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Salem, Massachusetts, 1692Early in 1692, a 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 – followers of Satan, such a witches.
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 MillerMore 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,
including the Arts.
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
sympathies.
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 McCarthyism:
1. 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 alreadyhappened.
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 emotions, rather than logic.
Themes in The Crucible• Hypocrisy
• Individual vs. the community (unity and exclusion)
• Authority
• Greed
• Justice vs. revenge
• Godliness vs. worldliness
• Ignorance vs. wisdom
• The Puritan Myth
• Order vs. Individual Freedom
It is also a story about the struggle between good and evil inside the heart of one man.
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