“The Crucible”

By Arthur Miller

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.