In it, young girls, and residents of Salem, begin accusing other people of practicing witchcraft in order to protect themselves from the same accusation or to receive a lighter punishment. The Crucible was seen as a parallel of a modern-day witch hunt, such as McCarthyism. The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials, was written by Arthur Miller in 1952 . After Abigail and John had an affair, she was dismissed from the household, and Abigail and her friend, Ann Putnam, began showing signs of being afflicted by witchcraft and accusing people of practicing witchcraft. Much of the undoing of McCarthyism came at the hands of the Supreme Court. First, an allegory is a narrative that works as an long metaphor. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare on the McCarthy era because in The Crucible multiple people were incorrectly blamed for being witches just like in the Red Scare where people were incorrectly blamed for being communists, in both The Crucible and the Red Scare approximately everyone believed, Erin Sheehy The Cold War caused people to question the United States governments reliability and strength, which negatively affected Americas domestic affairs and foreign policies. Miller paralleled McCarthyism by writing about the events and ways of thinking that prompted the outbreaks, the immediate reactions of the people, the reasons why the leaders of both events started the chaos, and even the evidence the courts used against the accused people in his play., This final quote from Miller about the direct connection between The Crucible and the era of McCarthyism, provides a basis for such an analysis of the play. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. The Crucible is an allegory to the Red Scare for many reasons, but one is that they are both run by lies spread by people to put Clearly, Senator McCarthys greed for political power led to American citizens unrest. This was a time during which the fear for the growth in power of the Soviet Union was spreading in America. Eventually, the fear of communism faded, and President Eisenhower shut McCarthy and his communist witch hunt down. Miller expresses important messages This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller experienced many hardships through the 1950s where he was accused by the HUAC and McCarthy to be a communist sympathizer. Borkowski Arthur Millers novel, the Crucible is a fictional play that centers around the Salem Witch Trials. Copyright 2022 IPL.org All rights reserved. One of the plays main antagonists, Deputy Governor Danforth, oversees the witch trials and refuses to end them until everyone who he believes is guilty is punished. WebLearn these 30 words from Act 1 of Arthur Millers 1953 "The Crucible" -- a play that dramatized the late 17th century Salem witch trials and served as an allegory of McCarthyism. His investigation, which came to be known as McCarthyism, whipped people into a frenzy, lobbing accusations at anyone who disagreed with his conservative viewpoints. When Abby tries to tell her to never say that, Betty replies by saying, "You did, you did! Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and well deliver the highest-quality essay! Through the play, we follow the character, Abigail, observe her actions and their consequences. To get a custom and plagiarism-free essay. Miller intended The Crucible as an allegory to McCarthyism. The two time periods were more than two and a half centuries apart, yet they had many factors that overlapped. Both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had developed nuclear weapons that could devastate each other, not to mention the world as a whole. Download the entire The Crucible study guide as a printable PDF! If you want a unique paper, order it from our professional writers. WebThe Crucible As An Allegory Analysis. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller about the witch trials, is an allegory to the Red scare of the 1950s McCarthy era because of the pointing the finger, evidence used in the trials and abuse of power. McCarthy was a Senator who made a list of people he claimed to be known communists working for the State Department. Why did Arthur Miller write The Crucible? McCarthyism is the accusing of people without proper evidence. As people in Salem were accused of witchcraft and brought before the tribunal, they were asked to confess their guilt and name the other people in town who also participated with them in dark rituals. The Crucible as Allegory. He uses the scenes and characters to represent the real-life occurrences. An allegory is a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. In the play, The Crucible, Salem, Massachusetts, along with the United States during McCarthyism, is engulfed with paranoia. In this way, The Crucible stands as an allegory for McCarthy 's communist hunt, during which many people were also killed and imprisoned due to accusations of communism. (2021, Apr 13). Amelia Emery has taught high school English Language Arts for 9 years and University level writing courses for 3 years. On the surface, The Crucible is an allegory ,or extended metaphor, using the story of the Salem witch trials to critique Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare. In the early 1950s, many Americans were afraid that communists might infiltrate Arthur Miller articulates how the three themes of injustice, hysteria, and reputation are problematic factors for human nature. The kids that were hanged didnt really understand why the were being hung because they do anything wrong. She has a Master of Education degree. The Crucible was written as an allegory to McCarthyism, a US government-backed campaign to uncover alleged Communists spearheaded by Senator McCarthy. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, wrote about the Salem witch trials, but used that story to illustrate the unsubstantiated fear, panic, hysteria of looking for communist supporters in America. Hysteria, paranoia, and delusion was what drove the Salem Witch trials in 1692. Through all this ignorance and delusional fear, Arthur Miller was inspired to explore the similarities and parallels of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. In 1950 everyone was scared that communism would spread to the united states and McCarthy wanted to get rid of all communist in the united states but instead accused innocent citizens. 76) This is similar to the events that occurred in the 1950s, with the influence of Communism by the Soviet Union, Americans were hysterical over if one another was a Communist. The Crucible is an allegory to the Red Scare and the McCarthy era drastically by its plot, characters, and the flow and outcome of the court trials. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the witch hunt for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. WebAn allegory is an extended metaphor in which the characters or objects in the story represent an outside meaning. A famous man once said, There is nothing to fear but fear During the Salem Witch Trials, according to Arthur Millers play The Crucible and the Red Scare, it focused on how much power a character could have, and that one character also can lead to convincing the community to be with them or against their personal thoughts. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. This is parallel to the Red Scare because people went to great lengths to prove their innocence of McCarthyism. The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch More and more young women began to accuse townspeople of having dealings with the Devil and practicing witchcraft. Miller suffered through accusations of possibly believing in communism; as a result, he wrote a play called The Crucible, in which he used the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to explain the communist hysteria during the 1950s. The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. Much of my desperation branched out, I suppose, from a typical Depression-era traumathe blow struck on the mind by the rise of European Fascism and the brutal anti-Semitism it had brought to power. (Miller). We also saw this type of chaos during the Salem witch trials of 1693. Citizens lost respect and trust in the government and other civilians, due to several threats within the country and worldwide. McCarthyism started in the early 1950s and it was governmental accusations with no evidence. The accused, In a way, McCarthyism is similar to the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and English and a Master of Arts in Literature from Abilene Christian University. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. Similar to an extended metaphor. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. The fear he spread among the people from the United States at that time is comparable to the fear for witches that the inhabitants of Salem spread in their own villages. Similar to Arthur Millers book, the Red Scare was a period of time in the late 40s and 50s in which United States citizens were intensely paranoid of an opposing threat of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia and ultimately communists infiltrating the United States. Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide. The connection between The Crucible and the McCarthy Hearings is not an isolated one, but can also be made with other historical and current events that are happening today., The Crucible is a play that advocates change in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Hysteria in The Crucible by Arthur Miller | Theme, Quotes & Examples, Figurative Language in The Crucible by Arthur Miller | Quotes, Types & Impact, Irony in The Crucible by Arthur Miller | Overview & Examples, Saadat Hasan Manto | Writing Style, Biography & Works, AP U.S. History Exam | Short-Answer Questions, Prompts & Samples, T.S. The symbolism used why is the crucible an appropriate title for the play. The practices were paralleled in what is known as McCarthyism, which did much the same thing, except this time, children did not control the madness: Senator McCarthy and his "minions" carried on a twentieth century witch hunt. During the McCarthy era people accused would start accusing other people in order to get the attention off of them, because the only way to prove you are not a communist was to name a communist. Many people were executed by decision of the court because it believed in absurd false allegations. The Crucible Study Guide 2022-10-26. WebThe Crucible tells a story about a little town in Massachusetts called Salem where false accusations and unjustifiable trials are happening, just like what was happening in the Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. WebThe Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1952. WebThe Crucible is an allegorical play that mirrors McCarthyism as they use witchcraft and communism as primary factors to incite hysteria and fear (Garca, 2022). What is a quote said by John Proctor in Act 3 in which he reveals his sin of adultery? Pointing the finger away from her and on to others. In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy from Wisconsin began leading the crusade to find any and all communists in America. He took some creative license with the storytelling to make a stronger impact on the audience. Ill tell you whats walking Salem vengeance is walking Salem. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for Subversive Activities Control Board, The State Department Loyalty Security Board, and Senator Margaret, The Crucible is a play based on a society ruled by theocracy. Discover how Miller used the These trials were during a period of time where men and women were very rancorous so others feared to speak up because they would be accused of witchcraft and killed. However, we have not only repeated it on various occasions, but through Arthur Miller's The Crucible, we also see the parallel of the event with the Salem Witch hunts that took place years before the hearings. Similarly, throughout 1950-1954, Joseph McCarthy falsely accused people within the United States Government of being a member of the Communist party. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. Events like the people who were hung, and people were accused for being witches were similar to blacklisted and they, The 1950s was an eventful time in America with the Red Scare and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Miller depicts this in the play as In 1692 nineteen men and women and two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft (Introduction, pg vii) The quote symbolizes how the accused of both events suffered extreme consequences because of mere accusations that were taken too far. Most readers are unfamiliar with McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversions without any evidence. McCarthyism in the 1950s was a panic-driven search for communists and communist sympathizers in America. In the beginning of the play Arthur admits to altering the play for dramatic effect., Arthur Millers The Crucible is a very wise piece that perfectly explains the story of two time periods. When this was over, the hope would be that nothing like it would ever happen again and nothing like it had ever happened before. Of course they are not just limited to stories; allegories can also be expressed in the form of a poem, a picture, or a movie. Much like the Crucible, McCarthyism was driven by irrational thinking and emotions.The emotions of people can be blinding and problematic. In an allegory the character, events, and instances(Definition of Allegory R104). To the play, the Crucible as its characters face the Salem witch trials 1950-1954, Joseph falsely... Over 100 women where he was accused by the HUAC and McCarthy be. 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