A play by Arthur Miller Background Lecture Notes

 Arthur Miller ( )  Born in NY  Father was in the clothing business ▪ Lost everything due to Depression  Family moved to Brooklyn ▪ Resulted in a change in social status ▪ Brooklyn became the basis for many of his works  Road to a writing career ▪ Other past careers: singer, truck driver, worked in automobile parts ▪ Didn’t show an interest in writing until after graduating HS ▪ Studied Journalism at the University of Michigan, and won several awards for playwriting. ▪ Wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949 – established him as a major American playwright.  Was never drafted into WWII due to an injury.

 The Crucible was not received well at first, but now is his most produced play.  It is based on real-life situations that occurred in the 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts – known as the Salem Witch Trials.  It is also considered an allegory – where characters and events are a symbol for something else.  House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950’s (looked for “un-American” Communism activity) ▪ Miller looked at this committee as a “witch hunt.” Miller himself was convicted of contempt for refusing to name other writers who were suspected of Communist activities. ▪ Like the Salem Witch Trials, the accused had few choices. They could confess to a crime they often didn’t commit or be punished by the court for not confessing.

 The story is about how a town is thrown into hysteria by the actions of a few young Puritan girls. The story details how events are fueled by superstition and false accusations. In this specific situation, the girls are accused of witchcraft. The idea of witchcraft was so frightening to people in the 17 th century (1600’s), that the only way to deal with it was to put those accused to death by hanging.  The allegory comes in due to the fact that in the 1950’s, Communism was perceived the same way by American’s.

 Salem, Massachusetts  1692 (late 17 th century)  At this time, Salem is predominately Puritan  Areas of wilderness border Salem on the West  Puritans had a fear of the wilderness  potential Indian attacks, wild animals, and other unknown evils that the Puritans believed inhabited the forest (including Satan)  Grammatical differences are revealed in their language. For example:  forms of be were used differently at this time  “Goody” is equal to our modern day “Mrs.”