Choose one of the following questions to write a detailed and considered response to
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, explicitly addressing dramatic techniques.
‘I can almost tell what the political situation in a country is when the play is suddenly a hit there – it is
either a warning of tyranny on the way or a reminder of tyranny just past’
Arthur Miller.
1. How does Arthur Miller’s emphasis on sexuality in The Crucible, placed at the heart of its
central relationship in a way that did not exist in the original Salem witch trials, provide a
deeper analysis of the social issues behind the case?
Human sexuality is often the first target of repressive societies, and often therefore the first sign of rebellion.
Abigail’s relationship with John Proctor is not the only example of sexual tension in the play, as the content
of many of the accusations makes clear. Miller’s commentary on sex and communism (pp.39-40) provides
further commentary on this nexus of the personal and the political. In addition, you should also look at the
way sexuality enables Miller to link Proctor’s personal guilt, both dramatically and thematically, to the
public ills of social paranoia and authoritarianism in the Salem community.
2. In what different ways does Arthur Miller use language in his play The Crucible to explore
ideas?
The particular version of an early modern English that Miller devised for his play not only establishes its
historical context very effectively, but has great poetic potential for developing characterization and
expressing ideas. More particularly, it enables him to explore how language can be a tool of authoritarian
power to trap the unwary and distort the truth. Discourse, being the ideas and patterns of language peculiar to
a situation that reflect innate values and relationships between language users (in law, religion, science, or
different age groups, etc.) is a potent example of this; and Miller uses the discourse of Salem’s theocracy in
general and the trials in particular to great effect.
3. How does Arthur Miller use conflict between John Proctor and his cultural context to
explore ideas in his play The Crucible?
This question directs you to consider the tension between a character and their cultural context. The
argument needs to centre on the conflict between Proctor and the prevailing forces (real or imagined) of the
time and place in which The Crucible is set. You may consider one instance of conflict to explore ideas, or
discuss how ideas are explored through several instances of conflict. The central part of the question,
however, requires you to link conflict to ideas; it is not appropriate to simply present instances of conflict
without explicitly focusing attention on the ideas suggested by a close reading of the play. A precise
understanding of Salem’s Puritan past should give you a strong cultural context against which you can
analyse John Proctor’s conflict very effectively. Less successful responses would simply describe the
conflict and not consider how this allowed Miller to explore ideas.
4. What stylistic features does Arthur Miller use in The Crucible to explore the role of guilt
in the Salem tragedy?
An individual, by joining a group which dictates what is right and wrong, virtually hands over his/her private
conscience to public control. A guilt-ridden society can, through the abuse of authority, unleash its fears and
hatreds against individuals in an attempt to purge (cleanse; purify) itself. The confession of guilt and its
expiation (making amends; atonement) need not be a sincere, meaningful act. The theme of the play is that
guilt can be an illusion: the individual will, under extreme terror, manufacture his/her own guilt. The
greatest evil of authoritarianism is that it can distort the individual’s judgement of right and wrong. We think
of conscience, or knowledge of right and wrong, as an innate, or unchangeable pert of the individual; but The
Crucible shows how it can be imposed on the individual by external authorities.
5. Show how Arthur Miller uses one or more of the following characteristics of stage drama
in his play The Crucible to explore ideas:
 structure
 set
 properties (‘props’)
 interaction between characters
This question is designed to focus you on the connections between ‘characteristics of stage drama’ (the
particular text type of The Crucible) and the exploration of ideas in the play. You need to show awareness of
the techniques common to a play, but while restricted to the four options given, are free to focus your
discussion on a single characteristic if you choose. More successful responses will focus on one or two of the
characteristics of a play, rather than three or four of the techniques, because the latter will not allow you to
devote enough depth to each element. You must be clear about the particular ideas being explored and
provide a link between them and the particular textual features you choose.
6. How does Arthur Miller use an awakening of one kind or another to explore ideas in his
play The Crucible?
This question requires you to identify a key moment (or moments) within the development of the play’s
narrative that suggests a new awareness or a new way of perceiving the world. Such knowledge or
experience gained should be linked to the key ideas presented within the play. You are able to adopt a wide
interpretation of ‘awakening’: moral, spiritual, or more broadly an insight into the motivation of others
and/or the workings of social systems. You can limit yourself to one experience or type of awakening, or
analyse more broadly the concept of awakening as explored within a text. Two contrasting examples of
different kinds of awakening in The Crucible might be Abigail’s justification to Proctor for her behaviour as
a sexual awakening to the hypocrisy of Salem, as opposed to Proctor’s decision to die heroically at the end of
the play, as a result of awakening to a sense of his own potential as a ‘good man’. More successful answers
will be those where students are able to explore how an awakening was used by Miller to explore wider
thematic concerns within the play.
Assessment Design Criteria
Your performance in the shared studies will be judged by the extent to which you demonstrate:
Knowledge and Understanding
Application
KU1. Knowledge and understanding of authors’ use of stylistic
features and language techniques to communicate
ideas and influence the reader’s response.
Ap1. The use of language skills and techniques to create
coherent texts that address the meaning and intention of
the task.
KU2. Knowledge and understanding of ideas, values, and
beliefs in texts.
Ap3. The use of evidence from texts to develop and support a
response.
KU3. Knowledge and understanding of the textual
conventions of different text types.
Analysis
An1. Analysis of the interplay between what authors present
in texts and the experiences, ideas, values, and beliefs
of readers.
Communication
C1. Accuracy, clarity, and fluency of expression.
C2. Appropriate form and register for audience and purpose