Leland & Gray Players
with special guests, Leland & Gray’s A cappella.
present
The Crucible
by Arthur Miller
November 8, 7pm; November 9, 7:30;
November 10, 3 and 7:30
Leland and Gray’s Dutton Gymnasium, Rte. 30, Townshend, Vermont
adults-$6; students and seniors-$4
info: verbatim@svcable.net; 802.365.7355 x204
student groups welcome
Teachers’ Packet:
Playwright
Synopsis
Parallels
Characters
McCarthyism
Sources
Researched and compiled, with various sources cited, by Madison Etman. L&G ‘13
The Playwright
In the period immediately following the end of World War II, American theater was
transformed by the work of playwright Arthur Miller. Profoundly influenced by the Depression
and the war that immediately followed it, Miller tapped into a sense of dissatisfaction and unrest
within the greater American psyche. His probing dramas proved to be both the conscience and
redemption of the time, allowing people an honest view of the direction the country had taken.
Arthur Miller was born in Manhattan in 1915 to Jewish immigrant parents. By 1928, the
family had moved to Brooklyn after their garment manufacturing business began to fail.
Witnessing both the societal decay of the Depression and his father’s desperation due to business
failures had an enormous effect on Miller and his plays. Miller saw how his father was living and
wrote about what he knew: depression and economic failure. After graduating from high school,
Miller worked a number of jobs to save for college until 1934 when he enrolled in the University of
Michigan. He had originally wanted to major in journalism, but after writing his first play, No
Villain, he switched to English. He spent much of the next four years learning to write and
working on a number of plays. His first productions were a bit rocky, but as he became more
experienced, his works were accepted and liked by both critics and audiences.
After graduating from Michigan, Miller returned to New York, where he worked as a
freelance writer. In 1944, his first play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, opened to horrible reviews.
A story about an incredibly successful man who is unhappy with that success that play was
already addressing the major themes of Miller’s later work. In 1945, Miller published a novel,
FOCUS, and two years later he had his first play on Broadway, All My Sons. A tragedy about a
manufacturer who sells faulty parts to the military in order to save his business, All My Sons was
an instant success. Concerned with morality in the face of desperation, it appealed to a nation
having recently gone through both a war and a depression.
Only two years after the success of All My Sons, Miller came out with his most famous and
well-respected work, Death of a Salesman. Dealing again with both desperation and paternal
responsibility, Death of a Salesman focuses on a failed businessman as he tries to attain success
dictated by ill-conceived dreams. The play which deals with extraordinary tragedy in ordinary
lives expanded Miller’s voice and his concern for the physical and psychological wellbeing of the
working class. Eventually killing himself to leave his son insurance money, the salesman seems a
tragic character out of Shakespeare or Dostoevsky. Winning both a Pulitzer Prize and a Drama
Critics Circle Award, the play ran for more than seven hundred performances. Within a short
while, it had been translated into over a dozen languages and had made its author a millionaire.
Overwhelmed by post-war paranoia and intolerance, Miller began work on the third of his
major plays. Though it was clearly an indictment of the McCarthyism of the early 1950s, The
Crucible was set in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch-hunts of the late 17th century. It
explored themes of prejudice and persecution such as that experienced by those accused of
Communist activities by Sen. Joe McCarthy et al. Within three years, Miller was called before the
House Committee on Un-American Activities, and convicted of contempt of Congress for not
cooperating.
What followed was a difficult time in Miller’s life in which he ended a short and turbulent
marriage with actress Marilyn Monroe. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote very little of
note, concentrating at first on issues of guilt over the Holocaust, and later moving into comedies.
It was not until the 1991 productions of his The Ride Down Mount Morgan and The Last Yankee that
Miller’s career began to see a resurgence. Both plays returned to the themes of success and failure
that he had dealt with in earlier works. Concerning himself with the American Dream, and the
average American’s pursuit of it, Miller recognized a link between the poverty of the 1920s and the
wealth of the 1980s. Encouraged by the success of these works, he saw a number of his earlier
pieces returned to the stage for revival performances.
More than any other contemporary playwright, Arthur Miller dedicated himself to the
investigation of the moral plight of the white American working class. With a sense of realism and
a strong ear for the American vernacular, Miller created characters whose voices are an important
part of the American landscape. His insight into the psychology of desperation and his ability to
create stories that express the deepest meanings of struggle have made him one of the most highly
regarded and widely performed of American playwrights. Miller passed away in 2005.
From: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/ with edits and additions by Madison
Etman and Ann Landenberger.
Arthur Miller
\
The Characters
John Proctor- a local farmer who lives just outside town; Elizabeth Proctor’s husband. A stern,
harsh-tongued man, John hates hypocrisy. Nevertheless, he has a hidden sin—his affair with
Abigail Williams—that proves his downfall. When the hysteria begins, he hesitates to expose
Abigail as a fraud because he worries that his secret will be revealed and his good name ruined.
Abigail Williams- Reverend Parris’ niece. Abigail was once the servant for the Proctor household,
but Elizabeth Proctor put her out after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her
husband, John Proctor. Abigail is smart, wily, a good liar, and vindictive when crossed.
Reverend John Hale- a young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Reverend Hale is
called in to Salem to examine Parris’s daughter Betty. Hale is a committed Christian and hater of
witchcraft. His critical mind and intelligence save him from falling into blind fervor. His arrival
sets the hysteria in motion, although he later regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of
those accused.
Elizabeth Proctor- John Proctor’s wife. Elizabeth dismissed Abigail from the household when she
discovered that her husband was having an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth is supremely virtuous,
but often cold.
Reverend Samuel Parris- Tminister of Salem’s church. Reverend Parris is a paranoid, powerhungry, yet oddly self-pitying figure. Many of the townsfolk, especially John Proctor, dislike him,
and Parris is very concerned with building his position in the community.
Rebecca Nurse- Francis Nurse’s wife. Rebecca is a wise, sensible, and upright woman, held in
tremendous regard by most of the Salem community. However, she falls victim to the hysteria
when the Putnams accuse her of witchcraft and she refuses to confess.
Francis Nurse- awealthy, influential man in Salem. Nurse is well respected by most people in
Salem, but is an enemy of Thomas Putnam and his wife.
Deputy Governor Danforth- deputy governor of Massachusetts and the presiding judge at the
witch trials. Honest and scrupulous, at least in his own mind, Danforth is convinced that he is
doing right in rooting out witchcraft.
Giles Corey- an elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his tendency to file lawsuits. Giles’
wife, Martha, is accused of witchcraft, and he himself is eventually held in contempt of court and
pressed to death with large stones.
Ann Putnam- Ann Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only Ruth Putnam survived. The
other seven died before they were a day old, and Ann is convinced that they were murdered by
supernatural means. She is the wife of Thomas Putnam, whom we never meet in this production
due to an ailment. Wealthy, influential citizens of Salem, the Putnams hold a grudge against
Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam’s brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister.
They uses the witch trials to increase they own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then
buying up their land.
Tituba- Reverend Parris’ slave from Barbados. Tituba agrees to perform voodoo at Abigail’s
request.
Mary Warren- servant in the Proctor household and a member of Abigail’s group of girls. She is a
timid girl--easily influenced by those around her-- who tried unsuccessfully to expose the hoax
and who ultimately recanted her confession.
Betty Parris- Reverend Parris’s ten-year-old daughter. Betty falls into a strange stupor after Parris
catches her and the other girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth
Putnam fuel the first rumors of witchcraft.
Martha Corey- Giles Corey’s third wife. Martha’s reading habits lead to her arrest and conviction
for witchcraft.
Ezekiel Cheever- a man from Salem who acts as clerk of the court during the witch trials. He is
upright and determined to do his duty for justice.
Judge Hathorne- a judge who presides, along with Danforth, over the witch trials.
John Herrick- the marshal of Salem.
Mercy Lewis and Susanna Walcott- two of the girls in Abigail’s group.
Sarah Good- an impoverished woman accused and convicted of witchcraft.
Source: L&G Players, DPS, www.sparknotes.com
From the film, The Crucible
Synopsis
In the Puritan New England town of Salem, Massachusetts, a group of girls goes dancing in
the forest with a black slave named Tituba. While dancing, they are caught by the local minister,
Reverend Parris. One of the girls, Parris’ daughter Betty, falls into a coma-like state. A crowd
gathers in the Parris home while rumors of witchcraft fill the town. Having sent for Reverend
Hale, an expert on witchcraft, Parris questions Abigail Williams, the girls’ ringleader, about the
events that took place in the forest. Abigail, who is Parris’ niece and ward, admits to doing nothing
beyond “dancing.”
While Parris tries to calm the crowd that has gathered in his home, Abigail talks to some of
the other girls, telling them not to admit to anything. John Proctor, a local farmer, then enters and
talks to Abigail alone. Unbeknownst to anyone else in the town, while working in Proctor’s home
the previous year, Abigail had engaged in an affair with him, which led to her to be dismissed by
Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail still desires Proctor, but he fends her off and tells her to end her
foolishness with the girls.
Betty wakes up and begins screaming. Much of the crowd rushes to gather in her bedroom,
arguing over whether or not she is bewitched. A separate argument between Proctor, Parris, the
argumentative Giles Corey, and the wealthy Putnam soon ensues. This dispute centers on money
and land deeds, and it suggests that deep fault lines run through the Salem community. As the
citizens argue, Reverend Hale arrives to examine Betty, as Proctor departs. Hale quizzes Abigail
about the girls’ activities in the forest, grows suspicious of her behavior, and demands to speak to
Tituba. After Parris and Hale interrogate her for a brief time, Tituba confesses to communing with
the devil, and she hysterically accuses various townsfolk of consorting with the devil. Suddenly,
Abigail joins her, confessing to having seen the devil conspiring and cavorting with other
townspeople. Betty joins them in naming supposed witches, and the crowd is thrown into an
uproar.
A week later, alone in their farmhouse outside of town, John and Elizabeth Proctor discuss
the ongoing trials and the escalating number of townsfolk who have been accused of being
witches. Elizabeth urges her husband to denounce Abigail as a fraud; he refuses, and she becomes
jealous, accusing him of still harboring feelings for her. Mary Warren, their servant and one of
Abigail’s circle, returns from Salem with news that Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft but
the court did not pursue the accusation. Mary retires to bed, and John and Elizabeth continue their
argument, only to be interrupted by a visit from Reverend Hale. While they discuss matters, Giles
Corey and Francis Nurse come to the Proctor home with news that their wives have been arrested.
Officers of the court suddenly arrive and arrest Elizabeth. After they have taken her, Proctor
browbeats Mary, insisting that she must go to Salem and expose Abigail and the other girls as
frauds.
The next day, Proctor brings Mary to court and tells Judge Danforth that she will testify that
the girls are lying. Danforth is suspicious of Proctor’s motives and tells Proctor, truthfully, that
Elizabeth is pregnant and will be spared for a time. Proctor persists in his charge, convincing
Danforth to allow Mary to testify. Mary tells the court that the girls are lying. When the girls are
brought in, they turn the tables by accusing Mary of bewitching them. Furious, Proctor confesses
his affair with Abigail and accuses her of being motivated by jealousy of his wife. To test Proctor’s
claim, Danforth summons Elizabeth and asks her if Proctor has been unfaithful to her. Despite her
natural honesty, she lies to protect Proctor’s honor, and Danforth denounces Proctor as a liar.
Meanwhile, Abigail and the girls again pretend that Mary is bewitching them; Mary then breaks
down and accuses Proctor of being a witch. Proctor rages against her and against the court. He is
arrested, and Hale quits the proceedings.
The summer passes and autumn arrives. The witch trials have caused unrest in neighboring
towns, and Danforth grows nervous. Abigail has run away, taking all of Parris’ money with her.
Hale, who has lost faith in the court, begs the accused witches to confess falsely in order to save
their lives, but they refuse. Danforth, however, has an idea: he asks Elizabeth to talk John into
confessing, and she agrees. Conflicted, but desiring to live, John agrees to confess, and the officers
of the court rejoice. But he refuses to incriminate anyone else, and when the court insists that the
confession must be made public, Proctor grows angry, tears it up, and retracts his admission of
guilt. Despite Hale’s desperate pleas, Proctor goes to the gallows with the others, and the witch
trials reach their tragic and terrible conclusion.
From: www.sparknotes.com with edits/additions, as above.
from the original production of The Crucible
McCarthyism
The McCarthy anti-communist hearings were spawned by the “Red Scare” of the 1940s and
50s when Americans were widely terrified by the idea of communism infiltrating their country. To
expand these fears, a young senator, Joseph McCarthy, mentioned in a speech that he knew that
there were more than two hundred communists working in the United States government. He
continued to preach this claim, but the numbers changed with each speech. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) had been fighting communism since the late 1930s, but as
the McCarthy “witch hunt” continued, the committee’s reputation grew. McCarthy soon began to
accuse specific high-profile citizens of communism and the trials began. The accused were brought
before the committee to be asked the question, “Are you or have you ever been a member of the
communist party?” This was, of course, a violation of the first amendment of the United States
Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (United States Constitution)
This meant that the US government had no power over whether or not the Communist
party could assemble and that government could not legally ask a person wherein his/her
political loyalties lay.
By 1954, these hearings died down and many were able to return to work, but many had
also been convicted and had gone to jail for a crime that could not be proven. Thousands of people
went to jail for something that could not be legally tried in court.
ParlSenator Joseph McCarthy
Parallels
Arthur Miller's play is a story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but it was written in a time
of another “witch hunt.” This play was written during Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist
proceedings of the early 1950s when Miller was one of the many Hollywood and Broadway actors,
directors, playwrights, and producers accused of communist activities. Although Miller was not,
indeed, tried for communism until three years after The Crucible was first performed in 1953, he
was most certainly affected by these trials. He wrote this play in order to bring attention to the
events of the 1950s without bringing an accusation upon himself. He also wrote the play when he
was having great difficulties with his wife. Both of the circumstances had a great impact on his
writing.
Arthur Miller did ample research on the Salem witch trials before focusing on his play.
While reading a study on the witch trials, Miller found many parallels to what he was witnessing
then in the 1950s. People were being unjustly accused of something that could not be proven and
Miller felt that this injustice paralleled what was happening to his friends and people like him. As
the McCarthy trials continued, Miller noticed that more and more people were not accusing those
who were, indeed, guilty; instead they accused those whom they did not like. Miller also saw this
in his reading on the Salem witch trials. In the McCarthy trials, the accused were asked whom they
saw in the communist meetings they’d attended and this was very similar to what the accused
were asked during the witch trials: Specifically, the “witches” were asked whom they saw with the
devil when they signed the devil's book.
During the time that he wrote The Crucible, Miller was married to Mary Slattery, but he had
recently met the film actress, Marilyn Monroe. The two had met when she was dating one of
Miller’s friends and they soon began to see each other: It was the beginning of the affair that would
ruin Miller's marriage to Mary Slattery. In the play, the influence of this affair is prominent. He
used his relationship with his wife to describe John and Elizabeth's and his relationship with
Monroe was similar to John and Abigail’s. Miller related directly to John Proctor. He, too, had to
fight the hysteria of a difficult society. Miller, however, did not fight in an unreasonable way.
Instead, he wrote this play as an argument.
The writing of The Crucible was heavily influenced by Miller's personal experiences.
Although he had not gone to court himself, Miller was still influenced by the McCarthy trials,
particularly because his friends and colleagues were among the accused. His experiences at home
also greatly affected his creating of the relationship between John and Elizabeth. This affair did
not, in fact, happen in the true Salem of 1692, it was Miller's creation. Miller's writing of this
allegory was an incredibly important document of the hysteria of 1950s America.
Source: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/ with edits/additions, as above.
Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe
Links to Sources and Other Helpful Information
More on McCarthyism and Arthur Miller http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthurmiller/
More on The Salem Witch Trials and Arthur Miller
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-9-12/Arthur_Miller_and_The_Crucible.aspx
More on Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe's relationship
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/24/newsid_4588000/4588212.stm
Why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1996/10/21/1996_10_21_158_TNY_CARDS_000373902
More on Arthur Miller's conviction
http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-case.html
Information on the play itself
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/
More on McCarthyism
http://www.ushistory.org/us/53a.asp