plays that came from the 1950s was Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. During a time when the U.S. was worried of communism taking over, Miller released The Crucible, which helped to capture the hysteria that was occurring. The play presents itself as a metaphor for the House of Un-American Activities Committee that was created during the Cold War when communism was spreading, but Miller never actually referenced it in the play. Although Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is set in the late 1600s, it offers
In Arthur Miller 's powerful play The Crucible, written in 1953 as a allegory and metaphor for the McCarthy hearings on communism in America, the idea of conscience is greatly emphasized in many of the main characters. Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible in response to the red scare of the 1950’s, in which he was was condemned for disrespect & disapproval of the United States Congress for being unsuccessful in naming numerous individuals who had attended meetings with him. In a bid to not
Fear applied to control occurs everywhere throughout history. Subconsciously enforced to make society behave a certain way, the Salem witchcraft trials used fear to make women accused of witchcraft confess to save their lives. Furthermore, victims of the McCarthy hearings betrayed their comrades due to this motivator. In The Crucible, a drama written by Arthur Miller, these trials from the 1690’s serve as an allegory for the McCarthy trials in the 1950’s, yet Miller did not only write The Crucible
In an incredible display of fearful accusation, paranoia, and social conflict, perpetuated by the morally decayed, and chaotic presence of a theocratic society holding the ideals of alienated witchcraft and manipulative accusation, The Crucible is a prominent nonfiction success which illustrates the significant consequences of political and societal conflict through the actions of a rational character, while appealing to audiences experiencing modernized circumstances which render a relational reality
value on rhetoric and argument, they were incredibly superstitious. Their fears of eternal damnation, the Devil, and witchcraft drove them to insanity (American Literature in Context), which is perhaps best illustrated in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, published in 1953. In the play, Miller tells the story of the Salem witch trials, in which the people of the town of Salem, Massachusetts, accused each other of witchcraft and sorcery. Their accusations quickly turned into trials, in which the
Themes A theme in The Crucible is that a society ruled by theocracy and status based on religion is bound to fall apart. Salem 's strict adherence to the Christian shurch is evident in everything the citizens do. They use measures of a person 's knowledge and adherence to the religion as a means of judging their character and also their status in society. They believe "God [was] provoked so grandly by such a petty cause" (121), which is why the "jails are packed" (121). If the citizen did anything
The McCarthyism and The Crucible In the 1690s and the 1950s, people lived in a long time of great fear and nonsense accusations. In 1950, Joseph McCarthy who was a Republican created a society named “The red scared” known as McCarthyism. Arthur Miller was influenced by this period because he had been convicted of failing to name his communist sympathizers. Therefore, The Crucible was written to be a metaphor of this period. They have some same details and both of them are the consequences of paranoid
example is The Crucible by Arthur Miller, where fear takes over the minds of people. When witchcraft is believed to be practicing among the villagers, the fear for life and the bottomless greed for wealth have stirred up the trust between the people, causing them to call out names, whom they believe to be witches, with false confessions. The Crucible is an excellent allegory that portrays McCarthyism, mob mentality, and courage. Through beautiful and edgy wordings, the play by Arthur Miller tells a
evidence”. Arthur Millers ‘The Crucible’ is an extended metaphor representing the parallels between the Salem witch-hunts and accusations of communism during the McCarthyism era. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in resins to the unwarranted persecution of many Americans, who were accused of communist ties or association with Communist government. two of the themes presented throughout The Crucible are Witchcraft and Personal Integrity. Miller sets up the parallel between The Crucible and McCarthyism
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible was written during the McCarthy Era. Miller's reason behind the book was to show how we repeated history. We repeated history in a sense of witch hunts. In this case, he used the book as an extended metaphor to link McCarthyism at the time to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. This extended metaphor has various similarities to McCarthyism, the hearings, and how these two hunts came to be. Abigail Williams was Joseph McCarthy in the play and she came to power much like