Mccarthyism And The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an allegory; a reference to the communist witch hunts, which plagued Miller and many of his peers in the 1950’s. Miller’s intention was to emphasize the injustice of the McCarthy’s trials by relating them to a time in history clearly morally and legally unjust. Miller sought to convince his 1950s audience of the insanity of their political situation and to show how history can repeat itself. A 1950’s audience would also see the accusations as only being supported by the subjective experiences of the “afflicted” community members, with no proper evidence. This would be seen dramatically differently by an audience of the time as Hale states “the devil in precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone”.

Through this perspective, strong-willed characters in the text could be easily representative of the communists in the 1950’s, such as Tituba and the Proctor, therefore the audience sympathise with them. It can also explain the racist views people hold within Salem about culturally different community members such as Tituba, who is seen as the “Negro slave”. Because she originated from Barbados and her low social status everyone comes to believe that she is working with the devil. Within Salem, the justice has been twisted when people who are innocent are convicted by those without any integrity. This is seen in the scene where Tituba is accused by Abigail of witchcraft. This is shown when Tituba states that she has “no power on this child sir” and Hale refuses to believe it; “You most certainly do, and you will free her from it now! When did you compact with the Devil?”. Tituba displays foreign beliefs in Salem, which is rejected by the Christian community. Arthur Miller came to a realization that the language used by McCarthy was very similar to the language used within Salem during the time of the Witch Trials, as common themes of fear, jealousy, passion, and anxiety overwhelmed the minds of individuals in both eras. Because of this, they become a part of the community mind by abandoning their own sanity, even if the community is traumatised with terror.

This is highlighted when Parris elaborates on what he saw in the woods; “I cannot blink what I saw, Abigail, for my enemies will not blink it. I saw a dress lying on the grass . . . Aye, a dress. And I thought I saw—someone naked running through the trees! Overall, looking at The Crucible through a historical perspective, the audience is shown the insanity of the McCarthy trials through the mass hysteria seen in Salem, and the twisted justice of innocent people being convicted within the text.

A Freudian analysis of The Crucible reveals that the actions of central characters can be analysed using Freudian concepts, ultimately allowing for a deeper look into their inner psychology involving the id, the ego, and the superego. Seen within the text, Abigail’s mind is stuck in the id stage of development as she only focuses on herself and does not think of the consequences of her actions. When Abigail threatens Goody Proctor as being a “bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling” witch, it confirms to the audience that Abigail has a one-way mindset of fulfilling her lust for John Proctor. This is seen right from the beginning of the text where it was seen that she “drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor”

while dancing in the woods in hope to get rid of her for good. She lacks a superego which would internalize her moral standards, and can be further explained by her orphanage background. After the sudden death of her parents, Abigail had been afflicted by a phallic fixation, “I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine.” Because of the absence of parental figures, she substitutes the Proctors as replacements. This can be explained by the Electra complex, which is why she has a sexual drive towards John Proctor and is jealous of Elizabeth; “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! … and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a-”. This exemplifies to the audience that Abigail is frustrated that John does not believe her, and further displays how her mind is stuck in the id phase of development. In comparison, Elizabeth is an archetype of the superego mindset as she had been subjected to Puritan morals since she was born, being raised in Salem. Even after finding out about the affair she tells John that “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man John.” This highlights that she knows her place as a woman in society, and blames herself for the affair. The superego develops within the first five years of a child’s life and is heavily influenced by parental punishment and approval. Elizabeth’s strict puritanical upbringing shapes her personality to a point where she is the exemplary superego character. John is also overridden by guilt and unconsciously displays Freudian defence mechanisms of depression and denial to reject the fact that he has committed adultery. This is present when a Freudian slip occurs during his recounting of the ten commandments. John is asked to recite and cannot remember the commandment of adultery, “thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wives,” to which Hale replies: “You said that one twice sir.” Eventually, John’s superego overrides his male ego and initial instinct and he attempts to fix his mistakes. Moreover, when analysing the characters as a group through a psychoanalytical lens, mass hysteria explains the young girl’s actions. This happens when the group has a collective hallucination through the protagonist, Abigail, seen when she makes all the other girls believe that Satan is in front of them in the form of a “yellow bird”; “Abigail, pointing with fear, is now raising up her frightened eyes, her awed face, toward the ceiling--the girls are doing the same.” This excitement and fear overrides all and logic to create mass hysteria within Salem.

To be seen and not heard; a quality shared by all the female characters within The Crucible. Through a feminist lens, Miller displays the town of Salem as being dominated by a patriarchal ideology which women suffer and labour under. The males are seen as the more dominant and hold authority over the women, who are merely servants and are more often than not, blamed for witchcraft. This inequity leads to the tragedy that follows within the text. The men hold higher occupations that are closely connected to the court and church, another source of power, whereas women are expected to cook, clean and raise children. If they were to be put into a position of power, women are seen to likely misapply it and are prone to allow their feelings to get in the way of important affairs. Links from the Bible’s Original Sin can be seen within The Crucible, especially since Salem was an extremely religious place in the 1700s. Women are the ones who are seen with the devil within the text and therefore, are convicted of witchcraft. Within the Bible, Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat the fruit from the garden. The devil is represented by the snake and convinces Eve to eat fruit, leaving God to banish them.
This shows disloyalty to God and demonstrates why women are seen as temptresses and being the cause of evil.

This further to the audience that in the Crucible, women are most likely to be blamed. The Crucible represents a male-dominated world where the women have little power and are treated lesser and are most likely to be associated with the devil. Most likely because of the time the novel was written in, the female characters are viewed in a negative light by Miller which is seen throughout the entire text. Another example of feminism in the play is the ‘perfect’ puritan Rebecca Nurse, and how women were not respected as the men were. She was one of the most respected females in Salem, yet the men did not listen to her when she tried to convince them that the girls were only fooling around and not doing Witchcraft. Patriarchal power also manifests itself within the text when the women attack each other for prestige or power. Yet because of her gender and status, no one believed her. Through the feminist lens, it is clear that the girls only rise to power after they find their ability to see evil in others. This is the complete opposite of how the community worked before this as the men had all the

power.