Arthur Miller As A Tragic Hero

"The American Dream is the largely unacknowledged screen in front of which all American writing plays itself out," Arthur Miller has said (Galvin). To many people Arthur Miller is known for his role against communist accusations and using his writing to portray what has happened during McCarthyism. From Miller’s struggles as a child to his first big break as a playwright to his fight against the government, he has still been able to maintain integrity in his writing and captivated many audiences over the years.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an iconic piece of literature that was published in the 1950’s. When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, the United States was in the middle of the McCarthyism era where innocent people were being accused of treason without the proper evidence (“Joseph R. McCarthy”). As a result, Arthur Miller became involved and wrote a play to show his beliefs in response to the accusations and haywire going on. Miller used individual characters and portrayed them as a part of his protest. The Crucible was published as a play and made a film. The two are similar, but differences do occur. The play represents these characters with more historical accuracy and believability than the film because individually, the characters

Few people are willing to stand up to the overwhelming power of authority, especially during a time like the Red scare. Hardly any authors are able to recognize meaningful similarities between the present times and an event that happened many years ago—and write about it effectively. Only one has had the courage and intelligence to do both. Arthur Miller was an American author who wrote plays, essays, and stories and has published works dating from to 1936 through 2004. The Crucible, one of his most famous plays, premiered in New York on January 22, 1953 (InfoTrac). It is a historical-fiction story set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The witch hunt described in this play is similar to the Red Scare, an anti-communist movement led by

Arthur Miller was born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Brooklyn during the depression. According to (Blackwood, 2004) he was profoundly influenced by The Great Depression also he would tap into the unrest within the American Psyche. From Plays like “The Crucible” and “Death of A Salesman”, Arthur Miller made a name for himself. Most of the plays he writes about his audience can imply that he tapped into what human nature really is about.

Many people know Arthur Miller as an author due to his many famous works such as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. However, there’s much more history to Miller than what we know. Key events in Miller’s life were composed of three marriages, many of his workpieces making it to Broadway, and how he made it to the top. Although he had a very satisfying professional life, there were many political conflicts involving communism and much more.

Bigsby, Christopher. "The Crucible." Drama Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 31, Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420082430/LitRC?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=LitRC&xid=2bd5b992. Accessed 31 Jan. 2018. Originally published in Arthur Miller: A Critical Study, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 147-171.

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote this because of his personal experiences with the Communist Witch Trials. Miller was known for always sharing his opinion out to the community. During this time Senator Joseph McCarthy play a major role in trying to prevent communism from spreading. Miller was an easy target for McCarthy and was accused of being a Communist. This caused Miller to become one of many victims of the Communist witch trials and her served time in jail. The Communist witch trials was what influenced Miller to write his play about the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s.The Crucible mimicked issues that both societies had. The play also exposed Senator Joseph McCarthy for abusing his political power. The play is mainly

Arthur Miller, born in 1915, mostly commonly known for his social commentary The Crucible. He wrote this play in response to the Red Scare of the mid 1950’s. Arthur Miller was a communist sympathizer, he wrote it in the theme of Salem in the 1600’s so he wouldn’t get into trouble for directly writing about communism in their current day.

Arthur Miller was a playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman”. Miller was a kind man and wanted to keep his reputation to a high standard. He believed that theater would change the world. His works were based off of his life, friends, and family. The way he portrayed himself made people believe that he was a hero. Elia Kazan was Miller’s director on Broadway when “Death of a Salesman” came out in 1947. The play was about a New York family’s life in reality and what they wanted it to be.

On October 17, 1915, more than two centuries later, Arthur Miller was born in New York, New York. Arthur Miller is considered to be one of the greatest American playwrights in the 20th century, writing over 20 plays in his career. Miller’s most famous plays are The Crucible, All my Sons, Death of a Salesman, and A View From the Bridge, The Crucible being the most defining

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

“I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were” ( Tragedy and the Common Man). Arthur Miller follows his Millerian conventions of tragedy in the writing of The Crucible. Often literature uses tragedy to display a depressing theme represented by the tragic hero.

Arthur Miller’s Focus (1945) is a revolutionary work that highlights racism, especially anti-Semitism, in America. Written during the last year of the Second World War, Focus is a groundbreaking work in every sense of the word inasmuch as it is the first literary work that deals directly with anti-Semitism in the United States. Statistically speaking, there were two main waves of Jewish immigrants to the United States between 1820 and 1920. According to Susan Haberle, “the first group of Jewish people came from Germany, Austria, and Hungary. These immigrant left to seek a better life” (Haberle 6). The second group was the biggest wave; they came between 1880 and 1920: “these immigrants came from Poland, Romania, Russia, and other eastern

“Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way." This was a quote from the prominent American playwright Arthur Miller. This quote summed up Millers approach towards life and how others should live. Arthur Miller, by mirroring the issues of their time in a new light through his plays, sought to better America as he tackled political issues of his time in a way that his vast audiences would understand. Arthur Miller could be considered one of the most radical thinkers of the twentieth century through his bold messages. Arthur Miller exposed the flaws in the pursuit of the American dream and more specifically how society’s evil nature would lead to the corruption of the average American and lead to an unjust America. This was shown in his plays and most commonly known in his works Death of a Salesman and the Crucible. Being alive from 1915 to 2005 Miller experienced both important high and low points in American history.

Arthur Miller was an American playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” because he thought theatre could change the world. He wrote his works based on friends, his own life, and family. People believed he was a man of integrity and a hero because of the ways he portrayed himself.