The Crucible

1
The Crucible

• Crucible (noun)
• A container made of a substance that can resist
  great heat, for melting, fusing, or calcining
  metals
• The hollow at the bottom of an ore furnace, where
  the molten collects
• A severe test or trial

2
Style of The Crucible

• Point of View the Crucible is told from a 3rd
  person objective p.o.v. The characters do not
  address the audience in first person.
• Miller shows us the good and evil within people
  and bring out the mad hysterical qualities in a
  mob. He displays that even deeply religious
  people make mistakes in their lives.
• Structure 4 Acts-simple diction, though formal

3
Arthur Miller

• Born Oct. 17, 1915 in N.Y.
• Grad from Univ. of Michigan-sought to distinguish
  himself as a playwright
• Most important playwriters out of WWII
• Plays
• Death of A Salesman-1949 awarded Pulitzer Prize
  All My Sons-1947 won N.Y. Circle Prize the
  Crucible 1953 won Pulitzer Prize
• Had 3 wives-Marilyn Monroe was one of them

• Miller wrote the Crucible in 1953 during the
  McCarthy period when Americans were accusing each
  other of Communist beliefs
• Many of Millers friends were being attacked as
  Communists, and in 1956, Miller himself was
  Brought before the House of Un-American
  Activities Committee where he was found guilty of
  beliefs in Communism. He refused to be
  questioned-the verdict was reversed in 1957 in an
  appeal court

4
The Puritans-Beliefs and Values

• Return to simpler forms of worship
• Humans are sinful by nature
• Predestination-all events are foreknown and
  foreordained by God
• Salvation belongs to the elect, (God chooses who
  is saved and who is damned) identified by virtue
• Hard work/thrift and success are signs of Gods
  grace
• Education valued highly to read the word of God
• The state of your soul was not certain-the inner
  arrival of Gods grace was demonstrated by your
  outward behavior
• The goal of living was salvation
• People hoping to be saved examined their lives
  closely, trying to live exemplary lives.

• They valued self reliance, temperance,
  simplicity, modesty, industriousness
• High standards of moral excellence-punishable
  offenses included adultery, fornication,
  drunkenness, theft, breaches of the Sabbath,
  blasphemy, gambling, and participation in theatre
• Voting restricted to church members
• A blurring of political and religious
  authoritytheocracy, not democracy
• They believed children were incapable of
  evil-kids are perfect, always told the truth.
• The Bible is the literal word of God
• Women were considered morally weak and were
  repressed and disregarded for their intellectual
  value.
• The church was the center of the community

5
Ideological Questions

1. If youre a good citizen, you always do what the
   government expects.
2. People who do cruel things can still be good
   people.
3. If you are religious, you should abide by your
   religion at all times, following its exact word.
4. You should always defend your friends and family,
   even if it means lying or hurting others.
5. People are generally good and honest.
6. There is always more truth in any matter.
7. Telling the truth, even if it harms, is better
   than lying to protect oneself.