At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had
been accused and was willing to name
THE CRUCIBLE
In 1692, puritan Massachusetts was a difficult place to live. The
Puritans were people who had left England to live a pure and holy life
in America. They obeyed the laws of the bible and were a very
superstitious group of people. They believed that any behaviour that
opposed the bible, even the tiniest thing, was of the devil and his
witches.
In 1950’s America there was a Senator called Joseph McCarthy who led
the Un-American Activities committee. This meant that he was
in charge of ridding the continent of anything that was deemed
Un-American. It had not been long since the Second World War and all
Americans were very paranoid about the rise of communism in some of
the eastern European countries. Joseph McCarthy was not at all
interested in putting people in jail but ‘naming names’- he wanted to
know the names of those who were involved in communism. This process
was soon to be known as McCarthyism.
At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had
been accused and was willing to ‘name names’- Miller was angry and
began to write the crucible. The crucible is known as what is called
an Allegory. This means that it is written to subliminally show
something about one thing when it is being described as another. The
crucible describes the Salem which trials in 1692 but is meant to show
the complete similarities between it and 1950’s McCarthyism.
Two of the main characters in The Crucible are John and Elizabeth
Proctor. We learn at the beginning of the play that John and
Elizabeth have a very difficult marriage. There is growth in the
mistrust between them as we grow to learn that John has had an affair
with the reverend’s niece: Abigail. After numerous events John and
Elizabeth are sent to prison on the charges of witchcraft. Near the
end of the play they meet for one last time to discuss their course of
action.
Faced with a difficult decision, John must choose between life and
truth. This decision is difficult because he wishes to live and see
his children grow up but he dare not lie about committing a crime he
is not guilty of. He will do only what his wife wishes. But what is
her wish? When her and John first meet in the prison she says to him
“The children are well. Rebecca Samuels keeps them” she says this with
the intent that John will feel a loss on the behalf of his children.
antagonist Abigail uses to her and her conspirator's advantage. Abigail and her friends (with the help of Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, Thomas Putnam) start to accuse people in the town of witchcraft in order to gain land, power or money. If this play is looked at through a Marxist lens, it is evident that this play is an ode to McCarthyism and how McCarthyism ruined the life of some prominent American's in the 1950's. McCarthyism relates to the actions of a Wisconsin senator named Joseph
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as many people may not know is an allegory to the Red Scare and McCarthyism.”the term McCarthyism is often used to refer to the aggressively anti communist governmental activities of the early cold war,...” (Schwartz 7). But what many people may not know would be that other “witch hunts” have happened in history. One such would be the Japanese in America after Pearl Harbor . There are many similarities between the hysteria that happened in Salem and in America during
age of McCarthyism from 1945 through 1963 was a time of great tension and fear in American history. The emotions in society influenced the writing of that time, resulting in two of the most powerful plays ever written: Inherit the Wind and The Crucible. These stories reflect the attitudes and personas of what was prevalent in the world at the time they were written. Inherit the Wind, written by Robert E. Lee and ___ Lawrence, has an array of characters that mirror the world during McCarthyism. The
McCarthy had a deep hatred for communists, so he devised a plan to make American’s hate communists as much as him, and also had hopes that it would get himself re-elected. McCarthy gave a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia where he held up a piece of paper announcing, "I have here a list of 57 known Communists who are currently employed by the U.S. State Department." Shortly after his speech, McCarthy changed the number of communists in the U.S. State Department from 57 to 205. America had felt safe
story gives discomfort and suspicion to the readers of his time. Furthermore, Author Miller’s play allows readers to question and take notice how authority handles its power. In the play, the characters who had the most authority were also the ones who made the most reckless decisions, resulting in the death of many people. He also allows this story to make humans think about what it means to be humane. Well known American writer, Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915, in Harlem, New York. His parents
many along the way as well. People were jailed from the reasoning of the court with no legitimate evidence. This historical time, in 1692-1693 was one of the most insane and violent periods that people living in small towns and villages experienced. In both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Lisa Rowe Fraustino’s I Walk in Dread, hysteria, the Salem Witch Trials, and Mccarthyism are featured as main topics that create a similarity of themes. From these common topics featured in both books, the reader
The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a historical play about the Salem Witch Trials. The play contains a historical allegory to the Salem Witch Trials and a political allegory to Mccarthyism. John Proctor is one of the main characters in and is considered the tragic hero of the play. Throughout Miller’s play, John Proctor is seen as the protagonist of the play because he is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, even if no one else agrees with him. John Proctor’s intention to hang instead
In the 1950s, the Red Scare over Communist infiltration grasped America, turning friends against one another and prompting Communist accusations left and right. If accused, you could confess to Communism and accuse others, or face indictment yourself. This concept is quite similar to the Salem witch trials, in which accused witches were put in the same predicament. Written during the Red Scare, Arthur Miller produced a play called The Crucible, which uses the Salem witch trials as an allegory for
around the local village which are then suspected to be the work of the devil. Everyone in the village is to appear in court and faced with a death sentence. This fantastic and extremely tense play is written by Arthur Miller. Throughout Act Three Danforth; the deputy governor, who is in his sixties and plays an important part, is introduced. He is very sophisticated and respectful. Danforth plays the part of a very loyal man in which he makes antagonising decisions. However he is a very
The Role of Alfieri in Miller’s A View from the Bridge Arthur Miller is now regarded as one of the world’s greatest dramatists. In his plays he explores the struggles of the ordinary man against authority and insurmountable odds. It is his ability to dramatize the attempts to find the balance between the different conflicts of life that is Miller’s feature as a writer. “Many of his plays look at the position of the individual in relation to their responsibilities and position in society and
between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were suspected of being involved with witchcraft or the “Devil's magic” and more than 19 were executed. Ultimately, the society confessed the trials were an inaccuracy and remunerated the families of those who were found guilty. Since then, the tale of the trials has become indistinguishable with fear and discrimination, and it remains to lure the general mind more than 300 years later. These rare trials intensely change the way that people look at their
William Faulkner's Use of Shakespeare Throughout his career William Faulkner acknowledged the influence of many writers upon his work--Twain, Dreiser, Anderson, Keats, Dickens, Conrad, Balzac, Bergson, and Cervantes, to name only a few--but the one writer that he consistently mentioned as a constant and continuing influence was William Shakespeare. Though Faulkner’s claim as a fledgling writer in 1921 that “[he] could write a play like Hamlet if [he] wanted to” (FAB 330) may be dismissed as