The Crucible

1. The Crucible • Crucible (noun): • A container made of a substance that can resist great heat, for melting, fusing, or calcining metals • The hollow at the bottom of an ore furnace, where the molten collects • A severe test or trial

2. Style of The Crucible • Point of View: the Crucible is told from a 3rd person objective p.o.v. The characters do not address the audience in first person. • Miller shows us the good and evil within people and bring out the mad hysterical qualities in a mob. He displays that even deeply religious people make mistakes in their lives. • Structure: 4 Acts-simple diction, though formal

3. Born Oct. 17, 1915 in N.Y. Grad from Univ. of Michigan-sought to distinguish himself as a playwright Most important playwriters out of WWII Plays: Death of A Salesman-1949 awarded Pulitzer Prize; All My Sons-1947 won N.Y. Circle Prize; the Crucible 1953 won Pulitzer Prize Had 3 wives-Marilyn Monroe was one of them Miller wrote the Crucible in 1953 during the McCarthy period when Americans were accusing each other of Communist beliefs Many of Miller’s friends were being attacked as Communists, and in 1956, Miller himself was Brought before the House of Un-American Activities Committee where he was found guilty of beliefs in Communism. He refused to be questioned-the verdict was reversed in 1957 in an appeal court Arthur Miller

4. Return to simpler forms of worship Humans are sinful by nature Predestination-all events are foreknown and foreordained by God Salvation belongs to the elect, (God chooses who is saved and who is damned); identified by virtue Hard work/thrift and success are signs of God’s grace Education valued highly to read the word of God The state of your soul was not certain-the inner arrival of God’s grace was demonstrated by your outward behavior The goal of living was salvation People hoping to be saved examined their lives closely, trying to live exemplary lives. They valued self reliance, temperance,simplicity, modesty, industriousness High standards of moral excellence-punishable offenses included adultery, fornication, drunkenness, theft, breaches of the Sabbath, blasphemy, gambling, and participation in theatre Voting restricted to church members A blurring of political and religious authority—theocracy, not democracy They believed children were incapable of evil-kids are perfect, always told the truth. The Bible is the literal word of God Women were considered morally weak and were repressed and disregarded for their intellectual value. The church was the center of the community The Puritans-Beliefs and Values

5. Ideological Questions • If you’re a good citizen, you always do what the government expects. • People who do cruel things can still be good people. • If you are religious, you should abide by your religion at all times, following its exact word. • You should always defend your friends and family, even if it means lying or hurting others. • People are generally good and honest. • There is always more truth in any matter. • Telling the truth, even if it harms, is better than lying to protect oneself.