Media
Study
from The Crucible
Film Clips on Media
Smart dvd-rom
From Page to Screen
RL 7 Analyze multiple
interpretations of a drama,
evaluating how each version
interprets the source text.
From the classical tragedies of Ancient Greece to the Renaissance masterpieces
of Shakespeare, playwrights have examined the impact of suspicion, hysteria, and
revenge, building plays around the arc of destruction these impulses unleash. So
effective was The Crucible in depicting these timeless themes that it was declared
a classic when first staged. In this lesson, view a scene from the film version to
explore how a different medium changes the structure of Arthur Miller’s play.
The Filmmakers’ Challenge
Translating a well-known play to the big screen poses a number of challenges.
Writing the screenplay, perhaps the biggest hurdle, was made a little easier
in the case of The Crucible. Arthur Miller adapted his own work and took an
active role in the film’s production.
Consulting with the film’s director,
Miller took certain liberties with
the play’s structure. He changed
where some scenes take place and
added entirely new scenes. “I did
some rewriting during production to
take advantage of opportunities we
had with this wonderful Hog Island
[Massachusetts] location,” Miller
On the set, Daniel Day-Lewis with Arthur Miller
recalls.
Over the past five decades, The
Crucible’s themes have reached far beyond its place and time. As Miller points
out, the play’s themes “find [their] relevance in every culture. I knew a woman
imprisoned for six years under the [Chinese] Mao regime. . . . She told me that
when she saw The Crucible in Shanghai she couldn’t believe that a non-Chinese
had written it, because the interrogations in The Crucible had been precisely the
interrogations she had endured under the Cultural Revolution.”
222
NA_L11PE-u01s54-msCrucM.indd
222
12/22/10
4:41:47 PM
Comparing Texts: Dialogue
In taking his play from the page to the screen, Arthur Miller had to make certain
decisions about how much of the original dialogue he would retain. During
production, actors and directors will often make changes to the dialogue to
fine-tune a scene.
Compare the dialogue from the play with the dialogue that appears in the
film. Notice Miller’s stage direction in the text and how actor Daniel Day-Lewis,
in the role of John Proctor, interprets it.
Danforth (with suspicion). It is the same, is it not? If I report it or you
sign it?
Proctor (he knows it is insane). No, it is not the same! What others say and
5
10
what I sign is not the same!
Danforth. Why? Do you mean to deny this confession when you are free?
Proctor. I mean to deny nothing!
Danforth. Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why you will not let—
Proctor (with a cry of his whole soul ). Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am
not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my
name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!
Viewing Guide
Media
•
•
•
•
Smart dvd-rom
Film: The Crucible
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 5 minutes
now view
CLOSE VIEWING: Media Analysis
1. Analyze Setting In the play, this scene is set in jail. How
does moving the setting affect (or not affect) the scene?
2. Compare Dialogue Compare the dialogue from the play
In the clip from The Crucible, the
character John Proctor has finally
agreed to sign a false confession
that will save him from death.
Plan on viewing the clip several
times. To help you analyze the
dialogue and performance, refer
to the questions.
with the dialogue in the movie. Why do you think Miller
changed some of his original dialogue for the movie?
3. Evaluate Actor’s Performance Read the stage direction
the playwright included for Proctor’s speech. Do you
think the actor playing Proctor succeeded in portraying
“a cry of his whole soul”? Cite evidence from the scene
to support your opinion.
media study
NA_L11PE-u01s54-msCrucM.indd
223
223
12/22/10
4:41:58 PM
Reading for Information
MOVIE REVIEW Rolling Stone magazine reviewed Nicholas Hytner’s film adaptation
of The Crucible in 1996.
[ REVIEW ]
The
Crucible
Peter Travers
Director Nicholas Hytner with cast
A
rthur Miller is the first to admit
that The Crucible must stand on its
own. The playwright, now 81, sat near
me at a screening of the film, unwittingly
intimidating all around him. For the
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Death
of a Salesman, attention must be paid.
Miller asked for none of it. He talked
with boyish zest of working with director
Nicholas Hytner on re-crafting The
Crucible as a $25 million film that would
allow startling imagery to resonate with
his language and burst the bounds of the
stage.
Does it ever. The Crucible, despite
some damaging cuts to the text, is a
seductively exciting film that crackles with
visual energy, passionate provocation and
incendiary acting. . . .
The great Paul Scofield is triumphant,
avoiding the easy caricature of Danforth
as a fanatic. He brings the role something
new: wit. We laugh with this judge, which
heightens the horror later when he blinds
himself to truth in the name of God and
his own ambition. The scene in which he
ignores Rev. Hale (Rob Campbell), who
knows the girls are faking, and bullies the
servant Mary Warren (Karron Graves) into
delusion and madness chills the blood.
224
As the unforgiving wife whose “justice
would freeze beer,” in the words of her
husband, Joan Allen is an absolute stunner
in an award-caliber performance that is
also a surprising source of warmth. By the
seashore, where the pregnant Elizabeth has
come to say goodbye to her condemned
husband, she tells John, “I once counted
myself so plain, so poorly made, that no
honest love could come to me.” Elizabeth’s
scene of tender reconciliation is the film’s
moral core. John need only sign a false
confession of witchcraft to save himself from
the gallows. Of course, he won’t. “Because
it is my name,” he tells Danforth simply.
“Because I cannot have another in my life.”
In the film’s most complex role,
Daniel Day-Lewis performs with quiet
power. Playing nobility can make actors
insufferable, but Day-Lewis keeps John
Proctor human even when saddled with
smudgy makeup and fake brown teeth
for his final scene. The Crucible, for all its
timely denunciation of persecution masked
as piety . . . comes down to individual
resistance and how you search your heart
to find it. The years haven’t softened the
rage against self-betrayal in The Crucible.
This stirring film lets you feel the heat of
Miller’s argument and the urgent power
of his kick.
unit 1 : early american writing
NA_L11PE-u01s34-c2Cru.indd
224
12/22/10
4:45:35 PM
Wrap-Up: The Puritan Tradition
The Puritan Legacy
Extension
In the minds of some, Puritanism is a thing of the past—an outmoded
collection of beliefs from a dour and oddly-dressed group of people.
Yet others insist that the spiritual, social, and cultural principles
fostered by Puritanism are stubbornly present, in one way or another,
in American society today. Somewhere in the middle of this debate are
literary historians Richard Ruland and Malcolm Bradbury, who insist:
“Puritans considered many of the literary questions we still ask today;
they answered them differently.”
SPEAKING & LISTENING Imagine
you are a Puritan villager in
charge of welcoming new
settlers. Using the selections
you’ve just read as your resource,
write and deliver an informal
speech to your new neighbors,
welcoming them and sharing a
little about the values and beliefs
of your community.
Writing to Compare
We can all agree that the Puritan style of dress is out of fashion,
but are Puritan ideas also outmoded? Consider these “literary
questions” discussed in the selections you have just read:
What is true love?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
How can faith sustain us?
How can people best serve God?
RL 9 Demonstrate knowledge of foundational
works of American literature, including how
two or more texts from the same period treat
similar themes or topics. W 9 Draw evidence
from literary texts to support analysis, reflection,
and research. SL 6 Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and tasks.
Are people worthy?
Are people basically good or bad?
Choose one of the questions above, and in a brief essay explain
how two of the Puritan authors in this section might have
responded. (Although Arthur Miller’s play was written in the
twentieth century, you can include The Crucible since it
accurately reflects the Puritan mind-set. ) Give specific
evidence from the texts to support your opinions and
ideas.
Consider
• the themes, or central ideas, of the selections. Does
the selection have a message related to one of the
“literary questions” above?
• the topics, or subject that the work focuses on.
The topic is what the writer describes, discusses, or
talks about. A writer’s choice of subject will often
have an influence on the work’s themes.
The Puritan (1883–1886), Augustus SaintGaudens. Bronze figure. Private collection.
© Art Resource, New York.
wrap-up
NA_L11PE-u01s63-wu.indd
225
225
12/22/10
4:41:44 PM