Transcript The Crucible

The Crucible
Background and Terms to Apply to
the Play
Arthur Miller
Focuses on theme of morality vs. pressures from
society and family
 The Crucible began performances in 1953.
 Miller was called before the McCarthy trials in
1956 because of comparisons he made between
the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings
in his play.
 He was convicted of contempt of Congress, but
his conviction was overturned in 1958.
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Allegory
Extended metaphor
 Persons and objects in the story represent
meaning outside the story
 The Crucible is an allegory of the
McCarthy era.
 Miller contends that this paranoia about
Communist infiltration is reflective of the
paranoia surrounding the Salem witch
trials.
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McCarthy Era
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In 1953, Harry Truman defined
McCarthyism as “the corruption of truth,
the abandonment of fair play and ‘due
process’ of law…the use of the ‘big lie’ and
the unfounded accusation…in the name of
Americanism and security.”
McCarthy Era
McCarthy claimed the state department was
infiltrated by Communists.
 He established the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities to search for Communists.
 He focused especially on the entertainment
industry and ruined lives and careers.
 His subcommittee was guilty of corruption and
his power faded.
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Salem 1680
Founded by Puritans.
 Wanted freedom from religious
persecution and considered themselves
God’s chosen people.
 Established strict theocracy.
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Dramatic Licence
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Historical accurate except for affair
between John Proctor and Abigail Williams
and the timeline of events.
Conflict
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Internal Conflict: Man vs. Himself
Note the difficult decision characters
need to make.
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External Conflict: Man vs. Man
Note the interactions between
characters.
Conflict
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Societal Conflict: Man vs. Society
– Remember that Miller is concerned with mass
paranoia and the “bystanders” of conflict.
Note what the town as a whole does to
support or fail to discourage the witch trials
and what finally motivates people to speak
up.
Characterization
Characterization is the process by which
the writer reveals the personality of a
character.
 Direct Characterization tells the
audience what the personality of the
character is. Miller accomplishes this
through authorial intrusion and sidebars.
 Indirect Characterization shows things
that reveal the personality of a character.
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Indirect Characterization
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Speech
What does the character say? How does the
character speak?
Thoughts What is revealed through the character’s
private thoughts and feelings?
Effect on others toward the character.
What is
revealed through the character’s effect on other people?
How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to
the character?
Actions
What does the character do? How does the
character behave?
Looks
What does the character look like? How does
the character dress?
Irony
Irony is a literary device which presents a
conflict between appearance and reality; may be
intentional or unintentional on the part of a
character, but always intentional on the part of
the author.
 Romeo and Juliet has a classic example of
dramatic irony... The audience knows that Juliet
only drank a sleeping potion and is not dead.
This knowledge makes Romeo's suicide over the
sleeping Juliet all the more bitter.
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Verbal Irony
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Verbal irony is a disparity of expression
and intention: when a speaker says one
thing but means another, or when a literal
meaning is contrary to its intended effect.
An example of this is sarcasm.
Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is a disparity of expression
and awareness: when words and actions
possess a significance that the listener or
audience understands, but the speaker or
character does not.
Dramatic Irony
In O. Henry's story The Gift of the Magi, a
young couple are too poor to buy each
other Christmas gifts. The wife cuts off her
treasured hair to sell it to a wig-maker for
money to buy her husband a chain for his
heirloom pocket watch. She's shocked
when she learns he had pawned his watch
to buy her a set of combs for her long,
beautiful, prized hair.
Dramatic Irony
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In drama, the device of giving the spectator an item of
information that at least one of the characters in the
narrative is unaware of (at least consciously), thus of
placing the spectator a step ahead of at least one of the
characters. Dramatic irony has three stages - installation,
exploitation and resolution (sometimes called
preparation, suspension and resolution) - producing
dramatic conflict in what one character relies or appears
to rely upon, the contrary of which is known by
observers (especially the audience; sometimes to other
characters within the drama) to be true. The character
talking is saying something else and the audience or
whatever knows something that the character does not.
They are not on the same page.
Tragic Irony
Tragic irony is a special category of dramatic
irony. In tragic irony, the words and actions of
the characters belie the real situation, which the
spectators fully realize.
 In the William Shakespeare play Romeo and
Juliet, when Romeo finds Juliet in a drugged
death-like sleep, he assumes her to be dead and
kills himself. Upon awakening to find her dead
lover beside her, Juliet kills herself with his
dagger.
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Situational Irony
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Situational irony is the disparity of
intention and result: when the result of an
action is contrary to the desired or
expected effect.
 Verbal irony is distinguished from
situational irony and dramatic irony in that
it is produced intentionally by speakers.
Situational Irony
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When John Hinckley attempted to
assassinate President Ronald Reagan, all
of his shots initially missed the President;
however a bullet ricocheted off the bulletproof windows of the Presidential
limousine and struck Reagan in the chest.
Thus, the windows made to protect the
President from gunfire were partially
responsible for his being shot
Allusion
An indirect reference to some piece of
knowledge not actually mentioned. Allusions
usually come from a body of information that
the author presumes the reader will know. For
example, an author who writes, “She was
another Helen,” is alluding to the proverbial
beauty of Helen of Troy.
 Allusions made to Inquisition, Martin Luther,
Biblical stories, and the Red Scare.
 Miller’s goals is to show the circumstances
causing this hysteria that echo throughout
history and when Miller is writing.
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