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The CrucibleWitch Hunt and the Allegory
Connecting to Previous Unito 1600s1600so Puritans Puritans o Irony of religious freedomIrony of religious freedomo PersecutionPersecutiono TheocracyTheocracy
Profiles of the Accusedo The Weako Womeno The Pooro Healerso Paganso Church Attendanceo Baptismo Outcasts/Lonerso Orphans
Making a Caseo Spectral
Evidenceo “Eye Witness”
Accountso Loaded
Questions and Interrogations
o Forced Confessions
How did it start?o Girls in village of
Salem restricted and bored
o Oppressive Puritan lifeo 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 guilto Oppressed girls avoiding
punishmento Ideal way to get revengeo Tool to satisfy larger motivationso Jealousy, Conflict over land, Power
The Consequenceso Often found
guiltyo Strappadoo Swimmingo Ordeal by Fireo Ordeal by Watero Thumbscrewso Prickingo 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 Hearingso Accused: actors, writers, media, armyo Naming names for leniencyo Political repression in civil arenao Resistance to discuss social or political
issues
o Miller’s way of protesting the HUACo Compared Communist hearings to
witch hunts of Salemo Credibility/Impact of gossip, rumor,
fearo “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 Crucibleo Salem Witch Trials of 1692
n Used trial documents but fictionalizedn Combined, created or changed charactersn Major trial events are relatively accurate
o Thinly veiled criticism of the House Committee on Un-American Activities
Makings of a Salem Witch Hunto 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 USo Cold War becomes intense after USSR
gains atomic powero Conservatives in powero Truman initiates disloyalty lawso House of Un-American Activities
Committee reinvigoratedn Investigates communist activityn Alger Hiss and Rosenberg Casesn Hollywood Blacklist & The Hollywood Tenn McCarthy and his accusationsn Others pressured to name others as
communists
Results of both Witch Huntso Colonial Salem
n 20 innocent people were executedn Dozens more were imprisonedn One was stoned to deathn Families lost their land and livelihood
o 1950’sn Hundreds unjustly lost their jobsn 10 were jailed for 6 months to 2 yearsn 1 was sentenced to 5 years in prisonn 2 were executed
Literary Elements to Look Foro Themes & Motifs
n Intolerance & Jealousyn Irrationality & Hysterian Reputationn The Court
o Irony n Tragic falln Using righteousness for personal gain
o Tragedyn John Proctor as tragic heron 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 greatnessTragic Flaw—not PerfectDoomed to make a serious error in judgmentPunishment exceeds the crimeThe fall is not pure loss: awareness, gain self-knowledge, epiphany
Aristotle’s Tragic HeroEventually…• 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 Tragedyo Emerges during Shakespearean
timeo Misfortunes of ordinary peopleo The “every man”o Impact of fate (personal vs.
national)o “What is an American?”o American Ideal: Everyone is valued
o http://tttc.org/projects/JZarro2/process2.html
o http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/tragedy/aristotle.htm
