Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ is based upon the Salem Witch Trials which occurred in the year 1692. The text also serves as an allegorical warning about much more recent events, in particular the McCarthy Trials of 1953. The McCarthy Trials were exploring communism. ‘The Crucible’ was written to highlight the similarities between McCarthyism and communism in the 1950’s in the United States of America and the witch hunts of Europe in the 17th century. The play is literally written about the witch trials but it is figuratively about the society Miller lived in, in 1953. Thousands of Americans were accused of being communists like in ‘The Crucible’; hundreds of the town’s people were accused of being witches. Three major ideologies that are still relevant in society today are evident in the play, intolerance, mass hysteria and reputation.…
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because Miller presented one of the modern issues which is individual freedom. This was important because Miller exposed the problem going on at the time. Important information acquired was the investigations to find communists created fear and suspicions in the American society. This was important information because it showed that the American society was suspicious of what was occurring. Also they feared of what could happen. Important information acquired was Miller wrote The Crucible by a personal experience that happened to him. This was important information because Miller was a political advocate and an outspoken critic, he was a prime target for senator Joseph McCarthy. Witchcraft…
It was a time of military and political tension between the United States capitalists and the Soviet communists. Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, when Senator Joseph McCarthy accused dozens of people who worked for the US government of being communist infiltrators, without any evidence. The fear he spread among the people from the United States at that time is comparable to the fear for witches that the inhabitants of Salem spread in their own villages. “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom” (Miller, 16). This sentence illustrates that the witch-hunt was the product of mass-panic, just as the hunt for communists…
The allegory of Arthur Miller and McCarthyism began when Miller wrote The Crucible which shows the similarities between the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare. The fear of the the crucible still in some people as it did in the fifties “the play seems to be about the dilemma of relying on the testimony of small children accusing adults of sexual abuse, something I'd not have dreamed of forty years ago.” Arthur Miller once stated “The…
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, as his take upon a series of radical trials in a time known as McCarthyism. Following World War II, while United States military forces left, Russian soldiers stayed in Europe. Many broken countries were “adopted” into a Union with Soviet Russia and the spread of communism was alarming to politically opposed America. In 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made a significant speech in which he spoke out against communism in which he had named over 200 individuals whom seemed loyal to the Communist Party. After noticing Americans were beginning to become frightened of an outbreak of communism in the United States, McCarthy was made chairman of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate, which gave him the opportunity to investigate the possibility of government infiltration of Soviet ideals.…
Throughout Joseph McCarthy’s accusations of communism there was talk of some of his victims possibly being innocent. One of these victims that was allegedly innocent was Arthur Miller. Miller, because he was wronged by the law, decided to write a similar story to the events of the McCarthy trials in order to make McCarthy’s ideals seem flawed. Miller believed that if he could write a story to prove the accusations incorrect he would be able to re-establish his respectable reputation. This story is known as “The Crucible”, a story about the Salem Witch Trials and how the townspeople were falsely accused of witchcraft, but couldn’t do anything to plead there innocence. Miller managed to show through “The Crucible”, how ridiculous McCarthy’s accusations were and how it was very…
There was also an obsession toward communism. Most people were getting very scared of communists and were trying everything they could to stop all the power they had. The H.U.A.C was an organization that was responsible for going around looking for communists and prosecuting them. This organization was led by Joseph McCarthy, and the committee hunted down many perspective communists for questioning, and Arthur Miller was in the group of people that were prosecuted. He refused to give the court any information because he disliked McCarthy. In both The Crucible and the McCarthy Era people were prosecuted based on what other people were saying and they could clear their names only by accusing others of the same crime you were committed for. Arthur Miller could see that it was a sinful cycle, and he was able to make a connection between the events from both time…
Throughout history there have been many events that are direct parallels of each other. These parallels are evident in Joseph McCarthy’s, McCarthyism and in Arthur Miller’s, the Crucible. McCarthyism was the fear of communism that was created by the Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. This was a time of fear after the Second World War in the years 1950 through 1954. McCarthy had conducted hearings accusing people who were suspected of being related to communism. During these hearings, he forced people to give up names of other “followers” and if they refused to give names of others, they were imprisoned. In Arthur Miller’s, the Crucible it was a based…
There are three characters that are the most responsible for the witch trials in Salem, which are Abigail Williams for trying to avoid punishment for dancing in the woods and for jealousy towards Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Samuel Parris for trying to protect his good name and his daughter and niece, and Reverend John Hale for being so convinced about the devil running loose in Salem and connecting every minor flaw with witchcraft, even though he later has a change of heart. Out of these three characters only two were thinking to fool the others, Abigail and Parris. Hale, on the other hand, was just a confident man that did everything by the book and thought that was the best way to do it, something we find out when he…
Arthur Miller, a great playwright of his time, wrote The Crucible. The Crucible, a 1953 play, was written at the time of the Red Scare in America. The author was accused of being a communist during this period of time and wrote the play to show how out of proportion the government was while the Red Scare was commencing. Miller used various forms of satire to show his feeling towards this ordeal in the play. The forms of satire were used to compare the Salem Witch Trials to the Red Scare. His drama was a major success and conveyed his message clearly to the audience.…
The era of McCarthyism was one of blame and accusations. McCarthy and his followers looked for anyone and everyone they could to victimize as communist believers. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, was one of those many. As a famous play-writer during this time, Miller was blacklisted by McCarthy for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC (House of Un-American Activities Committee), and through this he realized a common social issue that can be applied world wide. Arthur Miller argues that during times of crisis, in order for strong people to preserve their own power and reputation, they often point fingers at the weak first to distract others from their own guilt.…
The title, The Crucible, describes a severe test or trial that occurred, in Massachusetts, called the Salem Witch Trials. This historic occurrence will become a well known test of people’s values and beliefs. In a society of religious Puritans, they lived a strict and humble life they also attended church weekly. They are a quiet and tranquil people. Until, a wicked secret cast chaos throughout the society. Envy is the start of all evil which would unleash other grave evils that will be a test of the people.…
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller conveys various themes relating the HUAC trials to the Red Scare and many occurring events in the world today. The Red Scare was a time of fear and agony of communism for many citizens in the United States. In this play, John Proctor is an individual who is well respected in the town of Salem for his hard working reputation. He faces many struggles and life or death situations that test his morals. John struggles through his resistance in a relationship with Abigail, confessing to his sin in the court, and by showing respect for himself and others when he tears up the document proving his confession. In his play, Arthur Miller conveys the theme of standing up for what’s right, even in the worst case of injustice through his character John Proctor.…
If you don't believe in witch hunts, that's fine. But the idea of them is very real. The Crucible is a story that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. This small community is full of superstition and the towns people let their beliefs destroy friendships, and lives. Arthur Miller uses many repeating themes in the play The Crucible. There are many good, and bad themes that come up throughout the play. Some of the common themes of this story are lust, fear, and courage.…
A quote by Edward R. Murrow states, “No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.” During the Red Scare, Senator McCarthy did terrorize a whole nation, and Arthur Miller became a victim of McCarthyism. Miller suffered through accusations of possibly believing in communism; as a result, he wrote a play called The Crucible, in which he used the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to explain the communist hysteria during the 1950s. Arthur Miller develops an allegory in The Crucible by comparing the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism by using ringleaders, persecuted couples, and hypocrisy in the government or legal system.…