Introduction to The Crucible Arthur Miller and Joseph McCarthy

Arthur Miller October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005

Background of Author His father, Isidore Miller, was a ladies-wear manufacturer and shopkeeper who was financially ruined during the Great Depression. profound influence on Miller Entered the University of Michigan in 1934 to study journalism Began writing plays and won awards

Early Plays first successes -- All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949) In both plays, Miller condemns the American ideal of prosperity on the grounds that few could pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises.

The Cold War in America End of World War II: the US and USSR emerged as the world’s major powers. Became involved in the Cold War, a state of political hostility between the two nations. Many Americans feared Communism not only around the world but also disloyalty at home. Many of Americans thought the Soviets got the atomic bomb by using spies. These spies often were supposedly American citizens, the kind of people seen every day on the street and hardly even noticed.

HUAC Late 1940s: Congress began to investigate suspicions of disloyalty. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) sought to expose Communist influence in American life.

Joseph McCarthy Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin gained power by accusing others of subversion. February 1950: McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 Communists who worked in the State Department. Most of his accusations had no hard evidence of support.

September 1950: Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, which established a Subversive Activities Control Board to monitor Communist influence in the United States.

Fears of subversion continued. McCarthy’s influence continued until 1954, when the Senate censured him for abusing his colleagues. His career collapsed. Fears of subversion continued. Communities banned books; teachers, academics, civil servants, and entertainers lost jobs; unwarranted attacks ruined lives.

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 and writers, refused to testify and were convicted of contempt and sentenced to one year in prison.

Blacklisting Over 300 entertainers were placed on a blacklist for possible communist views and were thus forbidden to work for major Hollywood studios. Arthur Miller was one of those eventually blacklisted.

1956: Miller refused to name those he knew who had associated with leftist or suspected Communist groups Miller was cited for contempt of Congress. Later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals, but damage to his reputation had taken place nonetheless.

The Crucible Essential Questions: What role does fear play in The Crucible? What role does hypocrisy play in The Crucible? How does survival conflict with personal integrity in The Crucible? What can be learned by studying the darker side of human nature in The Crucible? Is John Proctor a true hero in The Crucible? Why or why not?

The Crucible Previous to his being blacklisted, Miller wrote The Crucible (1953) not simply as a historical play detailing the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Much of the information in the play misrepresents the literal events of the trial. For example, at the time of the trial, John Proctor was sixty years old and Abigail Williams only eleven.

The play is an allegory, a story which represents something much deeper, for the McCarthy era, in which similar “witch hunts” occurred targeting citizens as communists rather than disciples of Satan.

“…in Miller’s plays there usually comes a moment when the central character cries out his own name, determined to invest it with meaning and integrity. Almost invariably this moment occurs when he is on the point of betraying himself and others. A climactic scene in The Crucible occurs when John Proctor, on the point of trading his integrity for his life, finally refuses to pay the price, which is to offer the names of others to buy his life…Three years later, Miller himself was called before the Committee. His reply, when asked to betray others, was a virtual paraphrase of the one offered by Proctor. He announced, ‘I am trying to, and will protect my sense of myself. I could not use the name of another person and bring trouble on him.’”

What Does “Crucible” Mean? a vessel of a very refractory material (as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat a severe test a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development

Map of Salem in 1692