The Crucible The Scene Essay

The scene is dark, the only light shown is from a fire and the last breath of the sun as it kisses the earth goodnight. There are girls surrounding the fire with gifts in hand to cast a spell on those their heart’s desire. This is only the beginning of Arthur Miller’s 1996 film The Crucible, directed by Nicholas Hytner. While though this part of history is mostly known for the film version, it actually started as a play written by Arthur Miller in the 1950s. The movie is meant as reminder of the horrific 1692 Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts. This film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor, in an attempt to show the events …show more content…
As they run through the woods giggling and laughing they appear before a fire with symbols drawn around it. Tituba, a Barbados slave, was waiting for them as they circled the fire. Each of the girls had an offering for Tituba, a token for which she would enchant to make the person the owner’s heart desired to fall in love with them. Reverend Parris (Betty’s father and Abigail’s uncle) discovers the group of girls dancing naked in the woods as the scream and holler with Tituba in the center of everything. This helps set the mood of the …show more content…
According to a day-by-day chronicle of the Salem witch trials, the human body is liable to nonphysical aliments that can “sicken (with a fear of nonexistent toxins), kill (with enough stress that sends the heart into fibrillation), and cure (with placebos)” (Roach XXIV). Other physical conditions can be caused by stress like paralysis, blindness and even convulsions. In the movie Tituba was shown as being a black slave from the Caribbean, where in truth she was an Arawak or Crib Indian from Barbados. She had a documented role in the trial as she was arrest and confessed of witchcraft on March 1, 1692 (Museum