THE CRUCIBLE

ARTHUR MILLER

WHO WAS HE?

• World renowned American playwright and screenwriter
• Author of 'Death of a Salesman' and 'the Crucible'
• Won countless awards for his priceless works

EARLY LIFE

• Born on October 17th, 1915 in Harlem, New York
• He came from an immigrant family that was of strong Jewish and Polish descent.
• His mother worked as a teacher, while his father owned a coat manufacturing business.

EARLY LIFE CONTINUED...

• In 1929, the Stock Market crashed hitting his family hard.
• They were forced to relocate to Flatbush, Brooklyn.
• While there, he continued his education and graduated from Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School in 1932.

College
- To save money for further schooling, Miller worked a variety of odd jobs.
- By 1934, he had earned enough money to attend the University of Michigan.

• To save money for further schooling, Miller worked a variety of odd jobs.
• By 1934, he had earned enough to attend the University of Michigan

COLLEGE CONTINUED...

• By the time of his graduation, he had finished writing his 1st play: 'No Villain'
• It was quite the success and earned him the school's Avery Hopwood Award.
• Shortly after, he moved back east and started his writing career.

RELATIONSHIPS

• Mary Grace Slattery (1940 —1956): married his college sweetheart
• Marilyn Monroe (1956 — 1961): were married after a brief affair, but quickly divorced... She died of a drug overdose less than two years later.
• Inge Morath (1962 — 2002): passed away as a result of lymphatic cancer
• Agnes Barley: (? — 2005) Miller died while engaged to this soon-to-be wife #4

A FEW NOTABLE WORKS

• 1944: the Man Who Had All the Luck
• 1947: All My Sons
• 1949: Death of a Salesman
• 1953: the Crucible
• 1955: A View from the Bridge
• 1961: the Misfits
• 1968: the Price
• 1991: the Ride Down Mt. Morgan
• 1994: Broken Glass

'THE CRUCIBLE'

• Written and released in 1953
• During the time, the U.S. was paranoid of invading Communist spies walking freely among them.
• Miller not only was interested in the gruesome history of it all, but he also found the growing "spy hysteria" to be similar to that of the witch hysteria back in Salem.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS & AWARDS

• 1936: Avery Hopwood Award (No Villain)
• 1947: Tony Award for Best Author (All My Sons)
• 1949: Tony Award for Best Play (Death of a Salesman)
• 1949: Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Death of a Salesman)
• 1949: Tony Award for Best Author (Death of a Salesman)
• 1953: Tony Award for Best Play (the Crucible)

DEATH

• Died on February 10th, 2005 at the age of 89
• Due to a long struggle against both cancer and pneumonia
• Direct cause: heart failure
• However, he died comfortably in his Connecticut home among his family and friends.

THE PURITANS

WHO WERE THEY?

• A large religious group from England
• 1629 — 1640: Were the subjects of great religious persecution
• Many fled England for the Massachusetts Bay Colony

PURITAN ORIGINS

• Early 1600s England
• During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
• They called for a religious reform and wanted to purify their church

BELIEFS

• Wanted to "purify" the Anglican Church of England
• Hoped to do so by ridding the church of the Catholic religious faith and its influences
• Early 1600s: sought a major religious reform

BELIEFS CONTINUED...

• However, they were met with disappointment when the Stuart kings of England refused to acknowledge such ideas
• Shortly after, many Puritans began to look overseas in hopes of finding religious freedom in America

SETTLING SALEM

• Settled in 1629
• Established the 1st Puritan settlement
• Led by John Endecott

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY

• Settled later in 1630
• In what is today Massachusetts
• Roughly 1,000 Puritan refugees followed John Winthrop to the New World

PURITAN LIFE

• Much better in the New World
• In some places, the birth rates doubled
• Life expectancy increased

EDUCATION

• Law required a school in every town
• This increased literacy rates
• Back then, it was pertinent that you be able to read a Bible

MALE SUPREMACY

• Women were believed to be inferior to men
• Only men could participate in community meetings and decision making

PURITAN DRESSING

• Required people to dress modestly
• Showing extensive amounts of skin was frowned upon
• They dressed to please the Lord, as opposed to others

THE SALEM Witch Trials

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

• Centered in Salem Village, Massachusetts
• Early 1690s
• Numerous men, women, and children are convicted of witchcraft and consorting with the Devil
• Some are even lynched

THE BEGINNING

• January 1692
• Young girls, Abigail Williams (11) and Elizabeth Parris (9), are the 1st to show strange symptoms
• They're soon checked out by a town doctor

THE BEGINNING CONTINUED...

• The strange symptoms included bizarre contortions, violent screaming tantrums, and strange muttering.
• In the end, the doctor concluded that the girls had been partaking in witchcraft and making deals with the Devil.

PANIC

• The town is sent into mass hysteria
• Everyone suddenly became increasingly paranoid
• Witches and the Devil were on everyone's minds

THE SPREAD

• Over time, more and more people began to exhibit the symptoms
• Now, men, women, and children alike were being accused

THE TRIALS

• The town met and created their own court to judge the so-called "witches"
• Was unfair considering that most of the judges were biased against the accused
• Regardless of the evidence presented, the judges believed that they were guilty

BRIDGET BISHOP

• 1st woman to confess to being a witch
• Went on trial and was found guilty
• She was hanged June 10th, 1692

DEATHS

• Overall, more than 20 people were convicted and lynched
• Most of them were women

FUN FACT

• Surprisingly, even a few animals, like 2 dogs, were killed
• Suspicious townspeople thought that the animals might be carrying out a witch's work

THE END OF THE TRIALS

• By September, the panic had died.
• The government had finally intervened.
• Verdicts were overturned and families were reimbursed
• However, the town of Salem would forever be scarred.