Ten Commandments Essay Example for Free

Ten Commandments Essay All the characters in the story have their parts on building up the atmosphere. Abigail has the biggest impact because holds some sort of power over all the other girls and they all fear her, so the fear and hysteria comes from her actions and her friends; Betty, Tituba and Mary. She has courage, intelligence and a charismatic personality but uses these gifts in destructive ways. She causes a harmful influence on the terrified villagers; she has a big impact on creating the hysteria and fear in the play. Reverend Samuel Parris is also a person who creates this setting of fear and hysteria. He is like a servant towards the people who are rich and so on but very brutal to anyone unable to defend for themselves. This explains why Betty loses her consciousness when he finds her in the forest. When the blame is safety diverted to Tituba Mr Parris becomes an enthusiastic witch hunter and changes his views on Mr Hale. Mrs Putnam, as well hasnt got much positive to say about her. She takes the rumours of witchcraft as a chance to find a scapegoat for the loss of her children, however our sympathy to this changes when we find out that she has sent her daughter to talk to spirits. Both Putnams make use of Parris to stir up the witch-hunt. He is responsible for many of the accusations of witchcraft, and takes advantage of this to gain more land off of people. Mr Parris is desperately trying to find someone to put the blame onto and since Tituba was the first to be accused, she is pressurised by him, Mr Hale and Abigail at the same time. You really feel for Tituba in this scene because all of the people seem to join up against her and scrutinise her until she either is at the point of confessing or accusing someone. However until that point is illustrated, Mr Hale and Mr Pariss interrogation against Tituba has great deal of hysteria, tension and fear. So her own friend Abigail accuses Tituba of talking to the Devil. She obviously disagrees to this not making it any better for herself. She comes to me while I sleep; shes always making me dream corruptions. Says Abigail to them (Mr Hale and Mr Paris). Every time Abigail accuses Tituba, someone has something to say Like Mrs Putnam or Mr Parris, to really make her look guilty. This forms an atmosphere of tension because the more and more she is questioned she is getting herself deeper into trouble, which means closer to death. She is really afraid and falls to her feet sobbing in terror after Putnam says she should be hanged. No, No, dont hang Tituba! I tell him I dont desire to work for him, sir. Tituba says using her own name. Later on in the conversation, she gives up and tells them that she saw several people with the Devil. From then is where she starts to name peoples names and then Abigail also begins to name them too. The scene then ends with them naming a load of innocent people. They mention these people hoping that these are the names Mr Hale and Mr Paris want to hear. Act 2 (The Arrests) The second scene I have chosen to analyse is act two (the arrests). A fortnight later the witch-hunt is in full cry. John has tried to keep away from what is going on by working on his farm. His wife Elizabeth has heard alarming details form their servant Mary Warren who was one of the girls in the forest. Now the girls go into hysterical fits and anyone whom they point at is charged with witchcraft. Elizabeth begs John to repeat what Mary has said to him in the courts and to make Abigail realize that their affair is over. She knows Abigail wants to accuse her and take her place. John doesnt want to speak up. Elizabeth says he is hanging back because he is still attracted to Abigail. On her return from the village, Mary mentions that Elizabeths name has come up in court. Johns friends, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse (Rebecca Nurses husband), explain that both their wives have been charged and arrested. Then a few minutes later two court officials arrive with a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. Abigail claims that Elizabeth has sent her spirit out to stab her in the belly. Elizabeth lets herself be taken away leaving John threatening Mary that he will make her tell the truth to the judges. In this scene there is a lot of tension due to the fact that Abigail, Betty and Tituba have all told lies about other people to get themselves out of punishment. Because of this many people get arrested, many hanged and families are pulled apart. When the villagers of Salem start to find out that many people are getting arrested caused by the fake allegations made towards them, the ones waiting around hoping their names is not mentioned creates the tension and fear towards them. Just like Elizabeth, when Abigail and John Procter had the affair, Elizabeth had blamed Abigail but not John. She thought John as a good man and Abigail a whore. So to this she has great hate towards Abigail, and Abigail towards Elizabeth. So Elizabeth is really tense fearing her name will come up in court. In Act two she really shows her fear to John about being arrested. She will cry me out until they take me, she wants me dead John, you know it! She shouts. This shows how she is feeling, although throughout the play she portrays a strong character. Then soon, later on, the two (John Procter and Elizabeth) are questioned by Mr Hale because he is unsatisfied with their attendance in church. In this part of Act two, pressure and fear are high because they are really nervous about what may come and what will be asked of them. They are asked the Ten Commandments and you can tell that tension and fear is high because it has written that he begins to sweat. They struggle when John repeats the same commandment. Then from there Elizabeth helps him out. Aye. You see sir between the two of us we do know them all. Says John Procter This shows the tension is released. Until, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse tell John that their wives are arrested not too long after people arrive with a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. Fear and tension is built up here because of the fact that Abigail has accused Elizabeth of sending her spirits to stab her in the belly, which is not true. So she is scared of facing death and fears what could happen but she hides this. Oh Oh, John, bring me soon! She says, as she is about to leave. The scene ends when Procter realizes that the girls false accusations are getting too serious know that Elizabeth could be hanged and forces Mary to tell the courts that they were just playing and thats all, but she begs him not to because she fears that Abigail will curse her. I cannot charge murder on Abigail shell kill me for sayin that! Betty is really scared and begs him, sobbing on the floor, as the scene ends. Mary is terrified the moment she steps inside the court, but she copes well under the questioning of the people of Salem. She is encouraged by Procter to tell the truth to the courts about the girls being all frauds even when Judge Hathorne bullies her. However she begins to get weak when all the girls turn on her under the influence of Abigail. From there she is caught up in hysteria and begins to fall apart. Conclusion Arthur Miller created an atmosphere of tension, fear and hysteria throughout the play. I feel this was due to the witch-craft issue that went on and the 1950s anti-communist trials in USA that also inspired Miller. The Crucible was written to show people that society in those days was ignorant towards things they didnt know and understand (things they fear) and in The Crucible witch-craft was the case. The play to me showed fear well because of the witch-craft history that Miller decided to useby using this would make readers feel already tense knowing the play is some how to do with witches. The meaning of the crucible is the melting pot for metals. This can somehow relate to the story by firstly referring to the pot as a cauldron. Also, the melting point could mean the boiling point of people and how far society is wiling to go. Miller most defiantly delivered that across to readers and you know why Miller named it The Crucible. The Crucible is sometimes quite hard to understand as it was written long ago and the language is different to now, however the way people act and the facial expression that is well described, defiantly help the play to build up the anxiety and fear. Bless him. Bless him. (She is rocking on her knees sobbing in terror) The book to me wasnt interesting. This is because Miller wasnt convincing about witch-craft and witch-craft doesnt relate to anything in modern times. Nothing really appealed t me, however, the deep meaning of the play, which was to show how the lack of understanding and knowledge of something resorts to violence and how it influences people, was shown very well.