Examples Of Intolerance In The Crucible

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a very interesting because it took place so long ago and is about something that happened in our American history but is also still a fictional play. The Crucible is about two main characters, John Proctor, and Abigail Williams. In the beginning Abigail Williams is caught by her uncle, Reverend Parris, dancing in the woods with their maid Tituba and many other girls. Betty, Abigail 's cousin, and another younger girl became sick and unable to wake up. Witchcraft is thrown up as a possible cause of the little girls being ill and the entire town becomes fearful. Abby takes this opportunity for revenge. She claims to have seen the devil and names many people she seen with him. The other girls do the same. The people …show more content…
Judge Danforth is a very good example of this in act three. “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be against it, there be no road between…” (Page 1298) Danforth did not want people trying to correct or go against what he was saying. Act three displays a lot of controversy and disagreement between the characters. Danforth wanted to see everything as black or white and heavily demonstrates intolerance for anyone who does not agree with him or is not exactly one way or another. He also does this when asking a woman if she is a witch. She says she does not know what a witch is and he says that if she doesn’t know what one was she could not be certain that she was not one. Danforth believes that anytime someone tries to say something that contradicts his thoughts that they are trying to destroy the court. Reverend Parris does this also. The court is intolerant of anyone not agreeing completely with their thoughts and methods. This is why he says that the characters are either for or against the court. Intolerance is a very important theme throughout the play and it works well and goes with the idea of hysteria in …show more content…
Witchcraft is not a common idea for many readers which is why it is so entertaining. In this play the main character, Abby, accuses people of this act and John Proctor tries to save the innocent people. Abigail and her girls have a firm grasp on the people in Salem and have control over the court. John and some other characters try in many ways to fight against the girls and get everyone to see how ridiculous these accusations are. Throughout the play the four main themes of reputation, intolerance, empowerment, and hysteria give the acts a more interesting and deeper looks at what all is really going on. This play would be good for anyone who enjoys plays, history, fictional stories, and