Arthur Asher Miller (New York, 17 ottobre – Roxbury, 10 febbraio ) è stato un drammaturgo, scrittore, giornalista e sceneggiatore statunitense.. È stato una figura di primo piano nella letteratura americana e nel cinema per oltre 61 anni, con ben 5 drammi. Le opere più note di Miller sono Il crogiuolo, Erano tutti miei figli (che vinse nel il Tony Award come migliore opera A short summary of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of The Crucible The general outline of events in The Crucible corresponds to what happened in Salem of , but Miller’s characters are often composites. Furthermore, his central plot device—the affair between Abigail Williams and John Proctor—has no grounding in fact (Proctor was over sixty at the time of the trials, while Abigail was only eleven)
The Crucible: Full Book Summary | SparkNotes
Early in the yearin the small Massachusetts village of Salem, a collection of girls fell ill, falling victim to hallucinations and seizures.
In extremely religious Puritan New England, frightening or surprising occurrences were often attributed to the devil or his cohorts. The unfathomable sickness spurred fears of witchcraft, and it was not long before the girls, and then many other residents of Salem, began to accuse other villagers of consorting with devils and casting spells. Old grudges and jealousies spilled out into the open, fueling the atmosphere of hysteria. The Massachusetts government and judicial system, heavily influenced by religion, rolled into action.
Within a few weeks, dozens of people were in jail on charges of witchcraft. By the time the fever had run its course, in late Augustnineteen people and two dogs had been convicted and hanged for witchcraft. More than two centuries later, Arthur Miller was born in New York City on October 17, His career as a playwright began while he was a student at the University of Michigan.
Several of his early works won prizes, and during his senior year, the Federal Theatre Project in Detroit performed one of his works. He produced his first great success, All My Sons, in Two years later, inMiller wrote Death of a Salesman, which won the Pulitzer Prize and transformed Miller into a national sensation.
Many critics described Death of a Salesman as the first great American tragedy, and Miller gained an associated eminence as a man who understood the deep essence of the United States. Drawing on research on the witch trials he had conducted while an undergraduate, Miller composed The Crucible in the early s.
Miller wrote the play during the brief ascendancy of Senator Joseph McCarthy, a demagogue whose vitriolic anti-Communism proved the spark needed to propel the United States into a dramatic and fractious anti-Communist fervor during these first tense years of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Led by McCarthy, essays on the crucible by arthur miller, special congressional committees conducted highly controversial investigations intended to root out Communist sympathizers essays on the crucible by arthur miller the United States. As with the alleged witches of Salem, suspected Communists were encouraged to confess and to identify other Red sympathizers as means of escaping punishment. The policy resulted in a whirlwind of accusations.
Some cooperated; others, like Miller, refused to give in to questioning. Those who were revealed, falsely or legitimately, as Communists, and those who refused to incriminate their friends, saw their careers suffer, as they were blacklisted from potential jobs for many years afterward.
At the time of its first performance, in January ofcritics and cast alike perceived The Crucible as a direct attack on McCarthyism the policy of sniffing out Communists. Still, there are difficulties with interpreting The Crucible as a strict allegorical treatment of s McCarthyism.
For one thing, there were, as far as one can tell, no actual witches essays on the crucible by arthur miller devil-worshipers in Salem. However, there were certainly Communists in s America, and many of those who were lionized as victims of McCarthyism at the time, such as the Rosenbergs and Alger Hiss a former State Department officialwere later found to have been in the pay of the Soviet Union.
If Miller took unknowing liberties with the facts of his own era, he also played fast and loose with the historical record, essays on the crucible by arthur miller. Furthermore, his central plot device—the affair between Abigail Williams and John Proctor—has no grounding in fact Proctor was over sixty at the time of the trials, while Abigail was only eleven. In an odd way, then, essays on the crucible by arthur miller, The Crucible is best read outside its historical context—not as a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, but as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance and hysteria can intersect and tear a community apart.
In John Proctor, Miller gives the reader a marvelous tragic hero for any time—a flawed figure who finds his moral center just as everything is falling to pieces around him. Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. No Fear Literature Translations Literature Study Guides Glossary of Literary Terms How to Write Literary Analysis.
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SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Character List John Proctor Abigail Williams Reverend Hale Elizabeth Proctor Judge Danforth Mary Warren Giles Corey. Themes Motifs Symbols Protagonist Antagonist Setting Essays on the crucible by arthur miller Allusions Style Point of View Tone Foreshadowing Metaphors and Similes. Why is the play called The Crucible? What is a crucible?
Did the girls really see the Devil or witches? Why did Tituba confess to dancing with the Devil? Was John still in love with Abigail? What causes tension between John and Elizabeth Proctor? Why is Rebecca Nurse accused of witchcraft? Why is Elizabeth Proctor accused of witchcraft? What happens when Mary Warren tells the court the truth about the girls acting bewitched? Why does Reverend Hale change his mind about the witch trials? Important Quotes Explained By Theme Ownership and Property Justice Absolution Consequences.
By Symbol The Witch Trials and McCarthyism By Setting Salem, Massachusetts. Book Full Book Quiz Act 1, part 1 Act 1, part 2 Act 1, part 3 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4-Epilogue More Character List Analysis of Major Characters Theme, Motifs, essays on the crucible by arthur miller Symbols.
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The Crucible by Arthur Miller - Characters
, time: 3:08The Crucible: Arthur Miller and The Crucible Background | SparkNotes
Arthur Asher Miller (New York, 17 ottobre – Roxbury, 10 febbraio ) è stato un drammaturgo, scrittore, giornalista e sceneggiatore statunitense.. È stato una figura di primo piano nella letteratura americana e nel cinema per oltre 61 anni, con ben 5 drammi. Le opere più note di Miller sono Il crogiuolo, Erano tutti miei figli (che vinse nel il Tony Award come migliore opera A short summary of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of The Crucible The general outline of events in The Crucible corresponds to what happened in Salem of , but Miller’s characters are often composites. Furthermore, his central plot device—the affair between Abigail Williams and John Proctor—has no grounding in fact (Proctor was over sixty at the time of the trials, while Abigail was only eleven)
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