Historical Context - Salem Witch Trials & the Red Scare
Arthur Miller warns in the preface to The
Crucible that “this play is not history,” but it
is certainly dependent on historical events
for its story.
The primary period of this play is the 17th
century, specifically the time of the Salem
Witch Trials. Running parallel to these early
events in American history are those that
took place in Miller’s own time; he uses the
play to criticize McCarthyism and the RED
SCARE of the 1950s.
Miller claims that McCarthyism was nothing
more than a modern-day WITCH HUNT.
( source: New Rep On Tour)

The Salem witch trials
occurred in colonial
Massachusetts
between 1692 and
1693. More than 200
people were accused of
practicing witchcraft—
the Devil's magic—and
20 were executed.

A "witchcraft craze" rippled
through Europe from the
1300s to the end of the
1600s. Hundreds of
thousands of supposed
witches—mostly women—
were executed. BUT the
Salem trials came on just
as the European craze was
winding down, so why did
this occur in Salem?
Female “witches” being burned at the stake; Source: www.gendercide.org

In 1689-1690, Salem
begrudgingly welcomed
refugees from King
Williams’s War (in upstate
NY and Canada). The
displaced people created a
strain on Salem's
resources. This aggravated
the existing rivalry
between families with ties
to the wealth of the port of
Salem and those who still
depended on agriculture.

Controversy also brewed
over Reverend Samuel
Parris, who became Salem
Village's first ordained
minister in 1689, and was
disliked because of his rigid
ways and greedy nature.

In January of 1692,
Reverend Parris' daughter
Elizabeth, age 9, and niece
Abigail Williams, age 11,
started having "fits." They
screamed, threw things,
uttered peculiar sounds and
contorted themselves into
strange positions, and a local
doctor blamed the
supernatural. Another girl,
Ann Putnam, age 11,
experienced similar episodes.


On February 29, under pressure from
magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John
Hathorne, the girls blamed three women for
afflicting them: Tituba, the Parris' Caribbean
slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and
Sarah Osborne, an elderly impoverished woman.
What might have motivated these accusations?


All three women were brought before the local
magistrates and interrogated for several days,
starting on March 1, 1692. Osborne claimed
innocence, as did Good. But Tituba confessed,
"The Devil came to me and bid me serve him."
She described elaborate images of black dogs,
red cats, yellow birds and a "black man" who
wanted her to sign his book.
All three women were put in jail.


With the seed of paranoia
planted, a stream of
accusations followed for
the next few months.
Charges against many
women in Salem followed.
On May 27, 1692, Governor
William Phipps ordered the
establishment of a Special
Court of Oyer (to hear) and
Terminer (to decide) for
Suffolk, Essex and
Middlesex counties.


The first case brought to the
special court was Bridget
Bishop, an older woman
known for her gossipy habits
and promiscuity.
She was quickly found guilty
and, on June 10, became the
first person hanged on what
was later called Gallows Hill.
Painting: The Trial of Bridget Bishop
The Bishop hanging
caused an even bigger
flood of accusations
and court cases,
including one of Dorcas
Good, who was 4 years
old.
 People began to
haphazardly accuse
others of being
witches.


Try to flee Salem.
 Several accused witches did escape from jail and survive
the 1692 hysteria. They included Philip and Mary English,
John Alden, Hezekiah Usher, and Mrs. Nathaniel
Cary. However, all these accused persons had either
money or influence that made their escape possible.

Get pregnant!
 Pregnant women, even if convicted, would not be
executed. The theory is that even if you deserve death, the
baby inside you does not--so the officials will put off your
execution. This was called "reprieve for the belly.” Of
course, you still might be executed eventually, but the
hope is that the hysteria won't last another nine months.

Accuse someone else!
 The theory here is that if you're afflicted by witchcraft, you
can't be a witch yourself. This theory even convinced
some daughters to testify against their own mothers. It's
not a bad idea (if you have no conscience).

Confess!
 The Puritans believed that once a person made a full
confession, his or her fate should be left in God's hands,
not man's. Fifty-five persons in the Salem area confessed
to witchcraft in 1692, adding substantial credibility to the
initial charges of witchcraft made by the afflicted girls.

Plead Innocent & Stand Trial
 This is the approach that led to nineteen innocent persons
being carted off to Gallows Hill during the summer of
1692. If you plead innocent, you'll have to face trial
without a lawyer and without the ability to call witnesses
on your own behalf, answer unanswerable questions
before a court that unanimously believes in witchcraft and
believes that you're guilty. You'll face spectral evidence-and how do you propose to convince the court that your
apparition was not doing all this work on the part of the
Devil?
Giles Corey gave this option a try. Knowing the fate
that awaited him if he stood for trial, Giles refused
to answer the ritual question, "Will you be tried by
your God and your country (that is, a jury)?"
 The penalty for refusing to answer was peine forte et
dure, an especially unpleasant way of going that
involves piling heavy stones on your body until you
either agree to stand trial or are crushed to death.



Governor Phipps eventually stopped the court cases, where
visions and dreams were being used as evidence, and he
eventually pardoned most the people who had been jailed.
19 were hanged on Gallows Hill; a 71-year-old man was
pressed to death with heavy stones; several people died in
jail; nearly 200 people, overall, had been accused of
practicing "the Devil's magic."

Numerous hypotheses have
been devised to explain the
strange behavior of the girls that
occurred in Salem in 1692. One
of the best studies blamed the
abnormal habits of the accused
on the fungus ergot, which can
be found in rye, wheat and other
cereal grasses; eating ergotcontaminated foods can lead to
muscle spasms, vomiting,
delusions and hallucinations.



Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 in
response to the Red Scare and the
McCarthyism paranoia in the 1950s.
Red in this case refers to Communism.
Technically there were two Red Scares, 19191920 and 1947-1957; Miller was concerned
with the second one.

Although the Soviet Union and the United States had
been allies during World War II, their alliance quickly
unraveled once they had defeated their common enemy.

Russia acquired the atomic bomb. By reason of the
Soviets’ atomic testing, together with the thought that
spies had stolen American ideas and given Russia the
bomb, many feared that Russian communism posed a
great threat to America. Some feared the Truman
administration was not vigilant enough in eliminating
this threat of communism.

The political unrest of a post-war society, a rising
uneasiness with a change in “American values” and a fear
of lax morality, and widespread intolerance were all
factors leading to THE GREAT SCARE of communism.
Harry s. Truman
33rd President of the United States
in office from
April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
(Oakley)
Joseph McCarthy, a republican senator from
Wisconsin, spent his first three years in office
“undistinguished.”
 Some described him as a “lazy and ineffectual
senator, and an easy captive for any lobbyist willing
to put a few extra bucks into his personal or political
bank account.”
 He sought fame and power.
 His political career was fading, until he used the
charged political climate to boost that career.

(source: Oakley)
On February 9, 1950, Joseph McCarthy dropped
a political bombshell. McCarthy gave a speech in
which he attacked the Truman administration
and claimed to have a long list of Communists in
the State Department. No one in the press
actually saw the names on the list, but
McCarthy's announcement made the national
news.
(Schulz)
McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) worked to root out all
Communist sympathizers in the country. He
began an investigation into the lives of citizens
who appeared to have communist ideals. He
held public trials and encouraged FEAR and
PARANOIA.
(New Rep On Tour)

It is widely accepted that
McCarthy made up these
accusations solely to
AGGRANDIZE his political
power.

Many people were willing to
believe his charges without
evidence because people
wanted to feel secure. His focus
on weeding out corruption made
people feel that someone was
doing something to keep them
safe.
( Oakley)

Those who were sympathetic to the
communist cause, or those who had
connections with Russia, could be
summoned before the committee to
explain their involvement.

People were told to recant
communist beliefs and name their
former friends and associates in the
communist cause. When people
denied allegations or refused to
name names, they were punished.
(New Rep On Tour)

The evidence in McCarthy
trials was “questionable”
and often relied on the
testimony of those
attempting to avoid
persecution themselves.

McCarthy was never able
to truly substantiate his
charges. They are now
widely accepted as false.
Many believe he launched
this Witch Hunt for his own
gain.
(New Rep On Tour)
witch hunt: noun
1 : a searching out for persecution of persons accused of
witchcraft.
2 : the searching out and deliberate harassment of those
(as political opponents) with unpopular views
3: a political campaign launched on the pretext of
investigating activities subversive to the state.
(Merriam-Webster)

Insufficient tolerance for
human diversity

 Blind Idealism
 A STRINGENT concept of
 Prejudice/Bias
 Scape-goating
Purity/Morality
 Persecution of unpopular
minority groups

Overblown fear of the
unfamiliar
 Heightened Emotions
 Irrational Fear and Paranoia
Self-Righteousness and
Moral Judgment

Mob Mentality
 Hysteria

Corruption of Power
 Self-Absorbed Authority
Figures
Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, was
directly connected to the world of
Hollywood. He even married Marilyn
Monroe.
The House Un-American Activities
Committee were interested in those
practicing communists in the artistic
community.
The most dangerous methods for
converting Americans to communist
beliefs would be through the films,
music, and art that they enjoyed.
McCarthy prosecuted a great many
playwrights, screenwriters, and other
artists. In a number of cases, McCarthy
was successful in “blacklisting” these
artists – which meant no one would
purchase their services for fear of being
linked to communism.
(Oakley)
Webster)
ALLEGORY: (n) the
expression, by means of
symbolic fictional figures and
actions, of truths or
generalizations about human
existence. (Merriam-Webster)
Arthur Miller’s intention was
to emphasize the injustice of
the McCarthy trials by
relating them to a time in
history that everyone accepts
as morally and legally unjust.
Arthur Miller wrote the play
as a political and social
allegory for McCarthyism. His
characters and events
represent historical truths.
PROTEST LITERATURE: (n)
literature with a specific
political or social aim, an
intention to raise awareness
or bring about change. (Merriam-
Aristotle
Arthur Miller
GREEK TRAGIC HEROES ARE:
 BORN INTO NOBILITY
 RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN FATE
 ENDOWED WITH A TRAGIC FLAW
 EVENTUALLY, TRAGIC HEROES
 FALL FROM GREAT HEIGHTS OR HIGH ESTEEM

REALIZE THEY HAVE MADE AN IRREVERSIBLE
MISTAKE

FACE AND ACCEPT DEATH WITH HONOR

MEET A TRAGIC DEATH
 Arthur Miller , the author of The Crucible, argues that a
tragic hero need not be of high social standing.
 He asserts the value in the common man hero –a
with flaws, with meekness.
man
 What makes this man a hero is his desire and willingness
to fight to maintain his own personal dignity.
 What makes him relevant to our times is that he exists in
everyday life. He is not royalty or rich or on any sort of
pedestal from which to fall.
THE SULLIED HERO
TRAGEDY AND THE COMMON
MAN
In a tragedy, the protagonist is often
placed on a pedestal so that, when he or
she falls, the fall will be much greater and
more heartbreaking.
Miller states that the flaw, or
crack in character, for a common
man tragic hero is “nothing but
his inherent unwillingness to
remain passive in the face of
what he conceives to be a
challenge to his dignity.”
In contrast, Miller’s protagonist, John
Proctor, is not a perfect man. He is
FLAWED from the beginning. His FALL is
still tragic and the audience can relate to
his flaws.
The common man is flawed and the
audience is full of common men.
(New Rep on Tour)
In other words, the hero refuses
to give up his place in society
and lose his personal pride. He
will do anything to keep his good
name.
(Miller)
•
“Allegory.” Merriam Webster On-Line Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

Miller, Arthur. “Tragedy and the Common Man." The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller. Viking Press. 1949/1977. Reprinted (by
permission of Viking Penguin, Inc.) on The Literary Link. http://theliterarylink.com/miller1.html

Study Guide, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. New Rep On Tour: Professional Performance in Your School. Fall, 2007. New Rep
Administrative Office.

Oakley, Ronald J. “The Great Fear.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. Republished in Literature Connections: The Crucible
and Related Readings. Illinois. McDougal Littel, 1997. 199-221.

Schutz, Stanley K. , University of Wisconsin History Professor. Lecture 23, “The Coils of Cold War.” American History 102:
Civil War to the Present. 2007. http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture23.html

“Sullied Hero.” “Allegory.” Merriam Webster On-Line Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

“The Salem Witch Trials Page” http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm

“Witchhunt.” Merriam Webster On-Line Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/