THE PURITAN INFLUENCE Arthur Miller’s THE CRUCIBLE

THE CRUCIBLE Arthur Miller’s THE CRUCIBLE is a satire on “The Red Scare.” Arthur Miller 1915 - 2005 “The Red Scare” was a fear of the spread of communism in America during the 1950’s. THE CRUCIBLE 1953 Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy repeatedly charged individuals opposed to his investigation on communism as being communists Arthur Miller was one of the individuals charged. Many Artists, Authors and Playwrights were blacklisted after being accused.

CRUCIBLE – A container for melting and purifying metals. A severe trial or test.

Important Literary Terms… SATIRE – criticism of an event, an individual or a group in a clever manner, usually witty, and often very funny. IRONY – a device used to puncture a reader’s expectation. EX: A man who is afraid to fly takes a train to his destination, and he is killed when the train jumps the tracks. DRAMATIC IRONY – The irony takes place within the story, play or movie itself. EX: our expectations might not be punctured, but a character’s within the story itself is. VERBAL IRONY – The irony is spoken or put into words. EX: An angry teacher tells a student “someone needs to teach you a lesson!”

FORESHADOWING – Hints at an event that has not happened yet, but may happen later in the story. SYMBOL - an object, place or person takes on greater significance and meaning than what it actually is. EX: Roman prisoners were sometimes executed by being hung on a cross. In Christianity, the cross stands for something greater than an instrument of punishment, it represents the sacrifice made by the founder of the religion, Jesus Christ. SYMBOLISM – When an object is being used as a symbol. EX: In the Christian hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross,” the cross is being used to represent salvation. ALLUSION – a reference to another famous piece of literature, film, character or event.