The Movie ‘The Crucible' Differs From the Play and Those That Watch Both Realize These Subtle Differences. If You have the Time, Watch Them Both.
Though they share a title, the movie and the play of The Crucible have some not-so-subtle differences. The setting in the town of Salem is different, and you can tell from the get-go that you will be having a great time watching them.
If you are keen on the Crucible storyline, you see how they separate and why they are both worth watching and analyzing the Crucible with a clear mind. The one thing everyone who's seen either of them agrees on is that the author, Arthur Miller, did a great job.
Students and other people interested in The Crucible movie or The Crucible play can read the Crucible essays online for free before they dig in to give them the perspective they need.
There are several samples on https://papersowl.com/examples/the-crucible/ that will give you such a clear look at both The Crucible movie and The Crucible play. In both, Arthur Miller shines in storytelling, and you are left with such clarity of what to expect when you get to watch this masterpiece.
There are several similarities between The Crucible movie and the Crucible play. They both feature John Proctor, the book Abigail, and a scene here and there where Arthur Miller throws the reader off completely the Crucible.
Some Crucible scenes are indoors in the play but outdoors in the movie added, which is how you start to see the changes. In some parts, the participants are flashing back to scenes, while in others, things are happening in real-time.
Navigation of Contents
Notable Differences in the Crucible
The Feelings Between Some Characters
The movie has additional scenes that we do not see in the play. These added scenes include Abigail being naked in the woods, but Mercy isn't. This is missing in the play, which almost everyone that watches them both notices. There is also the mood in the play where Abigail feels more strongly towards John Proctor in the movie.
That is not seen to be so in the play. Each of their parts together carries loads of chemistry that those watching the movie will not notice in the piece. That being said, both productions of the Crucible carry an excellent depiction of how these two characters are with each other, and they act beautifully in their romance.
The Beginning
At the beginning of both Crucible play and movie, the girls are around a fire with the reverend's female slave, Tituba, chanting. They start throwing things into the fire randomly when someone throws a frog inside a pot on the fire.
Abi starts acting a little crazy in the movie, and she strips while it's Mercy Lewis who gets naked in the play. This Crucible scene happens in the movie, while it is a flashback elsewhere.
As part of Abigail going crazy, she rubs chicken blood on her face. She also shows near-obsession with John Proctor, but only in the movie.
Tituba is threatened with some whipping for the actions of Abigail, while all she did was chant and lead an otherwise beautiful ritual. In the Crucible film, she's actually beaten where the play only threatened this punishment.
Love or Obsession?
The Crucible book doesn't show Abigail and John Proctor so deeply into each other, but the film does. She acts normal in the book, but the movie shows her groping John Proctor at the back of the house and acting a little strange. This feeling makes her make John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, out as a Salem witch, and the witch trials that follow leave her in the danger of being hanged for witchcraft.
During the Crucible witch trials, her husband offers to go to jail to save her life as she is pregnant, and while there, Abi visits and offers some advice that we don't see in the other parts. The film also has added scenes that show how these feelings developed and grew into the obsession we see.
Spirits and Court Hearings
Mary Warren's spirit is inside the church where the trials on the charge of witchcraft are being held, and the girls are scared of that presence. They turn on her by accusing her of bewitching them in an effort to save one of their own. This happens in the Crucible film, where the girls are also ganged up on Mary. This happens in the court elsewhere and not the church.
The Crucible book shows Elizabeth Churchill accusing George Jacobs of witchcraft, but Putnam is the accuser in the film. As with other parts, the feelings in this part run deeper in the movie than in any other Crucible platform. The reader and viewer will see these differences and note them, but they all show a credible Salem story that anyone familiar with this work of art will love.
Conclusion
Which version of this Arthur Miller piece of art did you like best? Regardless of what you watched or read, The Crucible delivers what it was meant to, and you end up appreciating it more when you stop comparing the three.
Most people feel that the film brought out emotions we needed to see, therefore giving it context, while the Crucible play delivered what the Crucible book brought. If you haven't watched both, you may want to, just get a feel of what all these discussions are about.