Saturday, December 7, 2013

What are the important settings in "The Crucible"? Also explain the significance.

The setting of “The Crucible” is against the backdrop of the witch hunts and the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century.  This story is based on a true story so its setting is real.  Because the story is real the fact it takes place during the 17th century is important.  The community used in the play needed to be superstitious and gullible and paranoid for this incident to have happened in the first place.  Also, the play dramatizes events that occurred within a Puritan society with a strong aversion to witches.  

This is a modern play, so the actors use props and backdrops which are created to look like the actual setting of the Salem village during that period.  The various settings include Betty’s room, Proctor's living room and kitchen, the town jail, and the court room.  The sets create a depressing and dismal atmosphere since all the areas settings are small and intense.  Even the scenes out- doors, usually considered free and wild, are shown to be dark, scary, mysterious and dangerous in this play.

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