Morality and The Crucible

How is The Crucible “morality” play? Well, to answer that question, you must know what The Crucible and a morality play is. Morality plays have a main character who represents either humanity as a whole or social structure of humanity. They show the dilemmas faced by the average person trying to lead a moral life. The characters are often abstractions that represent qualities of human nature. The Crucible is a play depicting the Salem Witch trials in 1692. It describes the town of Salem, Massachusetts and its inhabitants experience the trial that unfolds. The Crucible is considered a morality play due to the fact that it was written to highlight the differences between good and evil. One way it is depicted to us is Abigail, Proctor, and Parris represent evil and Giles, Proctor and Rebecca Nurse representing evil towards the end. Another example is when John calls out Francis Nurse to be too good a man to fail to be shocked at John’s adultery (upon it being confessed) and, in the same way, Elizabeth is corrupted for her loyalty to her husband, as she lies to court on the assumption that her husband had done the same. This is connected to the thesis because Proctor trying to be good and tell the truth, but Elizabeth lied to save her husband’s name. This is a perfect example of how good and evil because they were both present and created conflict. “It is a prostitute’s retribution!””