Analysis of Mary Warren's Identity in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

This essay provides a sociological analysis of Mary Warren, a central character in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. The essay explores Mary Warren's individual identity and how she is manipulated by both sides of the conflict during the Salem witch trials. It examines her initial role as a maid, her involvement in the witch hunt led by Abigail Williams, and her ultimately weak and vacillating character. The essay highlights instances of her guilt and her marginalized status, arguing that her dual nature and psychological fragility led to her being used by both the accusers and the court. References include works by Aziz, Bigsby, Miller, and Sarangi, supporting the analysis of Mary Warren's spineless portrayal and the pressures she succumbed to.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIOLOGY
Mary Warren is one of the central characters of the play The Crucible. This play was
written by famous American playwright Arthur Miller. It was written in the year 1953. This story
was based on the witchcraft in Salem House and its trials (Miller 2015). The central theme of this
discussion lies on the fact if Mary Warren has an individual identity in the play and how she had
been used by both sides in this play.
In the beginning, she has been shown as a maid for John Proctor. Afterwards, she got
involved in the Salem witch hunt in which Abigail Williams was the leader. According to the
plot development of the play, Mary Warren has been shown as a very weak character that has
been seen to give up numerous times in the play. Now the question remains how she has been
used by both teams in the play.
Rather, it can be said that Mary Warren is indeed a very sad character. At the first place,
Mary Warren has been manipulated by people who are in power in Salem, Therefore, she had to
yield to them (Miller 2015). She had to sit on the trial jury. She became a part of gaggle of girls
for Abigail.
She is one of those characters who did not have an independent identity before the Witch
Trials. John Proctor, the master of Mary Warren was very much sure that she was the weakest
link the group of girls that Mary Warren had (Aziz 2014). There are several instances when
audience has seen the guilty conscience of Mary Warren. Initially she made a poppet for
Elizabeth Proctor, wife of her master John Proctor.
The original identity of Mary Warren has been given in the individual identity in the case
of her honesty and her status in the court that she gave officially. There are also some examples
as to why Mary Warren had been marginalized in the court. One of those examples is when she

2SOCIOLOGY
recognized the truth in the court (Aziz 2014). By her individual nature, she is very much timid
and she was suffering from panic after she learnt what other girls did in the forest regarding
conjuring tricks (Bigsby et al. 2012).
The author Arthur Miller has portrayed Mary Warren in a manner that she seems to be
spineless. She went on to dance with the witches in the forest. On the other hand, she went on to
join the court that condemned all witches in Salem (Sarangi 2013). Thus, her double faced
activities have proved that she was very much fragile by nature and she did not keep her original
identity as she succumbed to pressures when it was given to her.
In this context, this dual nature of Mary Warren proves that she was psychologically very
feeble. Thus her portrayal in this play seems as one that is spineless and having no settled mind
to stick to a decision. This is how Mary Warren has been used by both sides like the witches and
court trials.

3SOCIOLOGY
Reference List
Aziz, A., 2014. Theatre as truth practice: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible-a play waiting for the
occasion (Doctoral dissertation, Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS),
Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University).
Bigsby, C., Brantley, B., Brater, E., Abbotson, S., Dziemianowicz, J., Castellitto, G., Roudané,
M., Otten, T., Zinman, T., Langteau, P.T. and Dominik, J., 2012. Why" The Crucible" is
Important. The Arthur Miller Journal, 7(1/2), pp.1-14.
Miller, A., 2015. The crucible. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Sarangi, I., 2013. The Unexplained Hysteria in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Criterion, 12,
pp.1-6.