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Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. A Criticism of Current Affairs & An Examination of History. Playwright’s Bio. Arthur Miller was born in 1915 in New York City He was the son of a coat manufacturer ruined by the Great Depression Attended college at the University of Michigan

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Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

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  1. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible A Criticism of Current Affairs & An Examination of History

  2. Playwright’s Bio • Arthur Miller was born in 1915 in New York City • He was the son of a coat manufacturer ruined by the Great Depression • Attended college at the University of Michigan • Married several times (Second wife was Marilyn Monroe)

  3. Famous Works • 1938- The Grass Still Grows • 1944- The Man Who Had All the Luck (Theater Guild Award) • 1945- Focus (a novel attacking Anti-Semitism) • 1947- All My Sons (New York Drama Critic’s Award) • 1949- Death of a Salesman (Pulitzer Prize winner and considered one of the greatest contemporary dramas) • 1953- The Crucible (Tony Award)

  4. Themes & Style • Writer with a social conscience • Focused on those vulnerable to false values imposed on them by society • The effect of opportunism on family relationships • Realism

  5. The Crucible • Ostensibly about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 • Used trial documents but fictionalized • Combined, created or changed characters • Major trial events are relatively accurate • Really a criticism of the House Committee on Un-American Activities

  6. Makings of a Salem Witch Hunt • Salem was a village divided • Land ownership disputes • Dispute about reverend position & compensation • People stubborn about deeply held beliefs • Salem was repressed • Expression of individual thoughts and desires frowned upon or even outlawed • Children were to be seen not heard ;particularly repressed • Spark & Ignition • A group of girls were caught playing at magic and pressured into naming those who bewitched them • A special court was set up • Spectral evidence was used

  7. Makings of a Communist Hunt • WWII rise of Communist Party in the US • Cold War becomes intense after USSR gains atomic power • Conservatives in power • Truman initiates disloyalty laws • House of Un-American Activities Committee reinvigorated • Investigates communist activity • Alger Hiss and Rosenberg Cases • Hollywood Blacklist & The Hollywood Ten • McCarthy and his accusations • Others pressured to name others as communists

  8. Results of both Witch Hunts • Colonial Salem • 20 innocent people were executed • Dozens more were imprisoned • One was stoned to death • Families lost their land and livelihood • 1950’s • Hundreds unjustly lost their jobs • 10 were jailed for 6 months to 2 years • 1 was sentenced to 5 years in prison • 2 were executed

  9. Literary Elements to Look For • Themes & Motifs • Intolerance & Jealousy • Irrationality & Hysteria • Reputation • The Court • Irony • Tragic fall • Using righteousness for personal gain • Tragedy • John Proctor as tragic hero • Finds his moral center as everything crumbles around him

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