The Crucible by Arthur Miller (Book Analysis) E-Book

Bright Summaries

• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 30

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Crucible with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a vivid allegory of the mass hysteria that swept through the town of Salem during the Salem Witch Trials. In spite of its historical subject matter, the play was chillingly topical at the time it was written: the 1950s were marked by McCarthyism, where accusations of Communism were rife and many Americans (including Miller himself) were hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee to answer for their behaviour. Arthur Miller is considered one of the most influential dramatists of the 20th century, and The Crucible was one of his best-known plays. It remains popular today, and new productions of the play are frequently performed.

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• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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Leseprobe

ARTHUR MILLER

AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT

Born in Harlem, New York City in 1915.Died in Roxbury, Connecticut in 2005.Notable works:All My Sons (1947), playDeath of a Salesman (1949), playA View from the Bridge (1955, revised 1956), play

Arthur Miller is one of the most celebrated figures in the world of 20th century drama, and his four major works remain a part of the theatrical canon across the globe. Born into a modestly wealthy home in New York, Miller supported himself early in his career with work writing radio plays and at other menial jobs; he was in his early 30s before he reached his current level of renown with the play All My Sons. His life was marked by a certain degree of celebrity, having been called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee at the weight of McCarthyism and having been married tumultuously to Marilyn Monroe (American actress, 1926-1962), with the troubles that plagued their relationship being chronicled in the 1967 play The Price.

Despite having written only 17 plays throughout his career, none of which matched the success of his early, now canonical works, Miller enjoyed a long and multi-faceted career as an essayist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Throughout his life, Miller’s works never strayed far from the concerns that first brought him to the stage: he continued to question the rising tides of nationalism, xenophobia, and modernisation in his post-war country, and his eye remained ever-fixed on the average person fighting for a small, dignified life even in worlds of chaos.

THE CRUCIBLE

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS, AN ALLEGORY

Genre: play (tragedy, historical fiction)Reference edition: Miller, A. (2003) The Crucible. London: Penguin.1stedition: 1953Themes: mass hysteria, fanaticism (particularly religious), individual vs. authority

Written at the weight of America’s Red Scare, The Crucible is Miller’s answer to the widespread hysteria and fundamentalist attacks that marked his nation’s contemporary wrestle with McCarthyism. His parallels were clear and numerous: where the early Puritanical colonists controlled the population via theocracy, contemporary American politicians set Christian values against Communist plots; where the witch-hunts of Salem were fuelled by petty, practical ploys for power, so, too, did McCarthy strive to build and bolster the power of the American government against anyone who might have dissented; where the Salem Witch Trials condemned innocents and called upon neighbours to condemn neighbours in order to exonerate themselves, so, too, were Miller and his contemporaries offered the impossible choice to liberate themselves from suspicion at the cost of ‘naming’ their peers before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The Crucible goes beyond this direct allegory, however, and has come to endure through generations thanks to its timeless exploration of what defines the worth of a person – even a person who is a ‘sinner’. Taking his figures from the history of the Salem Witch Trials, Arthur Miller extrapolated beyond fact and created an operatic examination of a man whose ultimate struggle is against himself, and whose ultimate sacrifice is his life for his own dignity and integrity. Often seen in community theatre and high school performances in the United States, this play lives on as an example of Miller at the weight of his craftsmanship and as a broad allegory for the fight against mass, institutionalised fundamentalism fuelled by those who stand to gain from the betrayal of their compatriots. It remains as relevant now as it was in 1950s America.

SUMMARY

ACT 1: “AN OVERTURE”