The Crucible and The Salem Witch Trials by Arthur Miller Essay

Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” is based on the true events that happened in America at the time of the settlers, but was he influenced to write this story by the Red Scare of his era? During this time period americans feared for their life. The government was in panic just like the salem witch trials and, Miller was one of the many authors and artists that was attacked for his action during this period. WWII was a major factor in this paranoia and fear.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, communism was a major threat to the United States. Joseph McCarthy, a senator at the time, attempted to capitalize on this by accusing over two hundred men and women of sneaking communism into the United States government or for supporting the cause.* Among these two hundred men and women were several authors, including Arthur Miller. In explaining his reasoning for writing The Crucible, Miller said, ". . . my basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say was paralyzing a whole generation and in an amazingly short time was drying up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse."* After visiting Salem and researching the events of the Salem Witch Trials, Miller realized how the havoc of these events corresponded to the events in the 1940s and 1950s.*

The purpose of my paper is to compare and contrast Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with the actual witch trials that took place in Salem in the 17th Century. Although many of the characters and events in the play were non-fictional, many details were changed by the playwright to add intrigue to the story. While there isn’t one specific cause or event that led to the Salem witch trials, it was a combination of events and factors that contributed to the birth and growth of the trials. Some of these events included: a small pox outbreak that was happening at the time, the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter by Charles II, and the constant fear of Native attacks. These helped in creating anxiety among the early Puritans that

Shortly after the marriage with Monroe in 1956, Miller—who has attended party meetings, but never been a member of the Communist party—is called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to testify. Committee chairman Francis Waters privately offers to let Miller off if he agrees to have Monroe pose with Walters for a campaign poster. Miller refuses and is questioned about his involvement with communist activities and probed for the names of other communists. Despite the pressure, Miller refuses to name names

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

The Crucible was based in 1692 in and around the town of Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The Salem witch-hunt was view as one of the strangest and most horrendous chapters in the human history. People that were prosecuted were all innocent and their deaths were all due to false accusation of people’s ridiculous belief in superstition and their paranoia. The Puritans in those times were very strict in personal habits and morality; swearing, drunkenness and gambling would be punished. The people of Salem believed in the devil and thought that witchcraft should be hunted out.

In 1962 the penalty of witchcraft was to be hung or smashed. There was a big outburst of witchcraft and spells that were going around among the people of Massachusetts in 1962. Some of the women of Salem began the witchcraft many people started to catch on and fallow them. A lot of these people were hung do to what the bible said about the wrongs of witchcraft. When these women of Salem Massachusetts started to do witchcraft and pass it on to other people they were put on trial for their actions, which at the time was, illegal. It had caught on all over England and was spreading fast. Arthur Miller made a play called the Crucible that was about the Salem witchcraft trials. Arthur miller took the historical

Arthur Miller made The Crucible as a test paper to the savagery of the Red Scare .The Red Scare was the inoperable fear of Communism inside the United States. This frighten was caused on account of the Cold War in the 1950's. In the midst of the Cold War the US was alarmed of an attack of the Soviets, and the Soviets were comparably as terrified of an ambush upon them by us. Joseph McCarthy, a Senator from Wisconsin, saw this fear as

“The world he thought he knew had become an odd thing, twisting time and purpose.

Many crucial events lead to the Salem Witch trials. The trials ended in a gruesome manner, and conflicts were at the root of the cause. The Salem Witch trials were the result of illogical-mass hysteria, and were induced by grudge holding people who used the trials to harm their foes.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible takes place during the Salem witch trials of 1692. The book tells the events surrounding said trials and the motives of the people involved in the executions of John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Martha Corey, epitomizing the book's title.

In his timeless play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller unflinchingly illuminates social issues through his candid exploration of characterization in an effort to ultimately bring the reader to the realization that Miller is paralleling 1950s to the Puritan Era while he criticizes Herd Behavior Mass Hysteria and McCarthyism, which played a vital role in society.

Approximately nineteen people hanged and one crushed to death, yet all of this could have been prevented if one man would have dropped his good name and confess. In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, tells a story og the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem witch trials, was basically a bunch of girls in the village of Salem saying that other people in the village were witches, and the people who “confess” were set free but the people who told the truth were hanged. It’s mostly centered around two type of people, the people speaking out against the group of girls, as well as the group of girls and the people keeping silent or encouraging the girls to reveal the witches to save their reputation. Though I could wag my

Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, is an allegory of the Red Scare that impacted society mentally, physically, and spiritually. “This play is a commentary on the claustrophobic Puritanical-code-of-conduct-fear-of-witches nonsense of Massachusetts in the 17th century and a commentary on the claustrophobic, girdles-white-picket-fences-fear-of-Communists nonsense of America in the late 1940's and 1950's.” (The Crucible – Summary) Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915 and later passed away on February 10, 2005. Arthur was a renowned American playwright, essayist, and a famous figure in the 20th century American theater. He was famous for his multiple plays he created with one of those being The Crucible from 1953. Arthur had numerous screenplays as well and was most noted for his work on The Misfits from 1961. Arthur had been married three separate times with one of those wives being Marilyn Monroe. Miller and Monroe wed in 1956 but later divorced in 1961 after Marilyn stated that Arthur was “highly self-destructive.” (Arthur Miller – Biography) A total of four children were born to Arthur Miller throughout his three marriages. “Puritan New England which is a town in Salem, Massachusetts, a group of girls go dancing in the forest with a black slave named Tituba.” (The Crucible) After being caught in the forest by a local reverend, one of the girls falls into a coma. The townspeople start talking to each other stating that Betty was in a coma due to witchcraft. Seems the girls

Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller were good friends for quite a long time. Miller and Kazan could have made some of the best films and plays in the world but they let things come between them. They worked on films and plays together. They had a professional and personal relationship, however The Red Scare destroyed that. The threat of communism also broke them apart.