American Crucibles
The Crucible
Contemporary World
American Crucibles
The playwright, Arthur Miller, was born on October 17, 1915 (Hinman et al., 1994). While studying journalism at the University of Michigan he began to write plays and win awards. With a strong interest in the plight of common man, it was inevitable that Miller, writing plays with a current of leftist ideology flowing through them, would capture the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Subpoenaed to appear before HUAC, Miller refused to name names. Fortunately for Miller and American literature, the theatre scene in New York City was relatively immune to efforts to persecute leftists.
As a result of witnessing what was happening to American society under HUAC, Miller writes the now classic play The Crucible. This play is a fictitious account of the events surrounding the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Rather than write a play that merely depicts the events that took place, Miller used it as a vehicle to depict the moral dilemmas everyday Americans were being forced to make as a result of the 'Red Scare.' In the play, persons of integrity are faced with being hanged if they fail to confess to consorting with the devil. From Miller's perspective, those who refuse to confess to witchery are victims of long-held grudges by opportunistic adolescents. Escape from this dilemma is impossible for anyone with integrity, because confessing would be to lie and not confessing would be to die. This dilemma gives the play its name.
The main characters of the play run the spectrum of morality, from the mean-spirited and anxious Reverend Parris to the saintly Nurse Rebecca. An important engine of destruction is the Putnam's and their burden of grief after seven still births. Anne Putnam in particular seems particularly motivated to find some other reason for her inability to...
Stars today do not have the huge voices of the past. Even Wagnerian sopranos have more delicate tones, and schools try to produce these types of students, because of the demands of the industry. Midgett also points a finger at the schooling of opera singers today as well as the economics of the recording industry, stating that singers do not get enough personal lessons and have too many distractions, including
Europe is, to a large extent, the crucible of world development. Certainly, Asia and the regions of the Middle East are significant too, but Europe is the birth of a Western culture that has spread throughout the globe and affected the world in numerous ways. For this reason, European studies are central to any academic curriculum program. As specific to the U.S., Europe is particularly important since not only has
Futures The Variant Paths of Post-Communist Russia, Poland, and Hungary The past ten years have seen great changes in the formerly Communist countries of Eastern Europe. Bound together for years under the Soviet yoke, these nations have now embarked upon their own individual paths as sovereign states. Representative of these emerging one-time Eastern Bloc nations are Russia, Poland, and Hungary. All three once shared a common form of government and a
American History Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson is probably the most successful symbol of historiography's advancement. There are two concepts that are reflected in the book: that the main cause of war was the slavery of black people and it was not a pleasant experience. Looking at the title, it is evident that McPherson understands that black people's status was the core of the war in regard
The Seven Years War saw Britain established as the greatest colonial power, with control over India and North America seemingly secured, while Prussia emerged as the greatest power on the Continent, and the dominant force inside Germany, reducing still further the power of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg Austria. Frederick II of Prussia (the Great) emerges as the most remarkable leader of the war. Prussia was the smallest of
He was labeled for a belief that he did not openly admitted subsisting to; he was labeled based on the fact that he refused to testify against an ideology. It is not surprising, then, that the primary message of "The Crucible" resonated his thoughts and feelings about the McCarthy administration's containment policy against Communism. The arguments he presented in the play showed how Miller viewed the government's offensive action against
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now