The Crucible

1
The Crucible

• Witch Hunt, Allegory and the Domestic Tragedy

2
Connecting to Previous Unit

• 1600s
• Puritans
• Irony of religious freedom
• Intolerance
• Community
• Theocracy

3
Witch Hunt

• What is a witch hunt?
• Cause?
• Effect?
• Examples?

4
Salem Witch Trials

• Where?
• When?
• Who?
• What?
• Why?

5
Mass Hysteria? Witch Hunt

• The cause is often a baseless belief that begins
  small but, like a hurricane, travels and becomes
  more devastating as it picks up speed.
• If people are aware of the phenomenon and know
  its features, they will be better able to
  overcome the main obstacle accepting that there
  is may be no actual basis for their fear.

6
Communist Hearings

• Where?
• When?
• Who?
• What?
• Why?

7
Why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible

• Experienced Communist hysteria of the era
• Criticism of McCarthys personal mission
• House Un-American Activities Committee

8
The McCarthy Hearings

• Accused actors, writers, media, army
• Naming names for leniency
• Political repression in civil arena
• Resistance to discuss social or political issues

9
The Crucible and Witch Hunts

• Millers way of protesting the HUAC
• Compared Communist hearings to witch hunts of
  Salem
• Credibility/Impact of gossip, rumor, fear
• Witch Huntany activity where people are
  looking for a scapegoat or they are using
  accusations for revenge, personal gain, or
  attention

10
The Crucible

• Salem Witch Trials of 1692
• Used trial documents (Sarah Good), but
  fictionalized
• Combined, created or changed characters
• Major trial events are relatively accurate
• Thinly veiled criticism of the House Committee on
  Un-American Activities

11
Makings of a Witch Hunt

• WWII rise of Communist Party in the US
• Cold War becomes intense after USSR gains atomic
  power
• Truman initiates disloyalty laws
• House of Un-American Activities
• Committee reinvigorated
• Investigates communist activity
• Hollywood Blacklist The Hollywood Ten
• McCarthy and his accusations
• Others pressured to name others as communists

12
Results of both Witch Hunts

• Colonial Salem
• 20 innocent people were executed
• Dozens more were imprisoned
• One was stoned to death
• Families lost their land and livelihood
• 1950s
• Hundreds unjustly lost their jobs
• 10 were jailed for 6 months to 2 years
• 1 was sentenced to 5 years in prison
• 2 were executed

13
Literary Elements to Look For

• Characterization
• Themes
• Motifs
• Irony
• Tragedy

14
Tragic Hero in Classical Literature

• Noble Stature or Rank
• Potential for greatness but doomed to fail
• Trapped in a situation where he cannot win
• Tragic flaw, causing his fall from greatness
• Even though he is a fallen hero, he still wins a
  moral victory, and his spirit lives on.

15
Aristotles Tragic Hero

• Characteristics
• Noble Stature and has greatness
• Tragic Flawnot Perfect
• Doomed to make a serious error in judgment
• Punishment exceeds the crime
• The fall is not pure loss awareness, gain
  self-knowledge, epiphany

16
Aristotles Tragic Hero

• Eventually
• Fall from great heights or high esteem
• Realize they may have made irreversible esteem
• Faces and accepts death with honor meet a tragic
  death
• THE AUDIENCE IS AFFECTED BY PITY and/or FEAR

17
Domestic Tragedy

• Emerges during Shakespearean time
• Misfortunes of ordinary people
• The every man
• Impact of fate (personal vs. national)
• What is an American?
• American Ideal Everyone is valued

18

• http//tttc.org/projects/JZarro2/process2.html
• http//vccslitonline.cc.va.us/tragedy/aristotle.ht
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