The Crucible Witch Hunt and the Allegory
Connecting to Previous Unit o 1600s o Puritans o Irony of religious freedom o Persecution o Theocracy
Profiles of the Accused o The Weak o Women o The Poor o Healers o Pagans o Church Attendance o Baptism o Outcasts/Loners o Orphans
Making a Case o Spectral Evidence o “Eye Witness” Accounts o Loaded Questions and Interrogations o Forced Confessions
How did it start? o Girls in village of Salem restricted and bored o Oppressive Puritan life o West Indian Servant– “conjured” love charms o Reverend Parris—wrong place, wrong time o Story created to avoid punishment
Why did it happen? o Anxiety of God’s Punishment: small pox, Indian attacks, revocation of Charter for Massachusetts Bay o Way to confess sin or guilt o Oppressed girls avoiding punishment o Ideal way to get revenge o Tool to satisfy larger motivations o Jealousy, Conflict over land, Power
The Consequences o Often found guilty o Strappado o Swimming o Ordeal by Fire o Ordeal by Water o Thumbscrews o Pricking o The Rack
Why Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible” o Experienced Communist hysteria of the era o Criticism of McCarthy’s personal mission o House Un-American Activities Committee
The McCarthy Hearings o Accused: actors, writers, media, army o Naming names for leniency o Political repression in civil arena o Resistance to discuss social or political issues
o Miller’s way of protesting the HUAC o Compared Communist hearings to witch hunts of Salem o Credibility/Impact of gossip, rumor, fear o “Witch Hunt”—any activity where people are looking for a scapegoat or they are using accusations for revenge, personal gain, or attention “The Crucible” and Witch Hunts
Allegory
The Crucible o Salem Witch Trials of 1692 n Used trial documents but fictionalized n Combined, created or changed characters n Major trial events are relatively accurate o Thinly veiled criticism of the House Committee on Un-American Activities
Makings of a Salem Witch Hunt o Salem was a village divided o Salem was repressed o Spark & Ignition
Makings of a Communist Hunt o WWII rise of Communist Party in the US o Cold War becomes intense after USSR gains atomic power o Conservatives in power o Truman initiates disloyalty laws o House of Un-American Activities Committee reinvigorated n Investigates communist activity n Alger Hiss and Rosenberg Cases n Hollywood Blacklist & The Hollywood Ten n McCarthy and his accusations n Others pressured to name others as communists
Results of both Witch Hunts o Colonial Salem n 20 innocent people were executed n Dozens more were imprisoned n One was stoned to death n Families lost their land and livelihood o 1950’s n Hundreds unjustly lost their jobs n 10 were jailed for 6 months to 2 years n 1 was sentenced to 5 years in prison n 2 were executed
Literary Elements to Look For o Themes & Motifs n Intolerance & Jealousy n Irrationality & Hysteria n Reputation n The Court o Irony n Tragic fall n Using righteousness for personal gain o Tragedy n John Proctor as tragic hero n Finds his moral center as everything crumbles around him
Tragic Hero in Classical Literature o Potential for greatness but doomed to fail o Trapped in a situation where he cannot win o Tragic flaw, causing his fall from greatness o Even though he is a fallen hero, he still wins a moral victory, and his spirit lives on.
Aristotle’s Tragic Hero Characteristics: Noble Stature and has greatness Tragic Flaw—not Perfect Doomed to make a serious error in judgment Punishment exceeds the crime The fall is not pure loss: awareness, gain self-knowledge, epiphany
Aristotle’s Tragic Hero Eventually… Fall from great heights or high esteem Realize they may have made irreversible esteem Faces and accepts death with honor meet a tragic death THE AUDIENCE IS AFFECTED BY PITY and/or FEAR
Domestic Tragedy o Emerges during Shakespearean time o Misfortunes of ordinary people o The “every man” o Impact of fate (personal vs. national) o “What is an American?” o American Ideal: Everyone is valued
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