Imagine living in a world where no human oppresses another. Imagine living in a world where no one is poor and no one is rich. Imagine living in a world where the social class system is non-existent. Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, foresaw the image of this apparent communist utopia forming in every society; he expected the maltreated working classes to fight back against those who have immense, misused power. He believed that material possessions have a powerful enough influence on our lives to be considered the sole reason of historical change. The town of Salem in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is readily portrayed as a society with a great divide between those of different social standings. Power-obsessed characters who defy their
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He affirms his high social status by forcefully yelling at Abigail, his former seventeen year-old servant and mistress, “Do you look for whippin’?”, after she reminds him of his previous misdeeds. Abigail would clearly be considered as the proletariat for being the younger, dominated servant and in comparison Proctor would fill the role of the bourgeoisie as her master, in terms of social standing. However, when Abigail guiltlessly accuses other innocent women of witchcraft, including Proctor’s wife Elizabeth, she elevates her social position. We see this happen when Elizabeth mentions to Proctor after the witch-hunts have begun that “where she [Abigail] walks, the crowd will part like the sea in Israel”, signifying that the townspeople fear Abigail and her newfound power, a trait that a person low in a social hierarchy would never possess. Abigail may not have an ample amount of riches or other material possessions, yet she still has a major influence over the fate of others in her society. The resentful conflict between Abigail and Elizabeth, shown when she labels her a “cold, snivelling woman”, drives her actions and accusations, which can be perceived as a revolution against the commanding bourgeoisie. However, instead of equalising the classes and social standings as Marxism predicts, this revolution reverses the roles of the proletariat and the
He affirms his high social status by forcefully yelling at Abigail, his former seventeen year-old servant and mistress, “Do you look for whippin’?”, after she reminds him of his previous misdeeds. Abigail would clearly be considered as the proletariat for being the younger, dominated servant and in comparison Proctor would fill the role of the bourgeoisie as her master, in terms of social standing. However, when Abigail guiltlessly accuses other innocent women of witchcraft, including Proctor’s wife Elizabeth, she elevates her social position. We see this happen when Elizabeth mentions to Proctor after the witch-hunts have begun that “where she [Abigail] walks, the crowd will part like the sea in Israel”, signifying that the townspeople fear Abigail and her newfound power, a trait that a person low in a social hierarchy would never possess. Abigail may not have an ample amount of riches or other material possessions, yet she still has a major influence over the fate of others in her society. The resentful conflict between Abigail and Elizabeth, shown when she labels her a “cold, snivelling woman”, drives her actions and accusations, which can be perceived as a revolution against the commanding bourgeoisie. However, instead of equalising the classes and social standings as Marxism predicts, this revolution reverses the roles of the proletariat and the