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The Crucible: Witches or Communists? An Introduction to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible

Arthur Miller born New York City, Oct. 17, 1915 died, February 10, 2005 Miller began writing plays while a student at the University of Michigan

Background of author His father, Isidore Miller, was a ladies-wear manufacturer and shopkeeper who was ruined in the depression. The sudden change in fortune had a strong influence on Miller To study journalism he entered the University of Michigan in 1934, where he won awards for playwriting

AM and MM Miller married the motion-picture actress Marilyn Monroe in 1956; they divorced in 1961.

Plays first successes--All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949) Miller condemned the American ideal of prosperity on the grounds that few can pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises.

The Salem Witch Trials The Crucible is based on real people and events which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, in Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused but not formally pursued by the authorities. All twenty-six who went to trial before this court were convicted

The Results… Twenty people were killed : nineteen were hanged for convictions of witchcraft, while one man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death beneath the weight of stones for refusing to submit to trial

This is a play about witches, right? Yes. However, there is a deeper meaning to Arthur Miller’s tale…. Allegory: o A story in which people, things, and happenings have another meaning, as in fable or parable. o Famous allegories: Aesop’s Fables (think of The Tortoise and the Hare; George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm ; the movies District 9 or X-Men ). o Many critics have referred to The Crucible as a political allegory. Miller was writing during a time of fear….

The History Arthur Miller was not only intrigued by the witch trials of seventeenth century Salem, but he was also concerned with more recent events in the United States At the end of World War Two, two powerful nations emerged - the USA and the USSR. Despite having been allies in the war, both countries were distrustful of each other.

The Cold War in America At the end of World War II, the United States and the USSR emerged as the world’s major powers. They also became involved in the Cold War, a state of hostility (short of direct military conflict) between the two nations. Many Americans feared not only Communism around the world but also disloyalty at home. Suspicion about Communist infiltration of the government was everywhere…. A lot of Americans thought the Soviets got the atomic bomb by using spies. It was charged that secret agents, working under cover, had stolen our secrets and given them to the Enemy. Even worse, these spies supposedly were hardly ever Russians themselves, but often American citizens, the kind of people you see every day on the street and hardly even notice.

(HUAC) Congress began to investigate suspicions of disloyalty. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) sought to expose Communist influence in American life. Beginning in the late 1940s, the committee called witnesses and investigated the entertainment industry. Prominent film directors and screenwriters who refused to cooperate were imprisoned on contempt charges. As a result of the HUAC investigations, the entertainment industry blacklisted, or refused to hire, artists and writers suspected of being Communists.

Joseph McCarthy Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin gained power by accusing others of subversion. In February 1950, a few months after the USSR detonated its first atomic device, McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 Communists who worked in the State Department. Although his accusations remained unsupported and a Senate committee labeled them “a fraud and a hoax,” McCarthy won a national following. Branding the Democrats as a party of treason, he denounced his political foes as “soft on Communism” and called Truman’s loyal secretary of state, Dean Acheson, the “Red Dean.”

McCarthyism McCarthyism came to mean false charges of disloyalty. In September 1950, goaded by McCarthy, Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, which established a Subversive Activities Control Board to monitor Communist influence in the United States.

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

The Hollywood Ten These industry workers called before the HUAC to testify about their ties to communism knew they had three options. 1. They could claim they were not and never had been members of the Communist Party (this would have meant perjuring themselves) 2. they could admit or claim membership and then be forced to name other members (and this would have meant losing their jobs both because of their former membership and their dubious position as informers) 3. or they could refuse to answer any questions (which is the choice they made).

Blacklisting Over 300 entertainers were placed on a blacklist for possible communist views and were thus forbidden to work for major Hollywood studios (many of these were writers who worked under pseudonyms). Arthur Miller was one of those blacklisted.

Miller admitted to the HUAC that he had attended meetings, but denied that he was a Communist. He had attended, among others, four or five writer's meetings sponsored by the Communist Party in 1947, supported a Peace Conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and signed many appeals and protests. Refusing to name others who had associated with leftist or suspected Communist groups, Miller was cited for contempt of Congress

In Miller’s words... “ I wished for a way to write a play that... would show that the sin of public terror is it divests man of conscience, of himself. I had known of the Salem witch hunt for many years before "McCarthyism" had arrived and it had always remained in inexplicable darkness to me. When I looked into it now, however, it was with the contemporary situation at my back, particularly the mystery of the handing over of conscience which seemed to me the central and informing fact of the time.

Miller had the following to say when asked who the people were at the Communist meetings: o "When I say this I want you to understand that I am not protecting the Communists or the Communist party. 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. I take responsibility for everything I have done but I cannot take responsibility for another human being". "Nobody wants to be a hero... but in every man there is something he cannot give up and still remain himself - a core, an identity, a thing that is summed up for him by the sound of his own name on his own ears. If he gives that up, he becomes a different man, not himself.

The Salem Witch Trials An introduction to Puritanism and The Crucible

Introduction The play, 'The Crucible', shows a community which ignites and burns with accusations of witchcraft, mass hysteria and retribution.

The Setting Salem was a small settlement on the east coast of what is now Massachusetts in the USA. Was one of the earliest towns in New England, but at the time the play is set, it had been in existence for less than seventy years. The people of Salem were settlers in a hostile environment - a land in which they struggled to establish farms and live off the land; a land which was bordered by vast unexplored areas.

Puritanism Puritans sailed to North America to escape religious persecution. Kept to simple, plain dress. Men ruled the household, and made all major decisions. Children were expected to be dutiful.

They did not have much in the way of entertainment, as they didn't allow dancing, theatre, reading for pleasure and they did not celebrate Christmas. Attendance at church was essential and strict records were kept of who attended and who did not. Unnecessary work and household chores on Sundays were frowned upon.

Puritan Beliefs… 1.The Bible is the literal word of God 2.Valued plainness in worship & lifestyle 3.Considered hard work a religion duty 4.Church was the center of the community Established a theocracy Punishable offences: adultery, fornication, drunkenness, theft, murder, breaches of the Sabbath, blasphemy, gambling, participating in theatrical performances. The “unknown” or “unfamiliar” was suspect

Witchcraft In 17th century Salem, witchcraft was a very real and potent threat. Across Europe in the 15 th, 16 th and 17 th centuries many people - perhaps those seen as odd or outsiders - were accused of being witches, and were tortured and executed. '

The Church said that witches made a contract with the Devil and that the witches kept a book with signatures of those contracted to the Devil. The Devil would then work through them and their 'familiars

About witches…. There were said to be various 'proofs' of a witch including: o the testimony of a fellow witch o the common belief/accusation of those who live with the suspected witch o cursing or quarrelling being followed by some mischief or mishap o the person suspected has the Devil's mark (perhaps a birthmark or deformity) o the person contradicts her/himself when questioned.

Matthew Hopkins set himself up as Witch- Finder General, and between 1644 and 1646 he had over 200 people hanged as he searched for witches in the east of England. For each execution he was paid one pound.

Themes "Need For Social Responsibility, A 'Human Bond', Integrity. Societal Problems Can Often Be Traced To Individual Human Failings. Societies Often Try To Suppress Individual Freedom, In Order To Maintain Social Order. People Tend to Think in Binary Opposites/Black OR White. (eg. good or evil, god-like or devilish, capitalist or communist. There is nothing in between). (Miller's answer for evil in the world = the need for integrity, the need for a bond between humans.)

Terms to know

Terms to Know: Mass Hysteria a condition in which a large group of people exhibit the same state of violent mental agitation Examples: McMartin Preschool Trials; The War of the Worlds Radio Drama

Witch Hunt An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.