English Paper 2 - Thesis Practice

Theme 1: Truth, Secrecy, and the Past - Umbrella Thesis

Ibsen and Miller expose the destructive power of secrets and the inescapability of the past, using silence, deception, and revelation to show how truth defines identity and fate.

Theme 1: Truth, Secrecy, and the Past - Essay Outline

1. Ghosts: Suppressed truths (Captain Alving’s debauchery, Oswald’s inheritance) show how silence sustains hypocrisy—“I almost think we are all of us ghosts.”

2. The Crucible: Proctor’s hidden sin with Abigail fuels hysteria, his final confession reclaiming truth (“Because it is my name!”).

3. Both plays: Truth emerges through painful revelation (Mrs. Alving’s confession, Proctor’s refusal to lie), demonstrating that liberation lies not in concealment but in confrontation

Theme 2: Power, Justice, and Oppression - Umbrella Thesis

Both plays critique institutional power—whether religious, patriarchal, or political—by revealing how justice is manipulated to silence the oppressed and preserve authority

Theme 2: Power, Justice, and Oppression - Essay Outline

1. Ghosts: Pastor Manders embodies rigid institutional “justice,” prioritising reputation over compassion (“my duty is to uphold the law and moral order”).

2. The Crucible: Salem’s court enforces oppression through false justice—accusation equals proof, silencing dissent (“We burn a hot fire here…”).

3. Both plays: Justice fails when power is prioritised over humanity, with true moral authority found in individual resistance—Mrs. Alving’s truth-telling, Proctor’s martyrdom.

💡 Memorisation hook: “Power corrupts / Justice bends / Voices of the silenced rise at the end.”

Theme 3: New vs Old, Change vs Tradition - Umbrella Thesis

Ibsen and Miller dramatise collisions between progress and tradition, showing how outdated cultural and moral codes breed conflict and tragedy.

Theme 3: New vs Old, Change vs Tradition - Essay Outline

1. Ghosts: Mrs. Alving’s progressive ideals clash with Manders’ religious orthodoxy, symbolised by the burning orphanage (collapse of false morality).

2. The Crucible: Proctor’s challenge to rigid theocracy pits “new” personal conscience against “old” communal orthodoxy (“I say God is dead!”).

3. Both plays: Settings themselves (claustrophobic Alving home, Puritan Salem) enforce old values; tension arises as characters attempt—and fail—to embrace “new” freedoms.

💡 Memorisation hook: “Old laws burn / New voices rise / Tradition dies in fire and lies.”

Theme 4: Sacrifice, Integrity, and Identity - Umbrella Thesis

Both plays use sacrifice—of truth, love, or life itself—as the ultimate test of identity, suggesting that integrity is forged through suffering.

Theme 4: Sacrifice, Integrity, and Identity - Essay Outline

1. Ghosts: Mrs. Alving sacrifices happiness for duty, later realising the devastating cost of conformity; Oswald pleads for release through death (“The sun… The sun…”).

2. The Crucible: Proctor sacrifices life to preserve his name, embodying tragic integrity—“He have his goodness now.”

3. Both plays: Sacrifice highlights the paradox of tragedy: only through destruction can characters reclaim dignity and identity.