The original Broadway production of The Crucible only ran for 197 performances. However, it has since become Miller’s most frequently produced play. The play’s appeal is particularly strong in periods of political upheaval. Miller states that the play can be seen as “…a warning of tyranny on the way or a reminder of tyranny just past."
The play was adapted for the big screen in 1996. The movie stars Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder.
Anti-Communism
Fewer and fewer modern audiences are likely to remember the McCarthy era of anti-Communism and the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings, which were Miller’s inspiration for the play. Miller has stated that “If I hadn’t written The Crucible that period would be unregistered in our literature…”
Miller had first hand experience of this period in America’s history. He was denied a passport in 1954 and was therefore unable to travel to Brussels to see the premiere of the play. Miller also refused to name any of his friends as Communist sympathizers, for which he was held in contempt of Congress in 1957, although he was never imprisoned.
The Crucible
It is perhaps unsurprising then that Arthur Miller finds an analogy between the events of the McCarthy era in the 1950s and the Salem witch trials of 1692. It is clear that Miller is not simply making judgements about the Puritan community. He is also pointing to the echoes that he finds still in existence in the America of his time.
This parallel has been criticised by some, however, who claim that although there never were any real witches, there were communist sympathizers who needed to be found. Miller’s simple response to this was to point out that anybody denying the existence of witches, in 1692, would have been executed.
As if to emphasise the analogy, Miller is quick to point out in his ‘Note on Historical Accuracy’ that “This play is not a history…” but it could be argued that it is certainly a commentary on history.
The play tells the story of how one small community, Salem, is whipped into a paranoid frenzy of superstition and malevolence. Mass hysteria follows and the result is violence and hatred. It is Miller’s attack on mass persecution and the great danger of false accusation.
Puritan Ideology
The Puritan community is an essential ingredient in the play. The emphasis upon religious leadership and moral destiny is fundamental to understanding the persecution of the ‘others’; those who do not conform. This was, of course, necessary for the Puritan ideology to survive. An environment based on exclusion was essential to prevent dissolution.
In other words, Miller presents the Salem witch-hunt as a way for the Puritan authority to exercise its power and ensure its religious and political domination. This has, perhaps unsurprisngly, not gone unchallenged. There are those who believe that Miller has distorted Puritan theocracy and set it up as a scapegoat, upon which audience members can transfer their own moral inadequacies.
It should perhaps come as no surprise that the play has come under fire for its obvious message. There is certainly no ambiguity to what Miller expects his audience to feel. However, the play’s popularity speaks for itself. Journalist John Peter writes that it is “One of a handful of great plays that will both survive the twentieth century and bear witness to it.”
More information can be found at The Crucible Project.
Samantha Markham - Samantha Markham is a professional freelance writer with a particular passion for literary and theatrical subjects.
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