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Arthur Miller, McCarthyism, and The Crucible

Terms in this set (18)

the crucible main issues
greed, guilt, motivation, morality
arthur miller early life
Born in 1915 in New York City, Family moved around a lot
because of poverty, Attended the University of Michigan
Who was Arthur Miller?
- First successes--All My Sons (1947) and Death of a Salesman (1949)
- Condemned the American ideal of prosperity on the grounds that few can pursue it without making dangerous moral compromises.
Who was Arthur Miller?
- He married legendary actress Marilyn Monroe
- He wrote The Crucible in 1953.
- He was accused of being a Communist.
- Communist: a type of government that believes everyone should chip in equally and get equal benefits (from each according to his ability, to each according to his need).
- He died in 2005.
Salem, Massachusetts
Nickname: "The Witch City"
main ideas found within the crucible
greed, guilt, motivation, morality
Salem With Trials
- Occurred from June through September of 1692 in Salem
- Puritan group of people was
involved
- Townspeople were in a state
of hysteria about witches/evil
Why did the 1692 Salem witch trials happen?
- Many accused of being witches were healers and used plants to heal people.
- Many of the accused were without families, which made them easy targets.
- They were people who did not fit in with the mainstream of Puritan society.
Who was Joseph McCarthy?
- Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin gained power by accusing others of subversion.
- Subversion: the undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution
Who was Joseph McCarthy?
- In February 1950, McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 Communists who worked in the State Department.
- Although his accusations remained unsupported and a Senate committee labeled them "a fraud and a hoax," McCarthy won a national following.
What is McCarthyism?
- came to mean false charges of disloyalty.
- In September 1950, Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, which established a Subversive Activities Control Board to monitor Communist influence in the United States.
The Hollywood 10
a group of entertainers, refused to testify and were convicted of contempt and sentenced to up to one year in prison
what were the two options?
1. Admit to being a Communist and tell McCarthy names of other people who attended Communist meetings
OR
2. Refuse to admit anything (or rat out others) and be blacklisted
- Can't get work if blacklisted!
Where does Arthur Miller fall into all of this?
- Over 300 entertainers were placed on a blacklist for possible communist views and were thus forbidden to work for major Hollywood studios.
- Arthur Miller was one of those blacklisted.
Where does Arthur Miller fall into all of this?
Miller refused to name others who had associated with leftist or suspected Communist groups, Miller was cited for contempt of Congress
Why did Miller write the Crucible?
to demonstrate how McCarthy's accusations in the 1950s paralleled another time in history: the 1692 Salem witch trials
General Causes for the Outbreak of Hysteria
- Strong believe that something evil/unknown is acting in the world
- Fear of other people and their ideas
- A need to find a scapegoat for society's problems
- A believe that a person is affected by evil exhibits
What does "Crucible" mean?
1. A severe test
2. A place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development
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