Bercovitch and The Crucible

[sophied02]

In the initial prose of The Crucible (p. 3-8), Arthur Miller provides a background of Puritan society for the audience. One aspect of Puritan ideology which Miller pointed out was also mentioned in Bercovitch's "The Rites of Assent". Miller explains that the Puritans were scared of the wilderness which bordered them on the west, yet they were determined to gain more land as shown by Miller's statement, "The American continent stretched endlessly west...it stood dark and threatening over their shoulders...they also preferred to take land from heathens rather than from fellow Christians."(Miller 5) In Bercovitch's essay it states, "The Puritans...were as eager as any other group of emigrants for land and gain...The wilderness belonged to their errand before the errand belonged to them." (Bercovitch 32-33) The Puritans were just as intent on gaining land as any other settler, yet they could explain their maliciousness towards Native Americans and their greed because of the errand that they had been set out by God to accomplish. This errand was to settle America and make it an ideal Puritan nation.

[tarah07]

I agree that Bercovitch is definitly evident in Miller's prose, but I think this passage was written more to connect the Puritans to Joe McCarthy and his followers than to merely describe the Puritan background. While there's no doubt that Miller's description parallels Bercovitch's opinion of the Puritans, I think Miller's "wilderness," was also refering to communism in the 1950s. Miller writes that, "[the wilderness] (communism) was full of mystery for them. It stood, dark and threatening, over their (the people of 1950s America) shoulders night and day." This further shows how this passage is indicative of America's view of communism. This definitly coincides with Bercovitch's The Rites of Ascent, but I think what's more important in this passage is that Miller seems to represent the 1950s American view of communism with 'wilderness' and he continues by saying that this socialism "stood dark and threatening over their shoulders." Therefore, this passage has a double meaning. Miller talks about the Puritans and how they were afraid and unnerved by the American wilderness, and he also eludes to 1950s American perspective of communism.

[daniellez07]

I feel as though although The Crucible relates to Bercovitch in the sense of puritanism as a whole (as discussed in the past two entries), this particular work has a more prominent correlation to the general ideas of Bercovitch. The idea of speaking the rhetoric of consensus and the shunning of those who do not occurs a few times in Act I. For example, in the prose on page 5, it discusses the failure of the inhabitants of Salem to convert the Indians to Puritans. As a result, the Puritans regarded the Indians as a demonic group because they did not follow Puritan beliefs, further restricting the Puritans to integrate with the Indians in Salem. The territory of the Indians was primarily in the forest. As a result of the extreme lack of Puritanism among the Indians, the Puritans began to regard their base in the forest as, "the Devil's last preserve, his home base and the citadel of his final stand. ...To the best of their knowledge the American forest was the last place on earth that was no paying homage to God"(Miller 5). Basically, the Puritans believed that only their beliefs were the correct ones, thus the Indians believes were incorrect and they were an evil and demonic group of people, thus dismissing them from their society (because they are not speaking the rhetoric of consensus). Miller further proves Bercovitch's idea of shunning as a result of not speaking the rhetoric of consensus when he states, "they and their church found it necessary to deny any other sect its freedom, lest their Jerusalem be defiled and corrupted by wrong ways and deceitful ideas" (Miller 5). Puritanism was the rhetoric of consensus and those who did not speak this, were "denied their freedom" of the Puritans and removed from the circle. This Puritan ideology is further visited when Miller states, "But all originization is and must be grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition, just as two objects cannot occupy the same space" (Miller 7).

[darylg07]

I agree with Danielle; Miller makes it obvious that the Puritans believed that their ideology was correct and that there was not any room for individualistic views. This is also shown through Tituba and the way in which she is treated not only by Parris, but by their society as a whole. Because Tituba is a servant and a non-Puritan, she is seen as very weak. This is why Abigail picks her to blame when she is confronted about their use of witchcraft. Abigail states, "Sometimes i wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing Barabados songs and tempting me with-- (Miller 44)." Abigail is attempting to take the focus off of herself and to push Tituba out of the consensus. This, however, does not work because Hale convinces everyone that he can save Tituba and in doing so pulls her back into the consensus, " So speak utterly, Tituba, turn your back on him and face God- face God Tituba, and God will protect you, (46)." Hale uses Tituba as a tool to begin to instate the fear and confusion that will soon plague Salem.

[christinec02]

I also agree that Bercovitch definitely is in Miller's work. There were numerous times that the characters kept on changing their point of view to fit in with the rest (or majority) of the consensus. An example would be Paris, at the beginning of act one refusing to believe that any witchcraft has taken place, and at the end of the act he does believe that there was witchcraft.

[katiem7]

Another Bercovitchean concept that I feel is evident in Act I is how the Puritans were at heart capitalists. These are two passages in particular that I feel show the capitalism, and in turn the hypocrisy in the Puritan ideals and beliefs. The stage direction in the opening prose paints a picture of a house that’s “roof rafters are exposed, and the wood colors are raw and unmellowed” (Miller 3). At first glance, this quote is the epitome of the Puritan value of plainness. However, after thinking about the context of the sentence; you are able to see the hypocrisy. The stage direction is of Parris’ house, and although it is plain, we know that Parris is a self-centered, materialistic priest who just cannot wait to get his hands of that set of gold candle-sticks he has had his eyes on. Secondly, the prose also states that “To the European world the whole province was a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics who, nevertheless, were shipping out products of slowly increasing quantity and value” (Miller 4). This passage reveals that the Puritans came to America for G-d, they were “fanatics” of G-d and his values. However, over time things begin to change. Even though they originally came to America for religion, they still end up exporting goods for profit. They come for the sacred and end up as the secular.

[chrisr07]

It seems obvious to me that Bercovitch's concepts are present throughout the Crucible. The most obvious being his idea of rhetoric of consensus. It explains why all the girls are pretending to be in the devil's control. It suddenly makes them important to society and propells them into the rhetoric of consensus. Also, rhetoric of consensus is present because of Protors actions. He never attends church on Sunday's. This is why he is looked down upon from many people, because he is against the consensus. Representative selfhood is also present in to the novel. In essence, when the characters to their jobs they are essentially benefiting the community as a whole before they benefit themselves.

[devinc07]

Bercovitch's idea of anxiety being the Puritans' chief means of establishing control is evident in Abigail and the other girls who accuse people of witchcraft. At the beginning of Act 1, Abigail makes it obvious that she dislikes Elizabeth Proctor when she describes her as "a cold, sniveling woman" (24). She wants to get rid of Elizabeth because she is in love with her husband. When Hale says "God will bless you for your help" (47) to Tituba, the stage direction says that "Abigail rises, staring as though inspired, and cries out" (48). Bercovitch says that "only a sense of crisis, properly directed and controlled, could guarantee the outcome" (34) that they desired. At this moment, Abigail realizes that it is her opportunity to use this crisis to her advantage and to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor. She realizes that she can use the anxiety caused by the witchcraft to control people's fear and make them believe that Elizabeth Proctor is a witch, and she eventually acts upon this in Act 2 when she mentions Elizabeth in the courtroom.

[markf2]

Just the quote from Bercovitch to back up Devin's point:
"Anxiety became their chief means of establishing control. The errand, after all, was by definition a state of unfulfillment, and only a sense of crisis, properly directed and controlled, could guarantee the outcome" (Bercovitch 34).
The Puritans used fear and anxiety in their time, just as Jonathon Edwards followed in his time to use fear when he gave his "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon.
The quote on page 34 of The Crucible can nearly be taken directly from Bercovitch's quote above.
"The Devil may become evident as a weapon, a weapon designed and used time and time again in every age to whip men into a surrender to a particular church or church-state" (Miller 34).
When the Puritans needed to keep their religion from fading, they used the fear of the Devil to try and regain the stability that they once had.

[jrodrigues]

I find the appearance of Bercovitch's main ideologies within Miller's work very interesting. The idea of the sacred versus the secular may be apparent in the initial break out being moved from the church to the wilderness. I feel that as Puritanism was fading and secular beliefs were becoming more popular, Miller felt it would be better to move it to the wilderness to correlate the outbreak to the secular beliefs. I find it intriguing that Miller moved it to the wilderness to possibly correspond with Bercovitch's secular ideology, but the initial outbreak leading to the crisis was was drove Puritanism back together. With a secular out break, Miller shows how the crisis is necessary for continuity through change according to Bercovitch, but this crisis brings the consensus together as anxiety is the means to control. As anxiety controls the people, and the crisis increases Puritanism once again, Bercovitch's ideas are apparent in Miller's work.