The Crucible Dramatic Critique

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The Crucible Dramatic Critique “Witchcraft hysteria” is a phrase that finds its origins in the immoral and wild witch hunts that took place in Salem, Massachusetts before the United States had even been established. Arthur Miller found it appropriate, and rightfully so, to compare the fear of communism in the 1950’s to these witch hunts that took place in the late 17th century in his play, The Crucible. Inspired by Miller’s play, Nicholas Hytner later directed and created a movie after the work; adding in a few of his own scenes and details wherever he saw necessary. In the play and movie The Crucible, the story is about a girl named Abigail Williams who initiates hysteria with the fear of witches in the highly religious town of Salem. The court condemns anyone whom the girls accuse of witchcraft and realized after the execution of numerous individuals how grave of a mistake they had made. Both the play and movie portrayed excellent depictions of the historically fictional events in Salem, but Hytner made the valuable decision to add scenes and details that Miller left the audience to imagine, making the story have a deeper impact and effect in the production. Director Nicholas Hytner performed an exceptional job of creating a movie similar to that of Miller’s play and produced a remarkable adaptation from the play, including almost every scene. Significant scenes that contributed to the emotions that Miller’s play gave the audience were incomparably important to include in the movie, one such scene being Mary Warren’s announcement that her and the other girls were frauds. In the play, Mary’s announcement was a scene that presented how radical and out of hand the accusations of witchery had become, imperative to the lesson being taught through the story. Emotions ran high when Abigail, and the other girls following her queue, turned against Mary to preserve their

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