Introduction to The Crucible

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Introduction to The Crucible
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The Salem Witch Trials

• The Crucible is based on real people and events
  which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692.
• Twenty people were killed nineteen were hung for
  convictions of witchcraft, while one man, Giles
  Corey, was pressed to death beneath the weight of
  stones for refusing to submit to trial.

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Puritan (from to purify)..

• The play occurs during the seventeenth and
  eighteenth century Salem Witch trials and
  involves the Puritan beliefs and religion.
• Puritans came from Europe because they felt
  religion there was too decadent.
• A very religious people. They felt that people
  could form compacts with the devil. The devil
  would do actions for them in this life and then
  when they died he would have their souls.

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Puritan Beliefs

• Predestination
• The Bible is the literal word of God
• Valued plainness in worship lifestyle
• Considered hard work a religion duty
• 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

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However, there is a deeper meaning to Arthur
Millers tale.

• Allegory
• A story in which people, things, and happenings
  have another meaning, as in fable or parable.
  Many critics have referred to The Crucible as a
  political allegory.
• Miller was writing during a time of fear.

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McCarthyism

• Period in the 1950s
• Named for Senator Joseph McCarthy, from the state
  of Wisconsin.
• On February 12, 1950, he delivered a speech in
  Wheeling, West Virginia which triggered a four
  year hunt down for alleged communist in
  government. Claimed he had a list of 250 names of
  communists who had infiltrated USA
• Created HUAC (House Un-American Activities
  Committee)

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Cont

• (HUAC) investigated Communist involvement in
  the film industry, education, unions and the
  government. Witnesses were supposed to prove
  their loyalty by naming former Communists they
  had known. If they didnt they could face a jail
  sentence and be blacklisted so they couldnt
  get a job.
• Evidence was not needed to name names

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Consequences.

• The HUAC summoned 2,375 men and women, which was
  enough to cost them their jobs. 400 Americans
  went to jail not having a fair trial what
  lawyers would risk his career defending suspected
  communists? McCarthy bullied, threatened and
  abused witnesses while he accused them of
  Communist sympathies.

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The tide eventually turns.

• Soon, however, public opinion turned against
  McCarthy
• With the hearings televised, McCarthy came across
  as a vicious bully and a liar. (See Good Night
  and Good Luck!) By 1954, he was forced out of
  public life and died three years later, an
  alcoholic.

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The Effects..

• 9,500 civil servants were dismissed and 15,000
  resigned 600 teachers lost their jobs and many
  fine actors and scriptwriters were unable to work
  again. Charlie Chaplin, the biggest Hollywood
  movie star of the pre-war years (and also a
  Communist) left America in disgust.

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Arthur Miller, the playwright (b. 1915, d.
2005)

• Common theme in his plays portrays the tragedy
  of the common man who loses his integrity due to
  social and economic pressures.
• Was called to testify before HUAC and refused to
  name names.
• Convicted of contempt of court appealed and won

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• I decided to write "The Crucible" not only as
  a document on historical events but as a warning
  to everybody that such a "witchhunt"
  persecuting people for whatever - can happen
  again at any time at any place, because there is
  evil in everybody that can be activated or called
  to life by calculated political manipulation at
  any time anywhere in the world. Arthur Miller

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Themes in the play

• Human cruelty in the name of righteousness
• The Individual and the Community
• Justice vs. Retribution and revenge
• Godliness vs. Worldliness
• Ignorance vs. Wisdom
• Order vs. Individual Freedom

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Terms to know

• Crucible
• Theocracy
• Puritanism
• Dilemma
• Spectral Evidence

• Guilt by Association
• Mass Hysteria
• Persecution and Prosecution
• Witch Hunt