The Crucible

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The Crucible

• By Arthur Miller

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Background
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The Salem Witchcraft Trials
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It all started with improper behavior

• Of three teenage girls
• Abigail Williams
• Mercy Lewis
• Mary Warren
• Brought disaster to Salem, MA - a tiny village
  (at the time) 15 miles north of Boston.

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But first - Arthur Miller, background

• Born in Harlem, NYC, 1915
• More of an athlete than a student in high school
• Worked as a common laborer a farmhand, warehouse
  clerk, waiter, truck driver.
• Went to U of Michigan to take journalism
  playwriting courses.

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Major Plays Prizes

• All My Sons, 1947
• Death of a Salesman, 1949 - won the Pulitzer
  Prize
• A View from the Bridge, 1955
• The Crucible, 1953 - Tony Award, best play
• Considered the most gifted living American
  playwright in the 40s and 50s, along with
  Tennessee Williams - after the death of Eugene
  ONeill (1952)

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1954 - Became Americas most controversial
playwright

• In that year, the State Department refused to
  issue him a passport to attend the European
  opening of his play, The Crucible
• The grounds were that he was suspected of
  supporting the Communist movement.
• The Cold War against Communism was top of mind
  for Americans at this time.
• Communism advocated eliminating private property
  - all goods were to be owned in common by
  everyoneand available to all according to need.

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Miller - a Liberal, but not a Communist

• A very political person, a liberal thinker
  politically and economically
• Denied any involvement or sympathy with the
  Communist Party.
• However, HUAC (House Committee on Un-American
  Activities of Congress) called Miller to a
  hearing.
• Under interrogation, he refused to name suspected
  Communist sympathizers.

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That same year - he married the worlds most
famous sex symbol

• His marriage to Marilyn Monroe followed quickly
  after his divorce of his first wife

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Pinko Playwright Lands Love Goddess

• Huge publicityunwanted by the odd couple.

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Analogy Salem Witch Trials of 1692 compared to
the Communist witch hunt of the 1950s
Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Aide Roy Cohn

• Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of
  the Communist party?

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Millers response on a talk show, when questioned
about The Crucible

• I thought that in terms of this play, the witch
  hunts in Salem nearly 300 years ago were similar
  to the anti-Communist hysteria in our country.
• Parallels periods of persecution found in any
  period of history

• Hitlers annihilation of the Jews
• The internment of 100,000 Japanese-Americans
  after the bombing of Pearl Harbor The ostracism
  of AIDS victims
• The ethnic cleansing of Bosnians and Serbs

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The Crucible in production

• Revived off-Broadway
• In almost continuous production over the last 40
  years, both here and abroad)
• Theme Each man woman must be true to him or
  herself and his or her fellow man
• Even if that means death. Honor over Death!

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The Title of the Play - Why The Crucible?
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A vessel, usually porcelain, used for melting
material that requires a high degree of heat

• Makes metal strong through intense heat and
  pressure
• Removes impurities from the base ore
• Imagery of fire, heat, pressure, burning,
  passion, hellfire, brews, etc. throughout the
  play