A play by Arthur Miller

Crucible: test or trial

The Crucible

True events, names are realTeenage girls accuse several women of

practicing witchcraft in their villageAny weird or unexplained event blamed on

witchcraftChildren were a sign from God, childless from

the DevilWitches supposedly picked on kidsWomen were not outspoken

Salem 1690s

Name Salem is BiblicalJerusalem namesakePuritan villageVery religious viewsGov’t based on BiblePreachers help determine credibility of the

“accused”

Salem’s roots

Abigail Williams, lead accuser100s of cases across Massachusetts Those found guilty were hanged, banished or

pressed to deathIn Salem, 20 executedMostly women (1 man, 2 dogs)

The Trials

Make a witch cake: Take urine of person who under the influence of a witch, mix it with rye and feed to dog. If dog eats and is affected, the dog will go to the witch

Weigh witch with a stack of Bibles. If suspect is heavier or lighter than stack, then she’s a witch. Not many perfect balances.

10 Ways to ID a witch

Check for moles, birthmarks, scars or extras. Cut suspected mark with blade. If it doesn’t bleed or hurt when pricked, then you have a witch.

Observe them talking to themselves. Thought to be casting spells under their breath

If can’t recite the Lord’s Prayer, or sometimes if they can

Witch?

Ask a hard-of-hearing elderly woman if she’s guilty while her good ear is turned the other way. IF she doesn’t respond, she’s a witch.

Observe the number of pets she has. If she says hello to a cat, she’s using that animal as a familiar to do her bidding.

Take sarcastic comments seriously. One constable John Willard had led so many ppl to trial, he sarcastically said “Hang them all, they’re all witches,” and declared he would no longer participate in the arrests. He was immediately arrested and accused of witchcraft.

You sure she’s a witch?

Ask if they’ve had dreams about Native Americans. Remember Native Americans were looked upon as evil by the white colonists.

Check to see how many times she was married. A few women were accused of killing their first husbands by “bewitching them to death.”

Source: (The Quick 10: 10 Ways to Identify a Witch by Stacy Conradt, Mental Floss, 2010)

Really?

Clerical bigots who stirred excitement to restore their declining religious power

Historian suggests delusions came from the fungus ‘ergot’ which is found in rye or grains. Ergotism causes ppl to see hallucinations and feel as if they were bitten.

Criticism

John Proctor (married) has affair with teenage girl Abigail Williams

Proctor breaks off affair, Abby gets mad and accuses Proctor’s wife of witchcraft

Setting: Abby and girls caught by Rev. Parris dancing in the woods, after slave Tituba cast love spell on girls.

Plot Overview

Rev. Parris- Salem minister, uncle to Abby, power hungry

Rev. Hale- young minister, expert on witchcraft, not from Salem

Elizabeth Proctor- John’s wife, knows of affair

Tituba-Parris’ slave from Barbados, practices voodoo

Judge Hathorne- presides over trialsMary Warren- Proctor’s servant, ally for

both John and Abby

Other characters

Parallels Communism scare in America during the 1950s with the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s

Communism Scare: Actors, politicians, govt officials arrested for their support of communist ideas abroad (Soviet Union, Korea) for fear of coming to America

Written in Modernism era*

Controversial story

American Lit divided into time periods: Colonial and Native American, Revolutionary, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism and Contemporary

“The Lost Generation”Years after two World WarsWorldwide depressionTrying to find voiceJazz ageAbandon traditional formsWriters: Hemingway, Williams, O’Neill

Modernism

PrejudiceHysteriaReputation in society

Themes