While The Crucible achieved its greatest resonance in the 1950s-when McCarthy’s reign of terror was still fresh in the public’s mind-Miller’s work has elements that have continued to provoke and enthrall audiences. Miller himself came under suspicion during this time. While those found guilty in McCarthy’s witch hunt were not executed, many suffered irreparable damage to their reputations. This movement involved the hunting down and exposing of people suspected of having communist sympathies or connections. McCarthyism was the name given to a movement led by Senator Joe McCarthy and his House Committee on Un-American Activities. Dealing with elements such as false accusations, manifestations of mass hysteria, and rumor-mongering, The Crucible is seen by many as more of a commentary on McCarthyism than the actual Salem trials. Miller’s play employs these historical events to criticize the moments in humankind’s history when reason and fact became clouded by irrational fears and the desire to place the blame for society’s problems on others. Nineteen people were hanged and one pressed to death over the following two years. Based on these accusations, an English-American clergyman named Samuel Parris spearheaded the prosecution of dozens of alleged witches in the Massachusetts colony. Putnam claimed that she had witnessed a number of Salem’s residents holding black sabbaths and consorting with Satan. The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, and were based on the accusations of a twelve-year-old girl named Anne Putnam. Using the historical subject of the Salem Witch trials, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (1953) presents an allegory for events in contemporary America.
0 kommentar(er)
