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    3.1.2 ENLL 121 The Crucible Setting

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    Crucible

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    3.1.2 ENLL 121 The Crucible Setting

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    Musawenkosi Nhlapo
    5 views11 pages
    Crucible

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    3.1.2 ENLL 121 the Crucible Setting (1)

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    Crucible

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    5 views11 pages

    3.1.2 ENLL 121 The Crucible Setting

    Uploaded by

    Musawenkosi Nhlapo
    Crucible

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    ENLL 121

    The Crucible context and themes

    Piotrowska, C. 2020. Vanderbijlpark: North-West University.


    Context and themes
    Questions
     What, do you think, are the major themes of The Crucible?
    Substantiate.
     What is the historical context of the play?
     Why do you think Arthur Miller chose this as his setting?
     Which social problems is Miller trying to draw our attention to
    in this play?
    Activity
    Attempt to answer the following:
     What would you say are the main themes of The Crucible?
     Find 2-3 quotes that support each theme that you’ve identified.

    Briefly consider the role that religion plays in our lives.


     Do you think that religion plays a role in the formation of our moral
    codes? Why / why not?
     How do we decide if certain actions/behaviours are moral or immoral?
     What are some of the positive aspects of being religious?
     What are potential negative aspects of being religiously zealous?
     Research the religion “Puritanism” and think about how it compares to
    your own religious views. Next, consider the role Puritanism played in
    Salem during the witch trials.
    Themes of The Crucible
     Share your findings with the class during the discussion.

    Some additional themes that The Crucible explores:


     The nature of truth
     The nature of justice
     Fragility of human rationality
     Human capacity for cruelty and oppression
     Consequences of fear and suspicion in a society (and hysteria)
     Fear isolation and of the unknown
     Preservation of human dignity
     The triumph of principles in the face of death
     Erosion of Puritan theocracy
     Inability of the church to cope rationally with legal issues
    Arthur Miller and McCarthyism
     Arthur Miller (1915 – 2005) was an American playwright, who was
    awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949. Considered to be one
    of the greatest dramatists of the 20th C, and wrote over 50 plays.
     The Crucible was first performed in January 1953
     Famous plays include: All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and A View
    from the Bridge

    What was McCarthyism? Watch the video linked below.


     In 1952, Miller’s friend Elia Kazan appeared before the House of
    Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and named 8 members of
    Group Theatre as being members of the Communist Party.
     Miller likened the situation with HUAC’s hunt for Communists to the
    witch hysteria seen in Salem, then wrote his play The Crucible as an Married to Marilyn
    Monroe from 1956-1961
    allegory for McCarthyism.
     The HUAC took an interest in Miller after the play opened. His
    passport application had been denied and he was not allowed to
    leave the country. Miller was found guilty of “contempt of Congress”
    in 1957, but this was overturned in the following year.
    Socio-historical context
    Historical accuracy: Salem witch trials versus The Crucible
     Very little is known about many of the people involved in the trials, as
    there are very few surviving historical records
     Abigail was only 11 or 12 years old in real life
     John Proctor was 60 years old – the affair between John and Abigail
    is entirely fictional
     Some characters in The Crucible were created by combining 2-3 real
    people
     The many judges are symbolised by Danforth and Hawthorne, and
    there are no juries in the play
     The Putnams were survived by 10 of their 12 children (in the play, Ann
    Putman says one only of her children lived past adolescence)
     There was a three month delay between first accusation and the first
    trial – in the drama this takes 8 days
     Spectral evidence was a source of contention in 1692, but in the play
    this appears to be the primary source of evidence
    Language use
     Miller tries to imitate authentic 17th C language use [Early Modern
    English] to give the play a historical tone
     Miller read through the trial documentation and the 1611 King
    James Version of the Bible to get a sense of how language was
    used
     The Bible was translated into English (for the third time) between
    1604-1611 under the sponsorship of King James IV and the
    Hampton Court Conference
     The events of the Salem witch trials took place in 1692
     Attempts for standardising the language and creating English
    spelling and grammar norms came much later, with Samuel
    Johnson’s dictionary published in 1755
     Fact: Language evolves over time
     There are many variables contributing to language change (internal
    & external). Language use differs according to social class, age,
    gender, race, and geographic location.
     People from different eras will use language differently. This is why
    the language use in The Crucible seems archaic, even though the play
    was written in the 1950s.
    Language use
     Use of archaic words
     Verbs and nouns that were considered outdated even in 1692
     Verbs: digged (for "dug"), gat and gotten (for "got"), bare (for "bore") spake (for
    "spoke") clave (for "cleft" or cleaved) and wist (for "knew”)
     Nouns: brethren ("brothers"), kine ("cattle") and twain ("two")
     Pronouns: subjective “ye” and objective “you” (Ye have not chosen me, I have
    chosen you)
     Masculine possessive used in place of a neuter possessive “its” (the salt lost his
    savour)
     Use of double negatives / negative without do- support
     “They knew him not” (instead of “they did not know him”)
     Unfamiliar use of the verb 'to be'
     Changing the word order
     Colloquialisms such as elision/contractions
     Religious rhetoric
     Finite verbs in the third person use –eth instead of –s (“he runeth” instead of
    “he runs”)
    Tituba is from Barbados, speaks an English
    Creole (Bajan)
     [Will] My Betty be hearty soon? I love me Betty!
     No, no, chicken blood. I give she chicken blood!
     No, no, sir, I don’t truck with no Devil / I don’t compact with no Devil!
     You beg[ged] me to conjure! She beg[ged] me make [a] charm -
     Why [do] you say that, Abby?
     No, no, don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir.
     I don’t know, sir, but the Devil got him numerous witches.
     Well, they was always talking; they was always runnin’ round and
    carryin’ on –
     He say Mr. Parris must be kill! Mr. Parris no goodly man, Mr. Parris mean
    man and no gentle man, and he bid me rise out of my bed and cut your
    throat! But I tell him “No! I don’t hate that man. I don’t want [to] kill that
    man.” But he say, “You work for me, Tituba, and I make you free! I give you
    pretty dress to wear, and put you way high up in the air, and you gone fly
    back to Barbados!” And I say, “You lie, Devil, you lie!” And then he come
    one stormy night to me, and he say, “Look! I have white people [who]
    belong [/belonging] to me.” And I look[ed] - and there was Goody Good.
    In summary
     In order to understand the play, you must be aware of the context
    – the setting of Salem in 1692, and the socio-historical background
    of USA in the 1950s
     Miller wrote the play as an allegory, in which he compares the hunt
    for communists under McCarthy’s rule to the hunt for witches in
    Salem.
     He draws the audience’s awareness towards the social injustices of
    the times, the lack of evidence in trials, and the social stigma of
    being called in for a trial (many people lost their jobs, neighbours
    were constantly suspicious even if you were proven innocent, lives
    were disrupted)

     Language and setting are always closely linked. Miller wrote the
    play using language that reflects the 17th century
     Miller shows keen awareness of English varieties with the character
    of Tituba, as she is a non-native English speaker. Her language is
    important for her characterisation.
    References and further reading
     Li, H. 2018. The idea of tragedy in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
    and A View from the Bridge. English Language and Literature
    Studies, 8(2):115-120.
     Mhayyal, B. M. 2013. Arthur Miller’s Tragedy as Reflected in
    The Crucible. J College of Education for Women, 24(3): 917-
    928.

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