The Queensland State Government has deemed classic plays such as The Crucible, as detrimental for high school students to be studying in the school curriculum. There is much buzzing of discussion about the play’s social and cultural relevance to today’s society, as well as the social impact of censorship. The chaos which has been caused leads high school students to ask “why”?
Arthur Miller’s timeless play, The Crucible has undeniable themes which parents would complain as “tainting” their children’s innocent mind. The play contains themes of violence which is constantly used to manipulate citizens of Salem, who to avoid being whipped or hanged, make false accusations of others. Reputation and integrity is a pivotal theme in the play in which the people of Salem are extremely concerned about their reputation and how they are perceived by the society. The negative portrayal of Christianity is also seen to be a threat to students. But is this content as unbeneficial as we see it to be?
While Miller’s work has much contentiousness surrounding it, it is also an extremely powerful text most worthy of study. It has universal themes which are essential to prepare our next generation of adults for the world outside of school. If we censor this from the school curriculum, what will our children learn in school that can be applicable to the real world?
The theme of violence in the play is extremely prominent. It is a dramatic tragic play, with numerous deaths and threatening of beating. This is exemplified in Act I with Abigail threatening her accomplices with beatings, “We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. [If] you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things . . . I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”. The utilisation of high modality language such as “will” and “that is all”, and imagery emphasises the uneasiness that the audience senses from reading the text and its disconcerting nature. Additionally, Giles Corey’s extremely graphic death with his life being literally pressed out of him in Act IV positions the audience to sympathise with him, which accentuates the horrible consequences to the McCarthyism which stirred Salem into insanity, encouraging students to be against violence. These are all too important to high school students to be aware about as they progress through a crucial time in their life where they are easily influenced. How can the Queensland Government ban this play when it actually teaches a valuable to adolescents to think twice before committing violent actions and minimise the number of fights in school? There are numerous classics which also contain violence, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and Othello. Will we censor these timeless plays for containing too much violence when they teach valuable lessons to our children? It would be ludicrous to keep our children in the dark about the real world, we cannot remove The Crucible from the curriculum.
Far from being the most sensible contention of The Crucible, the negative representations of Christianity are simply absurd. This is dominated by Parris, Salem’s Reverend, who is only concerned about Betty and Abigail’s involvement in the supernatural activities because it could ruin his reputation as a good Christian man in the community, painting Christianity as a religion in a negative light, exemplified by “There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit”. Parris’s abuse of his power as Reverend for personal gain is an indication of how far people who are hungry for power are willing to go. In that era, public reputation and a good name was important as it imparted information about that person. Even in contemporary society, it is still imperative for people to have a good reputation because it gives an insight to a person’s personality. In The Crucible, there are many personalities which demonstrate an example of “good” Christianity, such as Reverend Hale and Rebecca Nurse, a pillar of the community and a devoutly religious woman. Goody Nurse is an example of strength and determination, who fought for truth until the very end. This is similarly seen in Act IV when Proctor exclaims, “God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are!” The use of religious discourse with the repetition of “God” emphasises that Proctor is a victim within this chaos and a “good” Christian owns up to their mistakes, positioning the audience to feel that people at the top of the social hierarchy are the dictators of this society. A religion’s reputation is extremely significant as presently, much of the world fears the Islamic religion, with the media sensationalising their terrorism activities and silencing people of other religions in terrorist attacks, creating mass hysteria within the community. If these key ideas of The Crucible are censored, how will teenagers learn to think critically about the true values of religion. Through this critical period of their life, the things that they are exposed to are developing and growing their mind as they become more mature. Studying The Crucible will not only provide them with life skills, but also develop their minds to be discerning and accepting everything with a pinch of salt.
It is also important to think critically of one’s reputation. The Crucible is centred around one tough decision, to lie for a borrowed life, or to die for the truth. The most inner beliefs of many characters are challenged this way, revealing their inner most personality. In Salem, a tainted reputation could result in social punishment or even death. In this way, people can protect themselves at whatever the cost, with little regard in harming others. This is demonstrated by Abigail in Act I, where she accuses many people of being seen with the Devil, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” Miller’s use of religious discourse indicates Abigail’s values as a person; she values reputation rather than integrity. This is not contrary to many adolescents today, where typically there is a stereotypical “bad boy” and a “good girl” in many high schools where they will sacrifice anything to keep their reputation. On the other hand, John Proctor values integrity, the way that you perceive yourself. This is represented by Elizabeth in the final lines of the play, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”, signifying that Proctor died for a good cause, protecting his integrity. Rather than supporting adolescents to protect their reputation, it indicates an important lesson that dying for the truth is the right thing to do. If these lessons are censored from the curriculum, how will we prepare the next generation of people for the real world?
The Crucible is an excellent guidebook to many of life’s lessons which unquestionably has a place in the Queensland school curriculum. It has a fundamental role in educating students about violence, the negative representation of Christianity and reputation and integrity. They are not controversial topics, they are lessons in disguise for the adolescents of today to open their mind to.