Realism, Arthur Miller, and

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Realism,Arthur Miller,and

• The Crucible

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The Play
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The Drama
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The Playwright
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Arthur Miller

• Born and raised New York
• Dropped out of high school due to The Great
  Depression
• Went to the University of Michigangraduated in
  1938began his writing career

• Started out writing radio scripts, then moved to
  playwriting
• 1947first Broadway success with All My Sons
• 1949produced his best known play Death of a
  Salesman which won a Pulitzer Prize

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Which play won Miller the Pulitzer Prize?

• All My Sons
• Death of a Salesman
• The Crucible

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Millers political crucible

• Politically minded, Miller was disturbed by the
  1950s anticommunism campaign of Senator Joseph
  McCarthy.
• Miller was summoned to testify by the House
  Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 to
  explain his own political beliefs.
• Miller was uncooperative when asked to name
  others interested in communist meetings he was
  indicted for contempt of court.

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What was Arthur Miller indicted for?

• Refusing to show up in court
• Refusing to name his own political belief
• Refusing to name names of others attending
  communist meetings

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Miller and Monroe

• His personal life took an interesting turn when
  he married Marilyn Monroe in 1956.
• He wrote the play The Misfits for her to star in.
• They divorced in 1961.
• Both his ordeal with McCarthy and his marriage to
  Monroe kept Miller in the public eye, making his
  popularity as a playwright even more pronounced.

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The happy couple
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How did a marriage to Marilyn Monroe affect
Millers Life?

• He became more popular.
• After the divorce, he was in a writing slump
• No change.

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Influences on Millers work

• Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and Anton
  Chekhov (three 19th century European playwrights)
  paved the way for American realist drama They
  tackled subjects such as guilt, sexuality, and
  mental illnesssubjects never portrayed on stage
  before.
• These European realists bequeathed the dramatic
  slice of life technique to their American heirs
  so that they, too, could write about life as it
  is actually lived.

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The Realists dramatists wrote about taboo
subjects like sex and mental illness.

• True
• False

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American Realism and Eugene ONeill

• Realistic drama employs the 4th wall
  techniquewhich has the audience looking into the
  lives of characters as if the 4th wall of a room
  is removed and we voyeuristically peer in.
• Became dominant mode of American drama after the
  beginning of 20th cent.
• Eugene ONeill experimented with characters and
  dialogue to reveal a new realism.

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The 4th wall technique became the prominent form
of drama in the 20th century.

• True
• False

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Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams

• Represent 2 principal movements in modern
  American drama realism and imaginative realism
• Miller is the playwright of our social
  conscience Williams is the playwright of our
  souls.

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Which realist dramatist is considered the
playwright of our social conscience?

• Arthur Miller
• Tennessee Williams

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Millers writing style

• Uses spare, plain language
• Characters are ordinary people caught up in
  social tensions
• Plot and character development depend upon
  psychological, social, philosophical, and
  economic atmosphere of setting

• About drama, Miller stated, To me the theater is
  not a disconnected entertainment, which it
  usually is to most people here. Its the sound
  and the ring of the spirit of the people at any
  one time. It is where a collective mass of
  people, through the genius of some author, is
  able to project its terrors and its hopes and to
  symbolize them. I personally feel that the
  theater has to confront the basic themes always.
  And the faces change from generation to
  generation to generation, but their roots are
  generally the same, and that is a question of
  mans increasing awareness of himself and his
  environment, his quest for justice and for the
  right to be human.

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Which characteristics are true of Millers
writing?

• Elaborate characters
• Detailed, expansive dialogue
• Spare, plain language

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How are Millers characters and plot often
developed?

• Using the social, economic atmosphere of the
  time
• Using the psychological and philosophical
  atmosphere of the time
• Playing upon the tensions of the time period
• Only 1 2
• All of the above

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Puritans recap

• Left Church of England for religious freedom
• Eventually settled in Boston and Salem in America
• Established theocracy, a fusion of church and
  state
• Laws based on religious and moral precepts
• Judgment and punishment were harsh

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Setting of the play

• Literal
• 1692
• Massachusetts
• Small rooms, simply furnished
• Claustrophobicboth intellectually and physically

• Symbolic
• 1953
• United Statespost WWII
• Anywhere a communist witch-hunt was taking
  place
• Claustrophobic--intellectually

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Which setting had the small simple rooms set in
1692?

• Literal
• Symbolic

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Cast of Characters

• John Proctor farmer, husband of Elizabeth,
  adulterer with Abigail Williams, respected in
  community, honest and blunt, practical
• Elizabeth Proctor wife, morally good,
  unforgiving at first, suspicious
• Abigail Williams niece of Rev. Samuel Parris,
  17 years old, seductress of John Proctor,
  manipulative, intelligent

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Characters cont.

• Rev. Samuel Parris village minister,
  indecisive, hypocritical, worried about his
  social position, weak/materialistic man
• Rev. John Hale renowned witchcraft expert,
  sincere but somewhat narrow minded, willing to
  change his mind
• Deputy Gov. Danforth highest ranking civil
  authority, presides over witch trials, hard and
  determined, unable to admit error
• Mary Warren shy, lonely, teenager, Proctors
  servant, easy target for Abigails manipulation

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Take a guess whos going to be the villains?

• Elizabeth Proctor
• Abigail Williams
• Deputy Governor Danforth
• John Proctor
• Both 1 4
• Both 2 3
• All of the above

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Questions to consider for themes

• What constitutes true authority?
• What is the proper application of authority?
• How can people deal with sin and guilt?
• What responsibility does an individual have to
  speak out against injustice?

• Is it possible to apply the logic and rationalism
  of justice to fear and hysteria?
• In what ways can appearances misrepresent
  reality?
• What are the consequences of revenge for the
  individual and society?

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Remember to read all narrative notes--

• They represent Arthur Miller himself talking to
  you, telling you what you need to know to
  understand the dual nature of the play.
• Enjoy a piece of dramatic history!