The Crucible - Act I

While reading The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, I was constantly reminded of the fact that this play was written during the 1950's while the Red Scare was a huge part of American life. I was easily able to connect aspects of the fictional townspeople to the major themes of the fear during the Cold War, like how quickly rumors and accusations were able to spread to the entire town. When Betty first wakes up long enough to enlighten the reader on what happened in the woods, she mentions something about drinking blood to curse an apparent enemy of Abigail's. Although strange to read, since witchcraft is not a normal thing in our current way of life, the idea of a young girl trying to push out a man's wife is not something extremely foreign. I found the exchange between Abby and John to be very interesting, since it was almost like something out of a current-day movie or tv show, with the cliche girl and guy with their forbidden love. 

Due to this thought, I kinda saw the rest of the play in a semi-comedic way, which when I now think about it, relates back to what Miller said in his article about the fear of Communism in the US. What happened then, and what is happening in the play now, is so horrible and unbelievable that it starts to become slightly funny. Dark humor seemed to emanate throughout the first act, which was another thing I liked, but it still could create a more serious feeling at times as well. I couldn't help but notice the ridiculousness of the townspeople coming up to the room to see Betty passed out on a bed, the priest caring more about his own reputation than about people's lives, the interaction between all the girls involved in the "dancing" (which, also, is hilarious to me for some reason), and, at the end of act 1, everyone screaming that everyone in the town is a witch. 

There was a sense of organized chaos, with everyone having hidden motives and reasons behind their actions, and I think it will be interesting to see how the rest of the play unfolds, but I would like to talk about Tituba and her role in the play. Lastly I want to make sure to talk about Abigail's character, do I like her or hate her?