The Crucible

1
The Crucible

• A play by Arthur Miller
• Background Lecture Notes

2
Author Background

• Arthur Miller (1915-2005)
• Born in NY
• Father was in the clothing business
• Lost everything due to Depression
• Family moved to Brooklyn
• Resulted in a change in social status
• Brooklyn became the basis for many of his works
• Road to a writing career
• Other past careers singer, truck driver, worked
  in automobile parts
• Didnt show an interest in writing until after
  graduating HS
• Studied Journalism at the University of Michigan,
  and won several awards for playwriting.
• Wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949 established
  him as a major American playwright.
• Was never drafted into WWII due to an injury.

3
Background for the Play

• The Crucible was not received well at first, but
  now is his most produced play.
• It is based on real-life situations that occurred
  in the 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts known as
  the Salem Witch Trials.
• It is also considered an allegory where
  characters and events are a symbol for something
  else.
• House Un-American Activities Committee of the
  1950s (looked for un-American Communism
  activity)
• Miller looked at this committee as a witch
  hunt. Miller himself was convicted of contempt
  for refusing to name other writers who were
  suspected of Communist activities.
• Like the Salem Witch Trials, the accused had few
  choices. They could confess to a crime they often
  didnt commit or be punished by the court for not
  confessing.

4
Overview of The Crucible

• The story is about how a town is thrown into
  hysteria by the actions of a few young Puritan
  girls. The story details how events are fueled by
  superstition and false accusations. In this
  specific situation, the girls are accused of
  witchcraft. The idea of witchcraft was so
  frightening to people in the 17th century
  (1600s), that the only way to deal with it was
  to put those accused to death by hanging.
• The allegory comes in due to the fact that in the
  1950s, Communism was perceived the same way by
  Americans.

5
Setting for The Crucible

• Salem, Massachusetts
• 1692 (late 17th century)
• At this time, Salem is predominately Puritan
• Areas of wilderness border Salem on the West
• Puritans had a fear of the wilderness
• potential Indian attacks, wild animals, and other
  unknown evils that the Puritans believed
  inhabited the forest (including Satan)
• Grammatical differences are revealed in their
  language. For example
• forms of be were used differently at this time
• Goody is equal to our modern day Mrs.