The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 in Massachusetts. Nineteen men and women and two dogs were hanged after being convicted of witchcraft. The play is an allegory for McCarthyism in 1950s America. A crucible is a place of extreme heat and severe test, and the play examines what happens when authority is challenged and hysteria takes hold. The play is still relevant as an allegory today when societies seek perfection at the cost of individual freedoms.

1. The CrucibleBy Arthur Miller

2. What is this play about?

3. Salem Witch TrialsIn 1692 nineteen men and women and two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in Salem, MA.

4. In 1957 the Massachusetts government passed a resolution absolving the descendents of the accused “of disgrace or distress.”

5. Why did it take so long for the court to acknowledge its full responsibility?

6. What happens when authority is challenged? What’s a crucible?

7. Crucibles“One dictionary definition of a crucible is a place of extreme heat, ‘a severe test’” (Bigsby xvi).What are some of the “crucibles” in your lives?http://www.rojan.com.au/cache/path/:upload:pages:foundry-crucibles-accessories:mammut-crucibles-in-action1.jpg/crop/1/width/500/height/285/round/15/name/mammut-crucibles-in-action1.jpg

8. Who’s the author?

9. The PlaywrightThe Crucible opened in New York, NY in 1953

10. It tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

11. The play is also an allegory of the “witch-hunts” of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) led by Senator McCarthy in the 1950s.http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mbWThvBk2kA/SM_VbpqdO1I/AAAAAAAAGd8/gFC7uw2lsVs/s320miller.jpg

12. What is an allegory?Literary terms

13. The Play as AllegoryThe main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, setting and other types of symbols that have both literal and figurative meanings. The difference between an allegory and a symbol is that an allegory is a complete story that conveys abstract ideas to make a point, whereas a symbol is a representation of an idea that can have different meaning throughout a literary work.

14. Why An Allegory? Miller writes: “‘…it was simply impossible any longer to discuss what was happening to us in contemporary terms. …perhaps by revealing the nature of [the hysteria in Salem] some light could be thrown on what we were doing to ourselves. And that’s how the play came to be’” (Bigsby xii). Salem-Washington ParallelsAccording to Miller:

15. Both ritualistic hearings.

16. The main point is that the accused make public confession, damn friends, the Devil, and guarantee allegiance to by breaking old vows.

17. Then, the accused are free to rejoin society of decent people.http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/treasures_of_congress/Images/page_23/70b.jpg

18. Allegory For Our Times?Could this play be an allegory for our times? Consider the fight against terrorism as laid out to the world by former President, George W. Bush on November 6, 2001: “You are either with us or against us.” http://www.damonchernavsky.com/Pictures/Pictures_Of_US_Presidents/George-W-Bush.jpg

19. Big ideas.

20. Themes: A Play About PerfectionThe Puritans: A city on a hill. Belief in unique virtues.Society that seeks to sustain a dream of perfection by denying all possibility of imperfection.“Evil can only be external, for theirs is a city on a hill” (Bigsby xxv).

21. A TragedyA tragedy is a story wherein individuals confront powerful forces and reveal the depth of human nature even the face of failure.

22. A tragic flaw is an error or defect that leads to the downfall of the hero.

23. This play is a tragedy for an individual and a tragedy for a community.http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3842873344/ch0033207

24. MarilynIn case you thought the life of a playwright was hopelessly un-cool, Arthur Miller was married to Marilyn Monroe from 1956-1961. http://trybecca.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/miller-727882.jpg

25. The end.