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Modern American Drama

Modern American Drama. Introduction to Arthur Miller and The Crucible. Importance of Theater. Center of 20 th century intellectual life Name Dropping: Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams First great American playwright: Eugene O’Neill

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Modern American Drama

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  1. Modern American Drama Introduction to Arthur Miller and The Crucible

  2. Importance of Theater • Center of 20th century intellectual life • Name Dropping: Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams • First great American playwright: Eugene O’Neill “I want to be an artist or nothing.”

  3. Theater Today • What kinds of plays are presented where you live? • Are the performances well-attended? • How is live theater different from watching TV or a movie? • Is theater still important socially/culturally?

  4. Why are we studying something that was written in 1953 after the Colonial Period of American literature?

  5. Background on The Crucible • About Salem Witch Trials of 1692 • Miller was living during the 1940s and 1950s: McCarthyism caused a similar type of irrational hunt for Communists in the United States • “Witch-Hunt”: irrationally seeking out people because they are different; occurred in Salem and in the US centuries later • Arthur Miller himself was accused of being a Communist

  6. Arthur Miller Biography • Childhood • Grew up in NYC during the Great Depression • Attended high school • Education • University of Michigan (paid for himself) • Accomplishments • All My Sons established Miller as a talented playwright • Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman • Married to Marilyn Monroe for five years

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