What is the most important theme of The Crucibleby Arthur Miller? How does the setting contribute to the overall mood, feeling, lesson, or theme of the...

I would say that the
most important theme of this play is that one's integrity may be worth more even than one's
life. In the end, John Proctor must make a choice between these two, and he chooses his
integrity. He could confess a lie and avoid hanging or he can keep to the truth and die for it,
and he chooses the latter because he knows it is the right thing to do. He very nearly puts his
life ahead of his integrity but finds that his conscience will not, ultimately, allow him to do
it. Because he is presented as so courageous and sympathetic, we can ascertain that Miller
supports this choice.

The setting, during the Salem Witch Trials, is
important to the development of this theme because it created a real situation wherein
individuals had to make this choice: integrity or life. Many did choose life, and we can
certainly understand why, but some did choose integrity, and they died for it.