Arthur Miller, The Crucible- Explain how tension is...

In The Crucible there is a lot of tension that builds gradually throughout the play. Tension is a very important factor in The Crucible and Arthur Miller uses a lot of different techniques to create and illustrate it. The tension repeatedly rises, and then falls. This could be displayed in a graph. The graph would start with small peaks, and as the tension escalates the peaks would gradually become higher. Note every peak would be higher than the previous to show a gradual build of tension throughout the whole play. I am going to focus mainly on the end of act one, and the start of act two. I will explore the two scenes in great detail, and compare how the tension is similar and how it is different. The first thing that is striking to†¦show more content†¦The crescendo of voices causes mass hysteria on the stage. Also the repetition of I saw with the devil dominates the stage by creating on extremely tense atmosphere. This crescendo of voices increases the mass hysteria. This contrasts enormously with the beginning of Act 2. There is no dialogue at the beginning of the scene, and the only sound heard after the mass hysteria, is Elizabeth singing a peaceful lullaby to her children. The room instead of being full of people, is actually completely empty. The juxtaposition between the two scenes would affect the audience enormously and add a sense of anticipation and involvement. The first thing that happens in this scene is when John Proctor enters the room. He looks around and notices a pot of stew simmering over the fireplace, he tastes the stew but however he is not quite pleased with the taste. He Takes a pinch of salt, and drops it into the pot. He does this secretly as not to upset Elizabeth. This shows the secretive element to their relationship as well as his underlying consideration for her feelings. As Elizabeth enters she does not embrace Proctor nor does she greet him with any physical contact; metaphorically this implies distance. She just asks:What keeps you so late?The first dialogue spoken is a question. She obviously doesnt trust him and in the back of her mind she imagines he has been with his mistress, Abigail. He answers her questions in very little detail. HisShow MoreRelatedHow Does Arthur Miller Create Drama and Tension in Act 1 of ‘the Crucible’?1661 Words   |  7 PagesHow does Arthur Miller create drama and tension in Act 1 of ‘The Crucible’? The Crucible is a play, which explores the witch- hunting hysteria that happened in Salem 1692. Miller uses this â€Å"organized mass-hysteria†[1] to comment on his own similar experience during the 1950s. Through â€Å"The Crucible†, Miller is able to draw an analogy between the hysteria of the Salem witch-trails and its modern parallel of the anti communist ‘witch-hunts’ which occurred due to the HUAC-House of un-American CommitteeRead MoreThe Cold War And The Cuban Missile Crisis2976 Words   |  12 PagesActivities Committee each year. In 1956, the House Un-American Activities Committee convicted one man (of many) for being ‘communist’. That man’s name was Arthur Miller: acclaimed playwright and author. It would be an understatement to say that Miller did not take the false accusation lightly in any manner whatsoever. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a riveting four-act play describing a witchcraft hysteria spreading throughout the small town of Salem, Massachusetts and the specific role eachRead MoreAn Age Of Mass Hysteria1623 Words   |  7 Pagesfalsely accused of witchcraft from 1692 to 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts and 20 of those people were executed. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible follows a group of people in Salem and their struggle to find an answer that explains the tragedies of life through religion. Their faith plays such an influential role in their life that they use it to explain things that modern science would explain. They believe that the bad things that happen are due to the devil who is aided by witches. As the people of SalemRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller983 Words   |  4 PagesReputation in The Crucible In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one of the many themes that stands out to most people is the importance of a having a good name and reputation. Miller uses certain characters outcomes in the play to prove that reputation was actually not the biggest concern. He consistently shows that reputation means nothing when it came to being accused during the Salem Witch Trials because many innocent people were killed. People began to use these accusations for theirRead MoreTheme Of Betrayal In The Crucible1436 Words   |  6 PagesArthur Miller wrote The Crucible, which is about the witchcraft that begins in the home of Reverend Parris. His daughter Betty, who is obviously affected by witchcraft after he had found Betty and her friends performing witchcraft with Tituba. Long after the teenage girls were caught, they came up with a scheme to keep themselves out of trouble. Along this journey the girls’ false stories ended up hurting the people they loved. In this story, Aut hor Miller shows the theme is about good vs evil, survivalRead MoreThe Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx Essay2047 Words   |  9 PagesSince the inception of communism in the early 1840’s, the idea has created turmoil and instilled fear in both the western world and eastern world alike. This philosophy, created by Karl Marx in his novel The Communist Manifesto has started wars, created a massive decline in productivity and destroyed the liberty of many deserving citizens. Leaders of communism, including Hugo Chavez and Joseph Stalin, have perfected the art of exploitation of the mind through mob mentality, or the human tendencyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Crucible Essay1890 Words   |  8 PagesMy time travel experience to the 1600’s started in Paul Green Theatre as I sat down to watch The Crucible. I was joined by Reverend Samuel Parris, Betty Parris, and audience members taking up all four corners of the Parris’ upper bedroom in 15th century Salem on the cent er stage during Act 1. The Parris’ house filled up quickly as we saw Betty Parris bed-ridden and dealing with an illness deemed as the devil’s work by members of the Salem community. The hysteria of witchcraft spread immediately throughoutRead More Arthur Millers The Crucible Essay3348 Words   |  14 PagesArthur Millers The Crucible The Crucible was written in 1952 by the twentieth century American playwright Arthur Miller (1915-.) Miller was born in New York and educated at the University of Michigan where he began to write plays. Most of Millers plays are set in contemporary America and on the whole offer a realistic portrayal of life and society and the theme of self-realization is re-current e.g. John Proctor in The Crucible. The Crucible was the third play Miller wroteRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller2081 Words   |  9 Pages#1 â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller is a tragedy, this play has only two acts and does not include scenes in the acts. Instead of cutting from scene to scene, there is a description of how the lighting focuses on a different place or time-period, which from there, they continue on in a different setting. The play doesn’t go in chronological order. A lot of the play is present in Willy’s flashbacks or memories of events. This provides an explanation of why the characters are acting a certainRead More Tragic Hero in The Crucible Essay2240 Words   |  9 PagesTragic Hero in The Crucible What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states The change in the heros fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any wickedness but in some great error on his part.† In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are