Summer Coursework The Crucible

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Summer Coursework
In your reflection, find at least three key differences between the play and the film. In what ways do these differences impact the story? What essential elements of the play remain the same in the film?
The Crucible is a play that was written by Arthur Miller in the early 1950s. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 during the famous Salem witch trials. Miller had a special gift in the way he could tell stories and he captured the events of the said era quite vividly. Writing the play during the ‘red scare’, Miller does his best to incorporate hints of America’s hunt for communists.
One of the first major difference between the film and the play is the starting scene. The play opens in a bedroom and proceeds to provide a description of the room. “A small upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, Salem, Massachusetts, in the spring of the year 1692.” The description of Reverend Parris then follows and this is repeated in parts of the play as Miller describes the main characters. What follows is a short description of Tituba (Parris’s slave) and the dialogue scenes between the townsfolk. In the play, the first scene focuses on the characters and the introduction of the main theme which is witchcraft. In the film, however, the first scene is quite distorted. While in the play the first scene takes place in Parris’s house, in the film, the first scene is in the forest. In the play, this scene is only discussed in dialogue as people speculate the actions of the witches. However, in the movie, this scene is acted out.
Another difference that emerges between the film and the play is depicted through the relationship that John Proctor and Abigail Williams have. In the movie, John and Abigail are seen having a clandestine or secret conversation in the woods something that is not present in the play. In the play, their relationship is not as e...