Annotated Bibliography Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. Penguin Books, 1999. The focus of Miller’s The Crucible is an appalling witch trial that morfs the once-peaceful town of Salem into a cutthroat slaughterhouse. As a lucrative playwright and a not-so-subtle allegory author, Miller is a seasoned wordsmith who addresses people akin to himself, and is not secretive about that information. The Crucible best serves its purpose as a learning device and a social statement, especially at the time of its publishing. Miller‘s piece showcases the appeals in an easy-to-identify manner that is perfect for middle or high school students who are new to the appeals, or for English majors who have no problem pinpointing them, making this play ideal for a classroom setting. Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now or Were You Ever...?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 June 2000, www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/17/history.politics. …show more content…
In “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Miller opens up about his reasons for writing The Crucible and shares his writing process.
In the article, Miller discusses the rise of McCarthyism, and how it affected the American people and him personally. Being that Miller lived in the time of McCarthyism and was interviewed by the committee in charge of “Un-American Activities”, Miller is a very credible source on the effects of mass hysteria and paranoia. The article “Are You Now or Were You Ever” can be used as a source when discussing McCarthyism and its effects, and other studies of the era. This article is a valuable resource for studies of The Crucible and studies of Arthur Miller
himself. “Arthur Miller Biography.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 10 Mar. 2017, www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/arthur-miller-none-without-sin/56/. The biography of Arthur Miller covers everything from his early life to his multiple marriages to his run in with the Huas. Miller’s biography is an in-depth look into the life of an illustrious author whose past is a mystery to many fans of his work. PBS is a renowned organisation that is known for many historical and educational programs about a wide assortment of topics, and because of this, PBS should be thought of as a reliable source. This biography of Arthur Miller’s life can be used in many different settings, such as a classroom that is studying one of Miller’s pieces and are seeking for an in-depth look at the author, or in another, even more exhaustive biography of Miller’s life.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, focuses on the inconsistencies and injustice of the 1692 witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. The restrictive Puritan society of Salem in the 17th century was based upon religious intolerance, where faith was demonstrated through physical labour and by strict adherence to religious doctrine. Material, physical and sexual desires were considered the Devil’s work and a threat to the very fabric of society. In summary, it is said that Puritanism discouraged individualism on all levels. The literal way in which the Bible was interpreted by the Puritans, provides a paradox within the play. This is because although the Bible says “thou shalt not kill,” the people of Salem are willing to sentence innocent people to death without trial or proper evidence. The play explores the extreme behaviour that can result from desires and hidden agendas within the Puritan society of Salem. In the context of the play, the title, The Crucible, takes on a new meaning. It is defined as a severe test, one which is designed to reveal an individual’s true character. The wit...
The Crucible – Characters and Changes & nbsp; Change is good for the future. " We hear the catchy phrase everywhere. From company slogans to motivational speeches, our world seems to impose this idea that change is always a good thing. Assuming that the change is for the better, it is probably a true statement in most cases. The root of this idea seems to come from the notion that we are dissatisfied with the state that we are in, so, in order to create a more enjoyable environment, we adjust.
Great events, whether they are beneficial or tragic ones, bring change in a person. These scenarios can give one an entirely new perspective on life, and turn around his way of thinking. Events such as the Salem Witch Trials show the people involved what they could not see before. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor gain valuable insight into themselves, as well as others.
During Author Miller’s era of the 1950’s, the ‘cold war’ was happening. Senetor Joeseph McCarthy was completely against communism and began to arrest the communists and people assosiating with them. Those arrested were forced to either name names to identify those who were communists or thought to be, or else they would remain in jail. This was callef McCarthyism For many, being prisioned was a terrible frightening thought so they would name names including any that they could think of that could be innocent. Author Miller was arrested for associating with communists and refused to identify others, and wrote The Crucible, using it as an allegory to identify the problems of society and it’s flaws of the corrupt government.
With treasures of valuable lessons to learn, Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ is a sturdily startling fictionalized account of the McCarthyism era that took place in the 1950s. The rigid religious and moral views by Salem’s religious leaders on the townspeople, overthrowing the community’s thoughts by ruling with absolute terror and violence subsidizes to a town’s mass hysteria when Abigail, a young girl coated with selfishness and wickedness, along with her group of friends indict innocent people who have slighted them of performing witchcraft. The use of potent and unnerving imagery is extremely tragic and painful to witness positioning the audience to evoke an emotional reaction towards the innocent people blamed in the text and therefore indirectly
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
Explore Miller’s dramatic presentation and development of the theme of power and authority. Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court
In the play that dramatized the absurdity of the American court system and how hysteria could take toll on an entire town, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible showed just how chaotically a seemingly perfect society could come instantly unglued. Miller’s choice of representing the Salem witch trials as play that symbolized the idiocy of the more recent ideology, McCarthyism, made the play a theatrical classic. Miller showed that people are strongly motivated to lie, by the power of jealousy, to see through a personal vendetta.
Writers may use literature as a vehicle of social criticism. In which ways does Arthur Miller criticize society?
about, as stated “Miller was able to dramatize the emotional pain that average people suffer”, he
The Crucible is written by Arthur Miller. The play is set during 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time, the government was a theocracy, where the people were ruled by God through religious officials. The play begins with Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter, Betty, where she lied unconscious in her bed upstairs. Betty was a victim of witchcraft, as long as his niece Abigail, and Tituba, his black slave from Barbados. They were caught dancing in the forest outside of Salem practicing witchcraft. Parris suspects that Abigail was lying about their activities in the forest. He also questioned Abigail why Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor and a respected, lovely woman in Salem, dismissed her from working as their servant. Parris sent
Written in a time of mass hysteria and civil unrest Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is a play that prompts its readers to comprehend the dangers of widespread lunacy. While the setting takes place during the Salem Witch Trials it is well known that Miller was writing about The Red Scare of 1950’s in which Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House of Un-American Activities falsely accused and investigated many individuals of supporting communism successfully destroying their careers and spreading dismay among the general public. The sociological and political impact of The Crucible is remarkable as being written in a time of persecution The Crucible enables the reader to understand the distribution of fear and the mentality of those who participate in the spread of paranoia.
I attended the Edythe Bates Old Production of The Crucible at Moores Opera House a couple days after I went to Swingin’ In The Opera House. After being exposed to the great show that Swingin’ In The Opera House put on, I set the bar high going into this opera. As soon as I walked in, I saw a giant closed curtain running through the stage and “The Crucible” projected up ahead. From the setup they had going on in the beginning, I was expecting a great production already. The Crucible had a great story to it when I read it back in high school, so seeing how it would play out with a music accompaniment was interesting.