The Crucible

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The Crucible
By Arthur Miller
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Arthur Miller Born 1915 in New York City
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Other important playsThe Death of a
SalesmanAll My SonsThe Crucible (1952)
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Miller marries (and divorces) Marilyn Monroe!
LUCKY!
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Salem Witch Trials1690s Salem,
Massachusetts(just north of Boston)
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(No Transcript)
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Salem

• The Puritans were fanatical Protestants who
  wanted to create a UTOPIAN society (perfect
  society) based on Gods will.
• Puritans left England and the Church of England
  because it was too corrupt.

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What went wrong in Salem?

• Early in 1692, a group of preteen girls fell ill
  with hallucinations and seizures
• Town elders proclaimed it the work of the devil
• Fears of witchcraft spread
• People accused each other
• trials

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A prank that got out of hand

• Girls did something wrong, (dancing in woods,
  listening to black magic stories) and made up
  devil possession to get out of trouble
• Paranoid adults believed them
• Girls enjoyed their new fame and power
• People used trials to get revenge on neighbors

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How did it end?

• 23 people hanged,
• 1 person pressed to death,
• 3 people died in prison as a result
• 2 dogs killed
• Soon after, all cleared of charges.

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Trial of Rebecca Nurse
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What caused this?

• Puritan Society-THEOCRACY (laws based on
  religious beliefs)
• Strong belief in witches
• Over 5,000 witches burned at the stake in
  Europe
• Many well respected scholars believed, and wrote
  about witchcraft
• FEAR

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What were Puritans afraid of?

• Religious differences (protestants)
• Not being chosen to go to Heaven (eternal
  damnation)
• The devil (hes everywhere!)
• Fun (thats the devils way of tempting you!)

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Miller changes history a bit

• Romance between Abigail and John Proctor
• Adds drama
• Passion
• Motivation for Abigails participation in the
  woods (call a spell upon Proctors wife)
• Reason to accuse Elizabeth Proctor
• - Raises the ages of the girls (historically
  pre-teen, dramatically teens)

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What is a crucible?

• A vessel used for melting metals at high
  temperatures in order to separate the pure from
  the impure metals
• A severe test, as of patience or belief a trial.
  
• A place, time, or situation characterized by the
  coming together of powerful intellectual, social,
  economic, or political forces

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Themes

• The Effects of Fear and Suspicion
• - Hysteria breaks out, and emotional grudges
  and religious fears replace logic and reason
• - Repercussions of living in a theocracy, where
  the state of ones morality is of public concern

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Themes

• Good vs. Evil
• When good men do nothing, evil can triumph
• The power of a few good men over the evil of a
  town (refusal to confess in order to save lives
  ended up causing the court to collapse and ending
  the witch hunt)