Among many other things, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is well known for it’s historically accurate depiction of the Puritans, and their culture and lifestyle. The play in its very nature is full of evidence as it takes place in the Purtan’s very era, but while it doesn’t adhere completely to the full, real life events of the Salem Witch Trials that took place from 1692 to 1693 the core aspects of the Puritan society at that time are still very evident in it. While many minor examples of this exist in the book, the main and most commonly reocurring facets of Putitan culture present in the book are that of the fundamentals of life within the Puritan Society and their view of witchcraft, including the use of Spectral Evidence.
Firstly, there are a great deal of rules Puritans are obligated to abide by on a daily basis. These can be summarized into three beliefs. The first being their entire lives should be centered around god. One way this is shown is in their government. The Puritans had a theocratical government, as said by Miller himself within the introduction in Act 1 “For good purposes, even higher purposes, the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies” (Miller 7). A theocracy is already proof of the strong religiousness of the people but what furthers it is the implied rejection of all other forms of ideology.
Furthermore, the second belief is that their lives should be dedicated to God and prayer. While this refers directly to personal prayer, which is another mandatory aspect of puritan life, this also refers to Church attendance. This is shown within the play when John Proctor is being questioned by Rev. Hale about his church attendance, “In the book of record that Mr. Parris keeps, I note that you are rarely in the church on Sabbath Day. (…) Twenty six time in seventeen month, sir. I must call that rare.” (Miller 64) This very scene is worsened by John’s failure to restate all the ten commandments. To which he says “Theology is a fortress, no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.” Here, Hale shows his doscontent for Johns theology , which proves it is a ver important part of their lives as Puritans. The third belief is that any
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