The Crucible by Arthur Miller
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Transcript of The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Crucibleby Arthur Miller
Bio
• Born October 17, 1915
• Middle-class upbringing in Jewish faith
• Studied as little as possible – school was an interruption
• Great Depression – needed an education
Bio
• Did not go to college until 19 – University of Michigan – wanted to write
• Playwright
• All My Sons; Death of a Salesman• 1953 – The Crucible >>> lukewarm reviews• 1958 – successful revival
Crucible
• Earthenware pot or bowl used for melting
• Whatever is in a crucible is subject to intense heat
• Metaphysical – a severe, even, agonizing test
McCarthy Era
• Senator Joseph McCarthy (R, WI)• House Un-American Activities Committee,
1953• Communist hunt• America in danger from a Communist
conspiracy to take over the world• “witch hunt”• Black listed – ended careers
Salem Witch Trials v McCarthyism
• Climate of fear • Wholesale suspension of rational judgment • People who challenged the authority of the court found themselves under
suspicion of guilt • “Notion that conscience was no longer a private matter but one of state
administration • People’s questions of authority found themselves under suspicion • Disregard for legal rights: no counsel, guilty by association
Causes for the Outbreak of Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem
• Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world “The invisible world”: disease, natural catastrophes, and bad fortune attributed to work of the devil
• Belief that Satan recruits witches and wizards to work for him. Prior witchcraft cases in N.E. and Europe
• Belief that a person afflicted by witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms
Cotton Mather’s Memorable ProvidencesMost symptoms can be feigned
• Time of troubles, making it seem likely that Satan was activeSmallpoxCongregations strife in Salem VillageFrontier wars with Indians
• Stimulation of imaginations by Tituba – charismatic• Convulsion ergotism, disease caused by eating
infecting rye (ergot) that can produce hallucinations, causing strange behavior (interesting theory – but likely?)
• Teenage boredomNo forms of entertainment (CD, TV, etc) – lots of Bible readingStrict and humorless Parris household (as well as Puritan households)
• Magistrates and judges receptive to accusations of witchcraft
Seen as way to shift blame for their own wartimes failures
Admission of “Spectral” evidence – spectral means spirit
• Confessing “witches” adding credibility to earlier charges
• Old feuds (disputes within congregation, property disputes) between the accusers and the accused spurring charges of witchcraft
Why the Hysteria Ended
• Doubts grow when respected citizens are convicted and executedRebecca Nurse (jury first acquits, then told to reconsider)George Burroughs (recites Lord’s Prayer perfectly at hanging)Giles Corey (81 year-old is pressed to death)
• Accusations of witchcraft include the powerful and well-connectedWife of Governor PhipsMary and Philip English (and others)
• The educated elite of Boston pressure Gov. Phips to exclude “spectral” evidence
Rev. Samuel Willard and othersIncrease Mather points out the Devil
could take the shape of an innocent person: “It were better that 10 suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be condemned.”
• Gov. Phips bars spectral evidence and disbands the Court of Oyer and Terminer
Lessons Learned from Salem?
• Hysteria happens• Children (especially) can be influenced by
suggestion and peer pressure to say things that are not true.
• We should be skeptical of confessions when the confessions are the result of torture or when the person has a self-interest in confession.
• A cooling off period can sometimes prevent injustices
Lessons
• Trials should be fairEvidence introduced should be reliable
Witnesses should be subject to cross- examination
Defendants should have legal assistance and be allowed to testify on their own behalf
Judges should be unbiased
Modern-day witch hunts?
• HUAC/McCarthy “Communist hunts of early 1950s (events that inspired The Crucible)
• Day care abuse trials of 1980s (child witnesses, accusations multiply, people afraid to support accused, unbelievable charges, hysteria)
• McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial (longest and most expensive criminal trial in American history)
The Crucible – Literary Terms
• Style• 3 ½ months time frame• 1 week between acts• Action in 4 places – all around Salem • POV• John Proctor – victim• Feel his suffering• Good, honest but not perfect
• Allegory – expended metaphor>>>persons and objects in story represent meaning outside of the storySurface>>>>Salem Witch TrialsAllegorical>>>>McCarthy Era
• Exposition – part of the play which is not presented
dramaticallyDirect statementsSet stage“Greek Chorus”
• Antecedent Actions – action that occurs before the play opens (i.e. dance in the woods)
• Symbolism – something that stands for or represents something else
• Conventional – widely known or accepted (universal)
• love, heart
• no, not
• Personal – developed on a personal level
• SymbolsCandlesticks, title to house, firewood – Parris’ materialismDancing – pleasure (forbidden)Strength – John Proctor’s resolveVoice of reason – Rebecca NurseEvil - ????????????????Self-sacrifice – Giles CoreyAbuse of authority – Judge DanforthWhat is “right” – Rev. Hale
Form and Structure
• 21 characters• Act I – sets up terrible possibility• Act IV – brings terrible thing to pass>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>• Act I – Will town leap to witchcraft?• Act II – Will the Proctors get caught up in the witch
hunt?• Act III Will Abigail foil John’s attempt to discredit
her?• Act IV – Will John Proctor hang?
Themes
• Individual conscience and guilt by association
• Individual commitment to the society in which one belongs
• No man can live his own personal life, ignoring the events around him
• Hypocrisy• Revenge
Themes
• Abuse of authority• Guilt• Hysteria• Integrity and courage
Theme Statements
• It is possible for human beings who appear to be agreeable and normal to be knowingly fully committed to evil.
• A mounting tide of evil within a society can gain ascendancy disproportionate to the evil in any one member.
• Truth has no meaning when men believe only what they want to believe.
• Honest common sense is impotent against unyielding fanaticism.
Theme Statements• Men can insulate themselves from truth and
rationality by a chauvinistic confidence in their own judgment.
• The infection of evil may spread by ordinary people who are both the mindless agents and victims.
Theme Statements
• Long-suffering may instruct that moral integrity, human dignity, and spiritual freedom are of more value than a life without them.
• All evil needs to succeed is for good men to stand by and do nothing.