Transcript The Crucible by Arthur Miller

- Setting and Context Ms Paine – 11 ENGLISH
Born in Harlem, New York in 1915,
Arthur Miller attended the University
of Michigan before moving back east
to produce plays for the stage. His
first critical and popular success was
Death of a Salesman, which opened on
Broadway in 1949. The Crucible was
first presented in 1956.
His very colorful public life was partly
highlighted by his rocky marriage to
Marilyn Monroe, and his unwavering
refusal to cooperate with the House of
Un-American Activities Committee.
He was married three times and died
in 2005, at the age of 89.
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(Adapted from <http://www.biography.com/#!/people/arthur-miller9408335#playwriting-career> accessed on 24/10/14)
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Definition: An allegory is a story that can be
seen to have two different and parallel
meanings, rather like a parable or fable.
(Langston, D and Walker, M,. York Notes for the GSCE – The Crucible. Pearson Education Ltd. (2011), p. 51.)
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Miller uses the events
that happened during
the Salem Witch Trials
(1692-3) to parallel the
anti-Communist witch
hunt led by Senator
Joseph McCarthy during
the 1950s in America.
“The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a
group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed
by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of
hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened
in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was
hanged that June. Eighteen others followed Bishop to Salem’s Gallows Hill,
while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next
several months. By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and
public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General
Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted
indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the
painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure for centuries.
….the Salem witch trials would be fueled by residents’ suspicions of
and resentment toward their neighbors, as well as their fear of outsiders.”
From <http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials> accessed on 24/10/14.
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People were convicted solely on spectral evidence, that is only the
accusations of the so-called victims of witchcraft, which meant that
the Witchcraft Trials could easily be manipulated as the burden of
proof was so low.
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Miller sets The Crucible during the Salem Witch Trials.
He used the original court documents and parish
records as a source for his drama.
“So it is no surprise to find that so many accusations against
people are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam…” (pg. 23)
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Miller changed the age of
some of key characters.
For example - Abigail
Williams was 12 at the
time of “the crying out”
but is a girl of 17 in the
play.
Are you now,
or have you ever been,
a member of
the Communist Party?
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“The Cold War is the name given to the relationship that
developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after
World War Two. The Cold War was to dominate
international affairs for decades and many major crises
occurred - the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and
the Berlin Wall being just some. .. A clash of very different
beliefs and ideology - capitalism versus communism - each
held with almost religious conviction, formed the basis of an
international power struggle with both sides vying for
dominance, exploiting every opportunity for expansion
anywhere in the world.”
The most worrying aspect for many people, was the
growth in each country’s nuclear arsenal.
Adapted from <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/what%20was%20the%20cold%20war.htm> accessed on 24/10/14)
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McCarthy was an American senator who choose to
capitalise on America’s fear of communists.
In a speech he made in February 1950, he waved a
piece of paper and declared:
"I have here in my hand a list of
205—a list of names that were made
known to the Secretary of State as
being members of the Communist
Party and who nevertheless are still
working and shaping policy in the
State Department.“
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The American Senate’s committee on UnAmerican Activities actively supported
McCarthy in his attack on supposed
communists.
Directors, writers, teacher and public
servants were all subpoenaed to appear
before the House Committee.
Many would claim Fifth Amendment
protection against self-incrimination.
However, this did not stop them from
sacked from jobs and “blacklisted”.
Legally, it was also impossible for
someone testifying before the House
Committee to admit to their own
communist activities without naming
others.
(From <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism#Blacklists:> accessed on 24/10/14)
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Miller was called before the House Committee
on Un-American Activities, but refused to
name others as Communists.
Miller’s career only properly recovered from
his blacklisting in the 1980s.
Other prominent victims of McCarthyism:
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Charlie Chaplin
Bertold Brecht
Leonard Berstein etc
(From <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism#
Blacklists:> accessed on 24/10/14)
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McCarthy and his anti-communist witch hunt
only lost momentum when President
Eisenhower refused to support the senator’s
investigation in the US military.
These days, McCarthyism has come to mean
“the practice of making accusations of disloyalty,
subversion, or treason without proper regard for
evidence…especially in order to restrict dissent or
political criticism.”
(From <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism#Blacklists:> accessed on 24/10/14)
An allegory is a story that can be seen to have two different and parallel
meanings, rather like a parable or fable. This is technique that Miller
deliberately uses in The Crucible to comment on McCarthyism.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(in which it was set.)
(in which it was written)
Setting: Salem, Massachusetts
Setting: 1950s.America during the
Cold War
Central Event:
Salem Witch Trials
Central Event: Anti-communist
witch hunt led by Senator Joseph
McCarthy and the House
Committee on Un-American
Activities
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To save their own life, many
people were forced to confess to
witchcraft and identify other
witches.
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People like Arthur Miller were
called before the Committee and
asked to testify as to their own
Communist activities and the
actions of others. Otherwise,
there career would be ruined.