The Crucible by Arthur Miller

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The Crucibleby Arthur Miller

• Background Pre-Reading Information

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Arthur Miller

• Arthur Asher Miller 1915-2005
• Raised in Harlem Brooklyn New York
• Child of Polish-Jewish immigrants
• Loss of wealth thru Stock Market Crash
• Activist playwright
• Transformed American theater

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Arthur Miller cont.

• Struggled financially faced anti-semitism
  (hatred of Jews)
• B.A. English Literature, University of Michigan
• Worked odd jobs/suffered through the Great
  Depression
• Decay of the American Dream
• Death of a Salesman
• Plays dealt with reality of America instead of
  its idealization, particularly working class
  America

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Miller McCarthyism

• Senator Joseph McCarthy
• Communist Paranoia 1940s-1950s McCarthyism
• Red Scare
• HUAC House Un-American Activities Committee
• Miller convicted of Contempt of Congress
• Hollywood Blacklist

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The Crucible the Salem Witch Trials

• The Crucible metaphor
• Salem Town Mass, 1692
• Cautionary tale
• Religious extremism - lack of due process
• False accusations - individual liberties

• All Salems tried convicted
• Capital punishment
• Accusation was enough

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Social Religious Context

• Puritanism
• Theocracy
• Church ruled all, even capital punishment for
  spiritual misdeeds
• Ironically came to America for religious freedom,
  but because they believed England was not strict
  enough
• Believed heavily in the presence of both god
  the devil in an invisible world
• Moral purity to the smallest detail
• Emphasis on obedience versus fondness
• No physical affection for children before two, to
  break their will
• Obedience is godliness
• No toys/games because they created idleness

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Puritanism Patriarchy

• Extreme biblical patriarchal beliefs fueled witch
  hunts
• Women totally subservient to men
• By their nature (Eve), more likely to do the
  devils work
• Lustful
• All land, property, or wealth of any kind to man
  upon marriage
• Most witches were widows or unmarried
  landowning women accusation good way to get
  arable land
• The Crucible very historically accurate, save
  some ages

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Overview

• The Crucible is both a Puritan Post-Modern text
• Reveals Colonial/Puritan values, but also
  challenges a 1950s American society plagued by
  Cold-War fears
• The Crucible as act of protest
• FACT Miller could not attend the opening of his
  play in London because the US would not allow him
  a passport.
• Miller wrote article entitled, Why I Wrote The
  Crucible after he was convicted of contempt of
  Congress
• A thoughtful, educated, scholarly response to
  the loss of individual liberties.