Introduction to The Crucible

1. Introduction to The Crucible Arthur Miller and Joseph McCarthy

2. Arthur Miller • b. New York City, Oct. 17, 1915 • Miller began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan

3. Background of author • Isidore Miller (Father) • Ladies-wear manufacturer and shopkeeper • Ruined in the Great Depression • Sudden change in fortune had a strong influence on Miller • Education • University of Michigan • Journalism degree, 1934 • Won awards for playwriting

4. AM and MM • Married the motion-picture actress Marilyn Monroe in 1956; they divorced in 1961.

5. Plays • First successes--All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949) • Miller and the American Dream • Condemned it in his works • Believed that few can pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises.

7. The Cold War in America • After WWII, the US and the USSR emerged as the world’s major powers. • Gave rise to the Cold War • State of hostility between two nations • Not an actual war • Stopped short of direct military conflict • Many Americans feared Communism abroad and at home • Suspicion about Communist infiltration of the government

8. The Cold War in America • Soviets conducted their 1st nuclear tests in 1949 • 2nd world power to harness nuclear technology • New threat to the U.S. • Many Americans suspected espionage • “Secret agents” sold American nuclear technology secrets • Spies were thought to be ordinary American citizens • E.g., Julius and Ethel Rosenberg • Caused The Red Scare: paranoia and hysteria about Communist infiltration

9. Joseph McCarthy • Senator from Wisconsin • Gained power by accusing others • Had a “list” of 205 Communists working in the State Department. • Came right after the 1st Russian nuclear tests • Flood of press attention • Accusations unsupported • Still won a national following • Branded Democrats as a party of treason that was “soft on Communism” • Called President Truman’s secretary of state, Dean Acheson, the “Red Dean.”

10. McCarthyism • Thus, McCarthyism came to mean false charges of disloyalty. • Led to the McCarran Internal Security Act • Sept 1950 • Established a Subversive Activities Control Board to monitor Communist influence in the United States.

11. (HUAC) • Congress investigated suspicions of disloyalty. • 1938: House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) created • Investigated Communist influence in American life. • HUAC called witnesses and investigated the entertainment industry • Hollywood seen as a source of Communist propaganda • The Hollywood Ten • Uncooperative film directors and screenwriters were imprisoned on contempt charges. • Suspected communists were blacklisted (banned) by the industry

12. The HUAC and Hollywood • HUAC investigated communism within • Hollywood, calling a number of playwrights, • directors and actors known for left-wing views to • testify. • Some of these, including film director Elia Kazan, • testified for the committee to avoid prison • sentences • The Hollywood Ten, a group of entertainers, • refused to testify and were convicted of contempt and • sentenced to up to one year in prison.

13. The Hollywood Ten • Three options for the accused: • Claim not to be or to ever have been a member of the Communist party • Claim to be Communist and become informants • Refuse to answer and become blacklisted

14. Blacklisting • Over 300 entertainers were placed on a blacklist for possible communist views • Banned from working • Arthur Miller was one of those blacklisted. • Admitted to attending meetings • Refused to give names of others

15. McCarthy censured for abuse by the Senate in 1954 • Fears of subversion continued. • Communities banned books • Teachers, academics, civil servants, and entertainers lost jobs

16. Relevance to the crucible • Miller did not write the play as a straight historical account of the Salem Witch Trials • DOES take events from a real trial • Misrepresents facts, e.g. John Proctor was 60 yrs old, Abigail was 11. • Instead, the play is an allegory of the McCarthy era • Allegory: a story in which characters or events symbolize concepts or ideas • The “witch hunts” symbolize the HUAC search for Communists • Accused witches symbolize accused Communists.

17. What does “crucible” mean? • a container that can withstand very high temperatures and is thus used for melting a substance that requires a high degree of heat, e.g. metals • a severe test

19. Themes • Miller writes: • “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom.” (1036) • The language used here clearly articulates Miller’s intent: • This is an instance of panic • Panic erupts when groups of individuals want more power/control over their own destiny

20. THEMES continued • Miller writes that the witch-hunts were “an opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims” (1036). • Because society was so tight, many people committed “sins” • If you could free yourself of guilt, while others were guilty of more, wouldn’t you?

21. Conflict Land-lust: Putnam has too much; Putnam thinks Proctor is stealing his lumber; Parris wants the deed to his house; the Nurse family has land too Settle old scores: Putnam thought his brother should have been Salem’s minister; Nurse family is rumored to have been behind the choice of minister

22. Conflict continued… 3. Suspicion: Ann Putnam believes Rebecca either didn’t do enough to help her children, or she caused their deaths 4. Envy/Jealousy: Clearly, Abigail wants what she cannot have 5. Good vs. Evil

23. Connection to modern day • “The Salem tragedy, which is about to begin…developed from a paradox. It is a paradox in whose grip we still live, and there is no prospect yet that we will discover its resolution…” (1036) • The fight for individual rights within society will always exist