The Crucible

Arthur Miller, Witch Hunts and More

Arthur Miller

His Life, Accomplishments and Works

Arthur Miller

His LifeBorn in New York City in 1915Son of a coat manufacturer who suffered

financial ruin in the Great Depression of the 1930’s (This greatly affects his work)

Worked to pay for his college at an automobile-parts warehouse

Attended and graduated from University of Michigan

Arthur Miller Miller began writing

scripts for stage and radio

He worked as a laborer in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and a cardboard factory while beginning his career

He was married three times, his second wife was Marilyn Monroe a famous actress and symbol of the 1950’s

Miller’s Second Wife,

Marilyn Monroe

Arthur Miller

Miller is considered as one of the best of contemporary playwrights

His WorksMiller first published Situation Normal and a

Broadway play The Man Who Had All the LuckHe wrote a novel, Focus, which dealt with anti-

SemitismHis first works were received without

enthusiasm, however he continued and his later works brought him recognition and fame

Arthur Miller

His Works ContinuedMiller’s most successful play was Death of a

Salesman, made into a movie on more than one occasion

Miller’s other works include All My Sons, A View from the Bridge, After the Fall and many more

Miller also was made famous by his play The Crucible, which dealt with the persecution of people during the Salem Witch Trials

Arthur Miller

His Works ContinuedThe financial ruin of his father greatly

affected what Miller wroteMiller is seen as attempting to incorporate

tragedy and social dramaTragedy deals with the fall of a character,

while social drama is drama that concerns itself with social issues

The Death of a Salesman is linked with Willy Loman’s fall and the issues of the 1950’s

Arthur Miller

His Works ConcludedMiller’s The Crucible concerns itself with

historical events of the Witch Trials as they reflected what was occurring in the McCarthy Investigations of the 1950’s

The Crucible is an exploration of mass hysteria, persecution and power dynamics.

The Crucible was also a way for Miller to criticize the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s

The Salem Witchcraft Trials

David Tenier’s painting, the Witches Sabbath (1650)

The Salem Witchcraft Trials

Witchcraft & The Spanish Inquisition The idea of sorcery or witchcraft predates written

history The first organized movement against those

supposedly allied with Satan was the Spanish Inquisition.

The Spanish Inquisition was established by papal decree during the early 13th Century.

During the 15th Century the Spanish Inquisition tried and executed thousands of alleged witches for their supposed heretical practices and beliefs.

The Salem Witchcraft Trials

Witchcraft and The Spanish Inquisition continued A “witch craze” possessed Europe from about

1450 to 1700. Thousands of people, mostly women, were executed on the basis of “proofs” or “confessions” of diabolical witchcraft.

These confessions or proofs were obtained by means of cruel tortures.

The major impetus for this hysteria was a papal bull located in the preface of Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), a book by two inquisitors translated into many languages.

The Salem Witchcraft Trials

Witchcraft Continued In the years of the witch-hunting mania people

were encouraged to inform against one another. Professional witch finders identified and tested

suspects for evidence of witchcraft and were paid a fee for each conviction.

Some methods included “pricking,” witches were supposed to have spots insensitive to pain.

Some supposed signs of witchcraft included a third breast, the inability to weep and failure in the water test.

The Salem Witchcraft Trials Salem Witchcraft Trials

The last outbreaks of witch-hunting took place in colonial Massachusetts in 1692.

Twenty people were executed in the wake of the Salem witch trials.

These trials took place after a group of young girls became hysterical while playing at magic and it was proposed that they were bewitched.

Personal differences ran high in the isolated small community and there were deep divisions between the church and a controversial minister.

McCarthyism, The Communist Witch-Hunt

Joseph Raymond McCarthy (1908-1957) McCarthy was

elected a Republican Senator in 1946.

He first attracted national attention in Feb. of 1950 when he claimed the Department of State had been infiltrated by Communists.Joseph Raymond McCarthy

A Modern Day Witch-Hunt?

During the next three years he repeatedly accused various high-ranking officials of subversive activities

These accusations often ruined lives and careers. None of the accusations were ever substantiated, but McCarthy was popular.

After accusing the secretary of the army of concealing foreign espionage activities, the Senate investigated McCarthy and censured him.