Religion, Repression, And Revenge In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Religion, repression, and revenge all play vital roles in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, by motivating the citizens’ accusations, rebellion, and mass hysteria. Without these elements, the witch trials would not have taken place. The religion of the Puritans, and their theocratic society caused the witch trials to worsen, citizens to make drastic choices, and fed the spread of mass hysteria throughout Salem. Since no separation between church and state existed, the people were forced to live a godly life in order to keep from breaking the law. Deviation from society was not tolerated in this community. Salem’s people only saw good and evil, black and white. A slight sign of individualism caused people to point their fingers and shout “witch”. A quote supporting this is when Danforth says “But you must understand, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road in between (ACT III; page 87).” All of the beliefs and extremeness of the citizens’ religion caused them to become more fearful, and gullible towards the whole event. Many people honestly believed they were …show more content…
Religion caused the witch hunts of Salem to worsen, citizens to make drastic decisions, and fed the mass hysteria and fear spreading through the town. Repression made the citizens of Salem use the witch trials as a way to rebel, gain rights, and have authority and power in the court. Revenge motivated people to use the accusations of witchcraft against those whom they despised in order to get back at them, or to gain land and satisfy their land lust. Today, events similar to these still happen in our world, with things such as revenge, religion, or repression motivating them. Those three elements will continue affecting people as long as we are on