1. The Crucible The Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism and Allegory
English 11
Carrie Silva
Period 1

2. What Type of Play is The Crucible?
PROTEST LITERATURE: (n) literature with a specific political or social aim, an intention to raise awareness or bring about change. ( Merriam-Webster on-line)
ALLEGORY: (n) the expression, by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions, of truths or generalizations about human existence. ( Merriam-Webster on-line)
Arthur Miller wrote the play as a political and social allegory for events that were happening in his own life.

3. Historical Event as an Allegory
The setting of this play is the 1600’s, specifically the time of the Salem Witch Trials in Puritan Massachusetts .
Miller used this period as an allegory to write about his own experiences during the 1950’s in America during the “Red Scare” and the McCarthy anti-communist trials, in which Miller was involved.
Both are considered “witch hunts” in modern terms.

4. The Crucible: Witch Hunts
witch hunt : noun
1 : a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft.
2 : the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as political opponents) with unpopular views
3: a political campaign launched on the pretext of investigating activities subversive to the state.
( Merriam-Webster on line)

5. What Causes Witch Hunts?
Insufficient tolerance for human diversity
Prejudice/Bias
Scape-goating
Persecution of unpopular minority groups
Overblown fear of the unfamiliar
Heightened Emotions
Irrational Fear and Paranoia
Self-Righteousness and Moral Judgment
Blind Idealism
Moral Absolutism and a STRINGENT concept of Purity/Morality
Mob Mentality
Hysteria
Corruption of Power
Self-Absorbed Authority Figures
Greed for AGGRANDIZEMENT

6. How and Why Were These Two Historical Events “Witch Hunts”?
Salem Witch Trials
McCarthy Hearings

7. The Salem Witch Trials
What do we know about the Puritans in Salem and the witch trials?
What do we need to know?

8. The McCarthy Hearings
What do you know about the 1950’s and the “Red Scare”? What do you know about the fear of communism during this time?
What do we need to know?

9. Arthur Miller
What do we know about Arthur Miller and his connection to the McCarthy trials?
What do we need to know?