Realism,
Arthur Miller,
and
The Crucible
The Play
The Drama
The Playwright
Arthur Miller
Born and raised New
 Started out writing
York
radio scripts, then
moved to playwriting
 Dropped out of high
school due to The
 1947—first Broadway
Great Depression
success with All My
Sons
 Went to the University
of Michigan—
 1949—produced his
graduated in 1938—
best known play
began his writing
Death of a Salesman
career
which won a Pulitzer
Prize

Which play won Miller the Pulitzer
Prize?
33%
D
ib
le
e
Th
ea
th
of
C
a
ru
c
Sa
So
ns
l..
.
33%
y
c.
33%
ll
M
b.
All My Sons
Death of a
Salesman
The Crucible
A
a.
:10
Miller’s political crucible



Politically minded, Miller was disturbed by the
1950’s anticommunism campaign of Senator
Joseph McCarthy.
Miller was summoned to testify by the House
Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956
to explain his own political beliefs.
Miller was uncooperative when asked to
name others interested in communist
meetings; he was indicted for contempt of
court.
What was Arthur Miller
indicted for?
1.
2.
3.
Refusing to show up in
court
Refusing to name his
own political belief
Refusing to name
33%
names of others
attending communist
meetings
33%
33%
Refusing to show ...
Refusing to name ...
10
Refusing to name ...
Miller and Monroe
• His personal life took an interesting
turn when he married Marilyn
Monroe in 1956.
• He wrote the play The Misfits for her
to star in.
• They divorced in 1961.
• Both his ordeal with McCarthy and
his marriage to Monroe kept Miller in
the public eye, making his popularity
as a playwright even more
pronounced.
The happy couple
How did a marriage to Marilyn Monroe
affect Miller’s Life?
33%
33%
33%
1. He became more popular.
2.
After the divorce, he was in a writing
slump
3.
No change.
:10
Influences on Miller’s work


Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and Anton
Chekhov (three 19th century European
playwrights) paved the way for American
realist drama: They tackled subjects such as
guilt, sexuality, and mental illness—subjects
never portrayed on stage before.
These European realists bequeathed the
dramatic “slice of life” technique to their
American heirs so that they, too, could write
about life as it is actually lived.
The Realists dramatists wrote about
taboo subjects like sex and mental
illness.
1.
2.
True
False
50%
50%
True
False
10
American Realism and Eugene
O’Neill
• Realistic drama employs
•
•
the 4th wall technique—
which has the audience
looking into the lives of
characters as if the 4th
wall of a room is removed
and we voyeuristically
peer in.
Became dominant mode
of American drama after
the beginning of 20th
cent.
Eugene O’Neill
experimented with
characters and dialogue
to reveal a “new realism.”
The 4th wall technique became the
prominent form of drama in the 20th
century.
1. True
2. False
50%
50%
10
True
False
Arthur Miller and
Tennessee Williams
 Represent 2 principal
movements in
modern American
drama: realism and
imaginative realism
 Miller is the
playwright of our
social conscience;
Williams is the
playwright of our
souls.
Which realist dramatist is
considered the playwright of our
social conscience?
50%
10
50%
ee
es
s
nn
Te
A
rt
hu
r
W
ill
..
M
ill
er
.
1. Arthur Miller
2. Tennessee
Williams
Miller’s writing style
• Uses spare, plain
language
• Characters are
ordinary people caught
up in social tensions
• Plot and character
development depend
upon psychological,
social, philosophical,
and economic
atmosphere of setting
•
About drama, Miller stated, “To me the
theater is not a disconnected
entertainment, which it usually is to
most people here. It’s the sound and
the ring of the spirit of the people at
any one time. It is where a collective
mass of people, through the genius of
some author, is able to project its
terrors and its hopes and to symbolize
them. … I personally feel that the
theater has to confront the basic
themes always. And the faces change
from generation to generation to
generation, but their roots are
generally the same, and that is a
question of man’s increasing awareness
of himself and his environment, his
quest for justice and for the right to
be human.”
10 Which characteristics are true of
Miller’s writing?
1.
Elaborate
characters
2. Detailed, expansive
dialogue
3. Spare, plain
language
33%
33%
33%
Elaborate charact...
Spare, plain lang...
Detailed, expansi...
10
How are Miller’s characters and
plot often developed?
1.
Using the social, economic
atmosphere of the time
2.
Using the psychological and
philosophical atmosphere of
the time
Playing upon the tensions of
the time period
Only 1 & 2
All of the above
3.
4.
5.
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
Using the social,...
Playing upon the ...
All of the above
Using the psychol...
Only 1 & 2
Puritans “recap”





Left Church of England
for religious freedom
Eventually settled in
Boston and Salem in
America
Established theocracy, a
fusion of church and state
Laws based on religious
and moral precepts
Judgment and
punishment were harsh
Setting of the play





Literal
1692
Massachusetts
Small rooms,
simply furnished
Claustrophobic
—both
intellectually
and physically





Symbolic
1953
United States—
post WWII
Anywhere a
communist
“witch-hunt” was
taking place
Claustrophobic-intellectually
Which setting had
the small simple
rooms set in 1692?
50%
lic
m
bo
Sy
te
ra
l
2.
Literal
Symbolic
Li
1.
50%
:10
Cast of Characters
 John Proctor: farmer, husband of
Elizabeth, adulterer with Abigail Williams,
respected in community, honest and
blunt, practical
 Elizabeth Proctor: wife, morally good,
unforgiving at first, suspicious
 Abigail Williams: niece of Rev. Samuel
Parris, 17 years old, seductress of John
Proctor, manipulative, intelligent
Characters cont.
 Rev. Samuel Parris: village minister,
indecisive, hypocritical, worried about his social
position, weak/materialistic man
 Rev. John Hale: renowned witchcraft expert,
sincere but somewhat narrow minded, willing
to change his mind
 Deputy Gov. Danforth: highest ranking civil
authority, presides over witch trials, hard and
determined, unable to admit error
 Mary Warren: shy, lonely, teenager, Proctors’
servant, easy target for Abigail’s manipulation
Take a guess: who’s going to be
the villains?
1. Elizabeth Proctor
2. Abigail Williams
3. Deputy Governor
Danforth
4. John Proctor
5. Both 1 & 4
6. Both 2 & 3
7. All of the above
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14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14%
Questions to consider for
themes




What constitutes
true authority?
What is the proper
application of
authority?
How can people deal
with sin and guilt?
What responsibility
does an individual
have to speak out
against injustice?



Is it possible to
apply the logic and
rationalism of justice
to fear and hysteria?
In what ways can
appearances
misrepresent reality?
What are the
consequences of
revenge for the
individual and
society?
Remember to read all
narrative notes-They represent Arthur Miller himself talking to
you, telling you what you need to know to
understand the dual nature of the play.
Enjoy a piece of dramatic history!