The Crucible, Introduction

“The
Crucible”
By Arthur Miller
Salem, Massachusetts,
Early in 1692, a1692
small group of girls in
Salem fell ill, falling victim to
hallucinations and seizures.
In extremely religious Puritan New
England, frightening or surprising
occurrences were often attributed to
the devil or his cohorts.
The unfathomable
sickness spurred
fears of
witchcraft, and it
was not long
before the girls,
and then many
other residents of
Salem, began to
accuse other
villagers of
consorting with
the devil and
casting spells.
Old grudges and
jealousies spilled out into the open,
fueling the atmosphere of hysteria.
The theocratic Massachusetts
government and judicial system soon
became involved.
Within a few weeks,
dozens of people were
in jail on charges of
witchcraft. The hysteria
lasted from May to
September of 1692. By
the time it was over, 19
people (and two dogs)
had been convicted
and hanged for
witchcraft, one elderly
man was pressed to
death by stones, and
150 prisoners were
awaiting trial. Five
more people died in
prison.
Arthur Miller
More than two centuries
later, Arthur Miller was
born in New York City in
1915. The relative
prosperity of the Miller
family during his early
years ended abruptly
with the stock market
crash of 1929. The
altered status of his
family and the misery
wrought by the
Depression had a
profound impact on the
development of his
social consciousness.
Miller dropped out of high
school and worked as a
shipping clerk in an
automobile parts
warehouse. Despite his
inability to complete high
school, he persuaded the
University of Michigan to
accept him as a student.
Miller studied English,
drama and journalism, and
began writing plays in
college. He graduated in
1938.
Miller wrote over 50
works, among them
radio plays, novels,
articles, and 17 plays.
Death of a Salesman
opened two years
later in 1949. Widely
considered to be his
best play, Death of a
Salesman won a
Pulitzer Prize and
catapulted Miller to
international fame.
Miller’s personal life
became the focus
of public attention
when he married
film star Marilyn
Monroe in 1956.
The couple
divorced in 1961.
Miller wrote The Crucible in
1958. Although the play
depicts the Salem witch
trials of 1692, it was a
response to the paranoid
political climate that
surrounded him.
The 1950s saw the rise of
Senator Joseph McCarthy, a
demagogue whose paranoid
hunt for Communists
propelled the U.S. into a
dramatic anti-Communist
fervor. McCarthy conducted
Senate hearings that were
supposed to flush out
suspected communists from
government and other
areas of American life,
The policy resulted in a whirlwind
of accusations. Many
cooperated through false
confessions, attempting to
save themselves, creating the
image that the U.S. was
overrun with Communists, and
perpetuating the hysteria.
The liberal entertainment
industry, in which Miller
worked, was one of the chief
targets. Some called to testify
cooperated, others refused.
Those who refused to
incriminate their friends were
placed on the infamous
Hollywood Blacklist. Those
placed on this list were denied
employment, based upon their
suspected Communist
Miller was called on to testify
before the House
Committee on Un-
American Activities in
1956. Like so many of his
generation, Miller,
although never a member
of the Communist Party,
had advocated principles
of equality among the
classes, and social justice.
At the hearings, he testified
about his own experiences
but refused to discuss the
experiences of his
colleagues and associates.
He was blacklisted for his
refusal to name names,
but was eventually
removed from the list.
Comparison between the
Salem Witch Trials and
1.
McCarthyism:
Suspension of
rational judgment
2. People who
challenged the
authority of the court
soon found
themselves under
suspicion of guilt
3. Conscience was no
longer a private
matter but one of
state administration
The Crucible does three
important things:
1. Illustrates the belief that history
repeats itself
2. Through the retelling of the
Salem witch trials during the Red
Scare of the 50s, The Crucible
helped people to understand that
often in life we are unable to see
our moment in history very easily
unless we are aided by earlier
examples, or, in other words,
unless we are able to make a
connection between what is
going on now and what has
already happened.
3. Shows the danger of mob
mentality—the kind of
thinking/action where a large
number of people act on poor
information or they act using
Themes in The
• Hypocrisy
Crucible
• Individual vs. the
community (unity and
exclusion)
• Authority
• Greed
• Justice vs. retribution
and revenge
• Godliness vs.
worldliness
• Ignorance vs. wisdom
It is also a story about the
• The Puritan Myth struggle between good and
• Order vs. Individual evil inside the heart of one
man.
Freedom

The Crucible, Introduction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Crucible, Introduction

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Crucible, Introduction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

“The

You might also like