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.…
The Crucible, a play written by famous author Arthur Miller, was inspired by Army-McCarthy Hearings. The book was written as a reaction to a tragic time in our countries history. The McCarthy hearings, as they came to be known, which dominated our country from 1950 to 1954, where hearings in which many, suspected of being related to communism, where interviewed and forced to give up names of others, or they where imprisoned, and their names were black listed. One of the similarities of these 2 eras is the ¨scare factor¨. In the area (country), a fear was released to the public. Everybody was afraid to speak up, tell their opinions in public, they all were afraid of being suspected to be against the ¨truth¨ which was the idea what leaders believed at the time. Also, in the government systems, the ¨everybody is doing it¨ mentality was spread. Other parallel is, lives were ruind because of accusations and punishments.…
Joe, a seven year old boy, was very excited to go see his first clown with his family. He experienced his first clown when he went to the circus. He went to the Ringling Bros Circus and met a Whiteface clown. Joe later found out that the Whiteface clown was not the only type. In addition to the Whiteface clown, Joe soon discovered that there are more kinds of clowns: the “Auguste” clown as well as “character” clowns, which are all very different in appearance and character (All About Clowns, “Types”).…
The Crucible, a play written to criticize the Red Scare, involves a theme which focuses on how the characters change as an effect of the intensity and hysteria of the town’s witch trials. Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Hale, two major characters in the play, experience internal changes as the play progresses due to the individual pressures of the witch trials. Elizabeth Proctor faces the test of having been accused as a witch, having her husband be accused and condemned as a witch, and trying to move past her husband’s affair with a local girl. Reverend Hale was challenged by the corruption of the ministry in Salem and encountered much adversity while doing his job, seeking out witchcraft. Both of these characters come to realize the witch trials only result in death and lies, which causes these characters to evolve.…
At the time when “The Crucible” was written, the United States and Russia were going through the Red Scare which was a major influence when Miller was writing this play. Miller’s tactic in writing this play was to remind people of how the hysteria of the witch hunts could be dangerously similar to the communist hunts going on in the United States at the time. Using the history from the Salem Witch Trials, he wrote a story that was sure to educate people about the potential disaster that could come from the carelessness of accusing others.…
Miller illustrates parallels in history between both the Salem witch trials and the hunt for communists in America after WWII. For example, major themes shown in both events include the loss of morality and the lack of authentic justice. In The Crucible, neighbors and friends alike turned on one another by falsely accusing the other for signing pacts with the devil for the sake of saving themselves. This shows the complete loss of morality within a sophisticated society.…
All of these components and the unfortunate things they bred added up to one of the most hysterical events to be told through a play. The Crucible was the perfect melting pot to create mass hysteria and the awful things that come along with it. The play also showed us the people behind the panic that either helped to stop it or urged it on. It is also a warning to never let people manipulate others to create panic, state and religion be one to move that panic on to mass hysteria, or to let good, decent people die so that the mass hysteria can be…
In American History, many events are started and thrived off of mass hysteria and paranoia; two notable examples of this are the Salem Witch Trials and the reign of Senator McCarthy during the Cold War. During the colonial period of the United States, an event known as the Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts. This infamous event lead to prosecution and eventual hanging of several people, some of which had been falsely accused. A similar event happened nearly 200 years later during the Cold War. Many in the United States feared the spread of communism, and Senator McCarthy of Wisconsin lead the accusation of many politicians being communists. These two events were based entirely on hysteria and paranoia and affected the lives of many people in negative ways. Arthur Miller’s, “The Crucible,” and George Clooney’s, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” both explore these events in detail and bring these…
In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller uses dramatic irony to create anxiety, frustration and to demonstrate the tension between the people about the lies of witchcraft in Salem.…
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.…
Ogden Marsh, Iowa was once the friendliest place on Earth. Until one day the “American Dream” changed into the “American Disaster” within a blink of an eye. The American scientific horror film, “The Crazies”, portrayed this disastrous apocalyptic event. The apocalypse is any universal or widespread destruction or disaster. Every apocalyptic event contains narrative elements which can be profoundly disruptive, chaotic, and uncontrollable. I believe the motion picture, “The Crazies” consist of these narrative elements.…
One of the most vibrant, deep, and sagacious screenplays of the 21st century is Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." Miller brilliantly comments on human morals, authority, and mass hysteria. He parallels the events of Salem in 1600's to the blacklisting and the discrimination against those who were labeled as a "communist" in America during the 1950's. He proficiently shows how mass hysteria could sweep an entire community like a tsunami and erase all logical thought and rationality. Especially in the "yellow bird" scene during Act III, he portrays how mass hysteria is achieved and the effects of such panic. Miller uses the dialogue, the stage directions, and the atmosphere, setting, and time period of the scene to acquire the desired mindless panic. Through his play, he manages to show how jealousy, frustration, and vulgar vengeance can transform a sound and tranquil town into own that is predominated by hysteria.…
“I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person…These seemingly fragile people are the strong people really (Williams: Twenty Years after Glass Menagerie).” Tennessee here captured the very essence of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Crucible is all about the desperation, hysteria, and fear of Salem’s people. The main theme of The Crucible is fear.…
“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity” -Robert A. Heinlein. The The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about witchcraft hunts in Salem, Massachusetts where many where accused, many innocent victims were faced with a cruel decision. They could either confess that they were guilty and would get punished or deny any relationship with the devil and get hang. Arthur miller was inspired to write the play in response to events that were going on in America at the time. Many people including Arthur Miller were accused of being in the Communist Party, and were told to give names of other Communist. Arthur Miller compared these events to those of the Salem Witch Trials, and he wrote The Crucible with that as the underlying theme. The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is not only a dramatization of witchcraft, but also shows through many series of events that it’s a mirror of human weakness, hypocrisy, and jealousy.…
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a very wise piece that perfectly explains the story of two time periods. Although Miller literally wrote about the Salem witch trials, his purpose was to describe the McCarthy trials which teaches many ideas about human life both generally and regarding politics. The two time periods were more than two and a half centuries apart, yet they had many factors that overlapped. Miller explains the McCarthy trials through The Crucible by teaching people’s fears, faults, and politics, making the text both a metaphor to the trials and an allegory.…