Plays have been predominantly used for entertainment in the world 's past, yet there have been exceptions to it where the play is used as a tool of representation of certain ideas and themes. Two plays where their primary purpose was to show certain ideas and themes are All My Sons and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller wrote these two stories around the period of world war two (WWII) and as such, could be an indicator of how society was then. Both plays support John Stuart Mill 's idea of Utilitarianism by explaining how family is more important than oneself, lies and deceit affect the community, not only oneself, and guilt can cause a man to regain his moral compass. The meaning of family is different for people everywhere yet
…show more content…
In The Crucible, people are accusing one another of being a witch and is reminiscent of McCarthyism, where senator McCarthy called many different people communists in the era known as the red scare, and in doing so, caused distrust in the people, so the people looked to him for answers and safety, even though he lied about his information. While everything he said was completely false, no one dared to speak up against him because they became the next target in his game of lies. This whole situation inspired Miller to write The Crucible. The Crucible has John Proctor, who cheated on his wife with a young girl named Abigail who fell in love with him. Abigail saw his wife Elizabeth as a pest and so she claimed Elizabeth was a witch. Abigail continued by calling many others witches and in doing so, created fear in the community. Abigail lied and deceived people, using fear to control them, just as senator McCarthy did. With the deceit John Proctor had by having an affair with Abigail, Abigail caused many problems to try to get rid of her. Proctor, guilty with what he did, wants to move on, but his wife doesn’t know if she could forgive him for what he did. Elizabeth tells Proctor about what’s happening in Salem, yet he chooses not to go, even when his wife asks him to; “John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I …show more content…
In All My Sons, Joe realizes that his family no longer is okay with what he did. One of his sons committed suicide over his crime and the other wants to throw him in jail so he does the only thing he thinks is for the greater good; “Get the car. I’ll put on my jacket.” Joe says he’s going for his coat, he tells his son he’s ready to go, yet he doesn’t. He kills himself. Joe killed himself because he realized what he did not only was wrong, it was destroying his family and had quite possibly already destroyed it. He did what was best for his family, a decision he thought would help them overcome his mistake. In The Crucible, John Proctor is asked to sign a contract where it incriminates others of witchcraft. Instead John, feeling the guilt of his mistakes of cheating on his wife, declines to sign the document, ripping it up and making a sacrifice for the good of others; “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!” (Crucible, Act Four). John Proctor here tells Danforth that he won’t be the one to ruin his community, because he isn’t like Tituba and Sarah, he was his own man, John Proctor and that name had pride and dignity.
In The Crucible, people are accusing one another of being a witch and is reminiscent of McCarthyism, where senator McCarthy called many different people communists in the era known as the red scare, and in doing so, caused distrust in the people, so the people looked to him for answers and safety, even though he lied about his information. While everything he said was completely false, no one dared to speak up against him because they became the next target in his game of lies. This whole situation inspired Miller to write The Crucible. The Crucible has John Proctor, who cheated on his wife with a young girl named Abigail who fell in love with him. Abigail saw his wife Elizabeth as a pest and so she claimed Elizabeth was a witch. Abigail continued by calling many others witches and in doing so, created fear in the community. Abigail lied and deceived people, using fear to control them, just as senator McCarthy did. With the deceit John Proctor had by having an affair with Abigail, Abigail caused many problems to try to get rid of her. Proctor, guilty with what he did, wants to move on, but his wife doesn’t know if she could forgive him for what he did. Elizabeth tells Proctor about what’s happening in Salem, yet he chooses not to go, even when his wife asks him to; “John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I …show more content…
In All My Sons, Joe realizes that his family no longer is okay with what he did. One of his sons committed suicide over his crime and the other wants to throw him in jail so he does the only thing he thinks is for the greater good; “Get the car. I’ll put on my jacket.” Joe says he’s going for his coat, he tells his son he’s ready to go, yet he doesn’t. He kills himself. Joe killed himself because he realized what he did not only was wrong, it was destroying his family and had quite possibly already destroyed it. He did what was best for his family, a decision he thought would help them overcome his mistake. In The Crucible, John Proctor is asked to sign a contract where it incriminates others of witchcraft. Instead John, feeling the guilt of his mistakes of cheating on his wife, declines to sign the document, ripping it up and making a sacrifice for the good of others; “You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!” (Crucible, Act Four). John Proctor here tells Danforth that he won’t be the one to ruin his community, because he isn’t like Tituba and Sarah, he was his own man, John Proctor and that name had pride and dignity.