The Crucible: The Blah, Blah, Blah parts
Authorial Intrusion
Authorial Intrusion is
just what it sounds
like: when the author
intrudes on or
interrupts the flow of
the story with his/her
own comments.
Arthur Miller LOVES this!
He frequently
interrupts The
Crucible with
lengthy comments
about characters,
opinions about
historical
background, and
other asides.
Why does he do this?
And how is it related
to this man?
During the 1940’s and 1950’s
During the 1940’s and
1950’s America
became increasingly
worried about the
threat of communism
in Eastern Europe
and China.
Senator McCarthy gets famous
Young Senator Joseph
McCarthy made a
public accusation that
more than two
hundred “cardcarrying” communists
had infiltrated the
United States
government. This was
later proved untrue.
House Un-American Activities Co.
McCarthy formed this in 1938 to supposedly
fight communism.
It became a place for “show trials” where
actors, authors and directors – including
Arthur Miller – were questioned about their
alleged communist sympathies.
Miller wanted people to connect:
Un-American Activities
Committee
His blah blah blah is for a reason!
Miller wanted his audiences to take away
from the play a political message, as well
as to speculate about the aspects of our
nation’s history that would lead to
McCarthyism.
This is the reason for the AUTHORIAL
INTRUSION.
Act One: Paris
• As the curtain rises,
Reverend Paris is
kneeling beside the
bed of his daughter
Betty Paris.
• She is lying frozen on
the bed.
• He was age 40 at the
time of these events.
Paris = Villain
• He felt he was
persecuted
• Easily insulted
• Widower/father, but
did not like children
What was Salem like at this time?
Established 40 years before
• A tiny town of a meeting house and a few
dark houses.
• Europeans saw the whole province as a
barbaric frontier inhabited by a set of
fanatics.
The Puritan Creed
• No theaters
• No “vain enjoyment”
• Did not celebrate
Christmas
• A Holiday from work
meant only they must
concentrate even
more on prayer
Hard Work…
They were just settling this province, and everyone needed
to work very hard to survive. This, even more than the
creed, may have kept people moral.
Mind each other’s business
“The predilection for
minding each
other’s business
was time-honored
among the peope
of Salem.”
The Wilderness…
Salem was at the edge of a vast wilderness,
“dark and threatening” with the threat of
attack from Native American tribes.
One true faith
The Puritan’s fathers had been persecuted
in England. They in turn persecuted
anyone who held different beliefs.
“They believed, in short, that they held in
their steady hands the candle that would
light the world.”
The times they were a-changing
40 years had passed
since the Mayflower
arrived in 1692.
Political unrest about
who would lead their
village.
THEO-CRACY
THEO = God, deity
Crac, crat = rule, ruler
Theocracy kept Salem safe
The religious rule of Salem was made for
good reasons – “to keep the community
together and to prevent any kind of
disunity that might open it to destruction…”
We also
give up
freedom for
safety.
Yet, on the other hand…
While established for good reasons, people
began to rebel against the repression and
lack of freedom of their government.
“The witch-hunt was a perverse
manifestation of the panic which set in
among all classes when the balance
began to turn toward greater individual
freedom.”
Witch trials were an
To publically express guilt and sins.
To express long-held hatred of neighbors.
To try to get other people’s land.
To settle old scores.
Whew!!! And now on with our play!
Um…sorry…not that show…The Crucible