The Crucible Part I: Overview

Written in the 1950s: premiered in NYC 1953 Playwright: Arthur Miller Focuses on residents of Salem, MA 1692 (but not just about the events of the play) Issues: greed, guilt, motivation, morality, sin, pride, love, identity

Overview: Arthur Miller Known and respected for his intimate and realistic portrayal of the working class, Arthur Miller remains one of the most prolific playwrights of his time. At the peak of his career immediately following World War II, American theater was transformed by his profound ability to capture the heart of the common man and make his audiences empathize with his plight as he attempts to find his way in an often harsh and unsympathetic world.

Overview: Arthur Miller Born in 1915 in New York City His father’s business failed because of the Depression Family moved around a lot because of poverty Attended the University of Michigan

Overview: Arthur Miller Returned to NYC after graduating college o No luck with writing! Finally had a play of his on Broadway o All My Sons (1947) In 1949, wrote Death of a Salesman

Overview: Arthur Miller Married Marilyn Monroe o Divorced after a few years o Had three wives altogether Wrote The Crucible in the early 1950s o Was accused of being a Communist Died of heart failure in 2005

Overview: Salem, MA Settled mainly by Puritans in 1626 o Reminder: left England so they could practice religious freedom o Reminder: Often let their religious beliefs guide their daily lives Most known for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 o Nickname: “The Witch City”

Puritans arriving in Massachusetts

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

The Crucible Part II: Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials Occurred from June through September of 1692 in Salem Remember the concept of Covenant & that Bible = Law Townspeople were in a state of hysteria about witches/evil

The Facts Young girl named Betty Parris became ill o Fever, extreme pain, running around the house More children in Salem became ill o Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott Doctors were called in to find the reason for this sickness

But… Doctors couldn’t explain illnesses that children & young girls seemed to have, so they defaulted to “witchcraft” o Townspeople were easily convinced o A servant in town was suspected of witchcraft Townspeople decided to arrest the servant, Tituba, and an older woman for witchcraft

It continues… More and more people were arrested and charged with witchcraft o The punishment for witchcraft was DEATH by HANGING o In order to live, some people “confessed” to practicing witchcraft.

The Casualties Nineteen men and women were put to death for witchcraft. One man, Giles Corey, was also pressed to death.

Why did this happen? People were suspicious/fearful o A book about witchcraft had just been published by Cotton Mather o People were at war with Native Americans o Death/evil were on the mind of many (because of fighting and disease) o Puritan culture easily accepted the devil as the source of evil/wrong in life

Other Explanations Teenagers in town were bored and got carried away o Dancing, flirting, etc. not allowed at all Some researchers today think a contamination of food could have caused the first hallucinations Some of the accusers were jealous people o An easy way to get rid of people they didn’t like! General sense of depression in town o Not a lot of wealth/happiness/freedom

The Crucible Part III: Historical Context

The Appeals of Communism America’s Great Depression left people upset about the American government o Everyone deserves basics (food, clothing) o Communism offers that promise 1939: 50,000 Americans were members of the Communist party.

Then, World War II Begins 1941: America begins fighting against Germany (and others) Communism was seen as “un-American” because of the surge in patriotism End of War led the the US’s emergence as a world power

America vs. The Soviet Union The Soviet Union was its main competition + The Soviet Union was Communist = Communism seen to be evil

The “Red Scare” Begins Red: color of Communism

Enter: Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC

HUAC HUAC: House Committee of Un-American Activities o This committee questioned Americans who were suspected of being Communists o They summoned thousands of people to testify  Goal: to get as many names of “Communists” as possible o They established that Communist beliefs were being spread via mass media. At this time, movies were becoming more liberal, and therefore, were believed to be a threat; many felt that Hollywood was attempting to propagandize Communist beliefs. In September of 1947, the HUAC subpoenaed nineteen witnesses (most of whom were actors, directors, and writers) who had previously refused to comment, claiming their Fifth Amendment rights. Eleven of the seventeen were called to testify; only one actually spoke on the stand—the remaining ten refused to speak and were labeled the “Hollywood Ten.”

Joseph McCarthy The ruthless head of the HUAC Was the ringleader of the Red Scare In February of 1950, Joseph McCarthy claimed to have a list of over 200 card-carrying members of the Communist party. By 1951, a new flourish of accusations began and a new wave were subpoenaed to “name names”—to snitch on those who were Communists or believed to be Communist sympathizers. Later, the terms McCarthy Trials and McCarthyism were coined, which described the anti- Communist movement and trials of the 1950s.

Who Was Suspected of Being a Communist? Filmmakers, directors, actors were accused of attending communist meetings Certain politicians were also targeted These people had two options: o Admit to being a Communist and tell McCarthy names of other people who attended Communist meetings OR o Refuse to admit anything (or rat out others) and be blacklisted  Can’t get work if blacklisted

Arthur Miller

Miller Reacts to a Witch Hunt “At first I rejected the idea of a play on the subject. My own rationality was too strong, I thought, to really allow me to capture this wildly irrational outbreak. A drama cannot merely describe an emotion, it has to become that emotion. But gradually, over weeks, a living connection between myself and Salem, and between Salem and Washington, was made in my mind—for whatever else they might be, I saw that the hearings in Washington were profoundly and avowedly ritualistic. After all, in almost every case the Committee knew in advance what they wanted the witness to give them: the names of his comrades in the [Communist] Party. The FBI had long since infiltrated the Party, and informers had long ago identified the participants in various meetings. The main point of the hearings, precisely as in seventeenth-century Salem, was that the accused make public confession, damn his confederates as well as his Devil master, and guarantee his sterling new allegiance by breaking disgusting old vows—whereupon he was let loose to rejoin the society of extremely decent people. In other words, the same spiritual nugget lay folded within both procedures— an act of contrition done not in solemn privacy but out in public air.”

“The Crucible” and Communism Allegory: work of literature that tells one story on the surface while referring to another sub textually o Comparing the play to the Red Scare Can you see how these historical events are similar to those of the Salem Witch Trials?

“The Crucible” and Power “Beyond anything else The Crucible is a study in power and the mechanisms by which power is sustained, challenged, and lost…In the landscape of The Crucible, on the one hand stands the church, which provides the defining language within which all social, political, and moral debate is conducted. On the other stand those usually deprived of power—the black slave Tituba and the young children—who suddenly gain access to an authority as absolute as that which had previously subordinated them…Those socially marginalized move to the very center of social action…The Crucible is a play about the seductive nature of power…” - Notes from Christopher Bigsby’s Introduction

The Crucible Part IV: Character Introduction

Character Introduction Abigail Williams: o Leader of the group of girls o Orphan raised by Uncle (Reverend) o Had an affair with married John Proctor & still in love with him o Used to work for the Proctors o Smart, manipulative, jealous

Character Introduction John Proctor: o Farmer o Married, but had an affair with Abigail o Proud and (usually) honest o Seen as a leader and upstanding citizen

Character Introduction Goody (Elizabeth) Proctor: o John Proctor’s wife o Moral and honest o Sometimes seen as “cold” and unloving o Had been physically ill when husband was having affair

Character Introduction The Girls: o Betty Parris: Young daughter of the town minister o Ruth Putnam: Only surviving daughter of wealthy, greedy landowners Mary Warren: meek, now housekeeper for the Proctors

Character Introduction Reverend Parris: o Town minister o Paranoid o Concerned with what others think of him- much of the town does not support him & criticize his focus on money

Character Introduction John Hale: o “Expert” on witchcraft o Asked to come to Salem for his knowledge o Intelligent and logical o Depends on the knowledge of books

Character Introduction Tituba: o Slave from Barbados o Performs voodoo o Friend / caretaker to Betty & Abigail

Other Characters Giles Corey: o Older man who is a rabble-rouser o Files lawsuits frequently- esp. against neighbors the Putnams o His wife, Martha, is also outspoken and likes to read Rebecca Nurse o Kind, older woman accused of witchcraft o Very moral and sensible