The Crucible
McCarthyism in The Crucible In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. There is more to the play than the witch trials, though. The Crucible was composed during a time when a similar hysteria was sweeping through America. A virtually unkown senator by the name of Joseph McCarthy was propelled into infamy when while at a speaking engagement at thee Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia he charged 205 persons in the U.S. State Department of being members of the Communist Party (Martine 8). Fear caused the American people to succumb to the preposterous charges brought forth by McCarthy displaying resemblance's to that of the Salem community in 1692 (Carey 51). In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, there is evidence of parallels between the Salem of 1692 and America of the 1950's, the American Government of the 1950's and its misuse of power, and the high court depicted in the play, using its power to !impose a misguided justice. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 in a village shrouded with chaos. The people of Salem were in uncertain times. Just a year earlier a witch in the nearby town of Beverly was executed and now
ska: C. K. Hillegass, 1968. 3. Martine, James J. The Crucible: Politics, Property, and Pretense. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993 4. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Pengquin Books, 1995. 5. Miller, Arthur. "Why I Wrote The Crucible: An Artist's Answer to Politics." On-line. Internet. Available World Wide Web: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-crucible.html. 6. Moss, Leonard. Arthur Miller. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980. self befouled with Hell, or do you keep that black allegiance yet?" (Miller 111). Danforth may have had too much power also; being the Deputy Governor of Massachusetts, Danforth had the power to try, convict, and execute anyone he decide was a witch" (Bly 27). When writting The Crucible, Arthur Miller chose to speak through John Proctor on of the Salem witch trials victims. Miller uses Proctor as his character that defies the authority of the judges and their corrupt power (Carey 14). Miller also uses Proctor as his hero which critic James J. Martine recognized and captured when he said, "John Proctor is "heroic" not merely because he points the finger at himself, but because his story allow him to point out the evil in his environment, the enemy of man's freedom, here the repressive structures of society that would take a man's name" (79). At the first of the drama Proctor is not conccerned with the witch madness or anything to do with the community. One can see Proctor's lac! an International Security Act required that "all members of the Communist party register with the Justice Department and all communist-front organizations reveal their membership (Martine 9). Arthur Miller himself was also put on trial by the House Committee so that he might testify on Un-American activities. Miller refused to name any names and was found in contempt of Congress. Miller imitates Proctor in this way of refusing to give in even though there would be consequences. In Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, a dozen teenage girls and a black slave woman were caught dancing in the forest and were accused of being witches after two of them become sick. There was one girl in particular who was very cunning; her name was Abigail. Abigail is a devious girl which critic William Bly explains in his quote: "Abigail lies without shame, threatens without fear, and thinks nothing of sticking a needle two inches into her belly in order to bring about the murder of Elizabeth Proctor" (20! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ all the buried suspicions and hatred into a wave of madness. The judges of Salem were fooled and many people paid with their life. In the fifties a catastrophe much the same occured just without the same end results. People in Salem who tried to undermine the court were accused as witches themselves just as anyone in America in 1950 who opposed McCarthy's trials were accused of being communist (Carey 52). America fell prey to the McCarthy hysteria at first but th
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1992
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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