The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Bio Born October 17, 1915 Middle-class upbringing in Jewish faith...
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Transcript of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Bio Born October 17, 1915 Middle-class upbringing in Jewish faith...
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 active
SmallpoxCongregations 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
witchcraftSeen as way to shift blame for their own
wartimes failuresAdmission 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-connected
Wife 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 story
Surface>>>>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
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.