Examining the Conflicting Relations of the Church Discourse in Miller’s The Crucible: A Stylistic Analysis

One of the most contentious American dramas in the twentieth century is Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. By focusing on the historical context, this article aims to study the conflicting essence of this play through analyzing the language of Puritan authorities and its determinant role in forming other characters’ verbal behaviors and their relations with one another. To this end, this article takes advantage of stylistic theories of speech acts, Grice’s cooperative principle and politeness theory to illustrate comprehensively the conflicting relationships among characters and the role of the church discourse in designating those relations. Having these stylistic tools applied to Miller’s play, this paper concludes that the central factor of discord among characters is the church discourse itself which replaces peace and solidarity with fear and adversary in the Salem society