New Historicism In The Crucible

New Historicism: The Crucible started with The Red Scare New Historicists look at events occurring in the world at the time an author writes a literary work, to find the cause for why it’s written. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, was accused of being a Communist in 1957 during The Red Scare; a term associated with The Red Scare is McCarthyism. “In developing his script, when Miller visited Salem in 1952 he immediately realized the parallels between Salem in 1692 and the then-current United States” (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”). The parallels are what caused him to write the play. The citizens of the United States and Salem suffered with a plague of anxiety. Is it human nature to follow into and/or create mass hysteria? During The

There’s a scene where all of the girls start shouting out numerous names of the people they saw with the devil. Abigail accuses John Proctor’s wife of being a witch because she’s infatuated with John, but she’s angry John chose his wife over her. Abigail knows the people they’re accusing are innocent, because near the end she runs away. “Rumors of witchcraft throughout the town lead to accusations, roundups, and forced confessions. Eventually the innocent were sent to the gallows” (Miller). In the play when the innocent people didn’t falsely confess to being a witch, they died from being hung (Miller). Similarly, in the United States, people feared communism as the Cold War took place. Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communists. According to Yale Law professor Ralph Brown, 10,000 people lost their jobs because of McCarthy; a large majority of them being innocent (“McCarthyism”). “His [McCarthy’s] interrogation tactics were brutal and his accusations often unsubstantiated, but his hearings brought public condemnation to the accused and resulted in the general persecution of many innocent people (“McCarthyism”). Arthur Miller saw the parallels between the accused innocent people during the Salem Witch Trials and from

The girls found dancing in the woods proceeded to, “... accuse everyone they mistrust or don't like of witchcraft as a way of avoiding their own guilt” (Miller). Neighbors accused neighbors. Everyone feared being accused of witchcraft. On top of the accusations, many characters falsely confessed (Blaney). The options were either to falsely confess or be hanged from telling the truth. There was simply a multitude of blame and paranoia going around (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”). In the United States, “The senator's [McCarthy] tactics helped solidify Cold War fears among the public regarding the spread of Communism” (“McCarthyism”). Everyone feared communist Russia. The communist accusations spread throughout Hollywood; there were claims that political messages were in movies. Many people in the film industry were blacklisted; along with “The Hollywood Ten” who were charged with contempt of court. The House Un-American Activities Committee conducted high-pressure hearings. Hundreds of people lost their jobs just in the film industry alone