Themes, Motifs and Symbols

1. Themes, Motifs and Symbols

2. Themes • The central idea or underlying meaning of a literary work • Typically deals with an abstract concept that is made concrete through representation in character, action, and image.

3. Themes in the Crucible • Human cruelty in the name of righteousness • The Individual and the Community/society • Godliness vs. Worldliness • Ignorance vs. Wisdom • Power and Authority • Justice vs. Retribution and Revenge • Intolerance • Hysteria • Reputation • Betrayal • Persecution • Order vs. Individual Freedom • Good vs Evil

4. More themes … • Lust and Envy • Courage • Conflict • Faith • Morality • Corruption and Lies • Conscience/Integrity • Forgiveness • Evil • Loyalty and Love • Trust • Courage

5. Human Weaknesses • Lust - John Proctor • Pride - Reverend Hale, John Proctor • Greed - Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam • Revenge - Mrs. Putnam, Abigail • Ignorance - Giles Corey • Self-indulgence - the girls • Dishonesty - Abigail, the girls, John Proctor

6. Human Strengths • Honesty – Elizabeth Proctor • Loyalty – Elizabeth Proctor • Courage – John Proctor • Forgiveness – Elizabeth Proctor • Faith – Rebecca Nurse • Reason – Rebecca Nurse

7. Revenge • Abigail gets revenge on John and Elizabeth Proctor • The girls and the accusers were naming people whom they did not like and whom they wanted to harm • Thomas Putnam gains revenge on Francis Nurse by getting Rebecca, his wife, convicted of murdering his (and Ann Putnam’s) babies

8. Intolerance • a theocratic society • Church (moral) and state are the same • Sin and status of an individual’s soul are of public concern • Everyone belongs to either God or the devil • “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it.” (Danforth, Act III)

9. Hysteria • the role that hysteria can play in tearing apart a community. • replaces logic and reason • enables people to believe their neighbours are guilty of committing absurd and unbelievable crimes • people become active in the hysterical climate for 2 reasons: • out of genuine religious faithfulness • chance to act on long-held grudges

10. How do these characters thrive on hysteria? • Abigail: uses situation to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and has her jailed • Reverend Parris: strengthens his position within the village (temporarily) by making scapegoats of those who question authority e.g. John Proctor

11. Reputation • Extremely important in theocratic Salem • Guilt by association: their sins will taint your name • Parris fears Abigail’s questionable behaviour and hints of witchcraft surrounding Betty will threaten and force him from the pulpit.

12. John Proctor - early in the play – has a chance to stop the girl’s accusations but his desire to preserve his reputation keeps him from testifying against Abigail • at the play’s end – desire to keep his good name prevents him from a false confession • “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Proctor to Danforth in Act IV)

13. Betrayal • The betrayal between a husband and a wife within the sanctity of a conventional marriage. • Abigail betrays her whole community in order to seduce John. • Those who falsely confess to witchcraft betray their relationship with God and their church.

14. Persecution • Miller, who was Jewish, would surely have had an inescapable imprint of atrocities of the holocaust embedded firmly in his psyche. • Individual’s responsibility to accept liability for the wrongs of the past. Miller’s plays explore the American way of life but the themes, issues and concerns presented in The Crucible are a universal phenomenon

15. Power and Authority • Bible is the ultimate authority • Authority of the Court is absolute • Conflict of authority - Danforth felt the law should be followed exactly, and that anyone who opposed the trials was trying to undermine him and his authority and the church. • The girls and some women are empowered by the trials

16. Individual Vs Society • The accusers were looking out for their own lives and took whatever actions necessary to save themselves • Conformity – Human freedom vs social order • There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning! Parris to Proctor • I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another.  I have no tongue for it

17. Truth and Lies • Puritan Ethics meant most people abhorred lying • Abigail lies all the way through the play • Elizabeth cannot tell a lie … but does to try to save John

18. Conflict • Personal – John wrestling with his own guilt at the beginning and Hale wrestling with his guilt at the end. • Inter-personal (Proctor vs Parris – John is honest (`I see no light of God in that man. I'll not conceal it') and (`I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay his hand upon my baby' • Impersonal – “Landgrabbing” was practised by many

19. Motifs • Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

20. Darkness and Dirt Images • Imagery of darkness and dirt represent sin and evil.  Reverend Parris questions Abigail's purity by saying; Your name in the town-it is entirely white, is it not? She argues that her name is not soiled.  • The people of Salem are obsessed with preserving the perceived cleanliness of their souls.

21. Accusations, Confessions, and Legal Proceedings • Parris accuses Abigail of dishonoring him • Parris accuses some of his parishioners • Giles Corey and Proctor accuse him of things in return • Legal proceedings in the past are alluded to • Putnam accuses others • Accusations are the only way that witches can be identified

22. Confessions • Confessions provide the proof of the justice • Proctor confesses to adultery but this confession is trumped by the accusation of witchcraft against him, which in turn demands a confession • Proctor’s courageous decision to die rather than confess to a sin that he did not commit, finally breaks the cycle • The court collapses shortly afterward, undone by the refusal of its victims to propagate lies

23. Symbols • objects, characters, figures, or colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts • As a whole the play symbolises the paranoia of the 1950’s communist “red scare” in America. • Shows: • narrow-mindedness • excessive enthusiasm for a cause • disregard for the individual • need for naming names (co-conspirators)

24. The Title: The Crucible • a trial that ultimately reveals a person's true character‘ • a melting pot • “We burn a hot fire here. It melts down all concealment” Danforth • Crucible - it is meant to purify, usually by fire. A great irony since the 'fire' that burns in Salem does not purify. Instead it muddles (confuses) and corrupts. Thus a fire burning for the wrong reason is not able to purify. • A place, time, or situation characterised by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces

25. Fortress - the church is seen in this manner. But while the metaphor used suggests one crack may break it, we also see that rigidity or the lack of an open mind can bring down an edifice just as quickly. • Dawn 'the new sun' - the end of the play suggests the start of a new day where right is restored and the evil has been expelled.

26. White - Used for the term for good. Usually used to describe reputation • Black - Term used for evil • “There be no blush about my name” • Horse/Animal Reference – suggesting lack of human values and understanding • The Witch Trials and McCarthyism - aymbolic of the paranoia about communism that pervaded America in the 1950s

27. Poppet – Links with Voodoo. In voodoo rituals the dolls represented the person needing healing from some illness, or as a means of bringing about illness or a curse on the person that the doll represented • Hanging - a way of keeping evil hanging between heaven and earth • Rope - like a chain it represents both bonding and connecting • Night - is related to the passive principle, the feminine and the unconscious. It has the same significance as death and the colour black • Whip - is a sign of domination and power or authority • Wood - a mother symbol