines, and the radio inundated women with the assurance that the kitchen was their “home.” In Act II in The Crucible, Elizabeth brings out the rabbit she cooked for Proctor. “It hurt my heart to strip her, poor rabbit. She sits and watches him taste it.
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When women in the 1950’s spent too much time outside, they were accused of endangering their families and neglecting their husband and children. Anything that went wrong was always blamed on the wife, since it was her primary duty to sustain the household and make sure that things were orderly. In the Crucible, “He starts for the door as Mary Warren enters. As soon as he sees her, he goes directly to her and grabs her by her cloak, furious. How do you go to Salem when I forbid it? Do you mock me? I’ll whip you if you dare leave this house again!” (Act II, 53) As in the 1950’s women were not allowed to go anywhere without the permission of a man. In the 1950’s it was uncanny for a woman to attend a college. Although, the women who did go to college were most likely only there to improve domestic skills or to find a
When women in the 1950’s spent too much time outside, they were accused of endangering their families and neglecting their husband and children. Anything that went wrong was always blamed on the wife, since it was her primary duty to sustain the household and make sure that things were orderly. In the Crucible, “He starts for the door as Mary Warren enters. As soon as he sees her, he goes directly to her and grabs her by her cloak, furious. How do you go to Salem when I forbid it? Do you mock me? I’ll whip you if you dare leave this house again!” (Act II, 53) As in the 1950’s women were not allowed to go anywhere without the permission of a man. In the 1950’s it was uncanny for a woman to attend a college. Although, the women who did go to college were most likely only there to improve domestic skills or to find a