The Crucible Introduction

Imagine a super-constrictive time in history. Think confining apparel. Think proper social etiquette. Think mass hysteria that makes entire communities suspicious and paranoid.

If the first image that popped into your head was of Mad Men's Betty Draper—bingo, you're 100% correct. If, on the other hand, the first image that popped into your head was of Salem's Anne Hale—bingo, you're 100% correct.

Yep—Arthur Miller's The Crucible gives us a parable that spans centuries. This play is a commentary on the claustrophobic Puritanical-code-of-conduct-fear-of-witches nonsense of Massachusetts in the 17th century and a commentary on the claustrophobic, girdles-white-picket-fences-fear-of-Communists nonsense of America in the late 1940's and 1950's.

Sure, on the surface this play appears to be totally about the Salem Witch Trials. But Arthur Miller intended to use the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory for the anti-communist Red Scare and the congressional hearings of Senator Joseph McCarthy going on in the United States in 1953, when the play was first performed.

The similarities between Miller's portrayal of Puritan fear-mongering and McCarthyism don't quit. Compare the rallying cry of the McCarthy era—"Are you now or were you ever a member of the Communist Party?"—with the question that haunts The Crucible—"Did you see (insert name here) with the Devil?"

And compare the life (and—spoiler—death) of protagonist John Proctor with one of the many people whose lives were derailed because they were accused of being a Communist. John Proctor, whose affair with a young girl jumpstarts the witch-hunts, is accused of being a witch when he tries to stand up to the insane-o accusations that plague Salem. As a result of this, he's asked to name names of other "witches." When he refuses, he's hanged.

Although the penalty for being a Communist wasn't death during the McCarthy era, it was the complete loss of respectability and career. For example, some of the most brightly shining Hollywood stars of the era lost their jobs because of Red-baiting.

And many more—including Arthur Miller—were disgusted and horrified by the way that American politics circa 1950 had started seeming an awful lot like Salem politics circa 1692.

This play caught on like wildfire...a wildfire that's still burning today. It won Miller a Tony. It's been made into three movies and a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera. And it's been introducing students of literature to two periods of fear-mongering in American history (double your pleasure, double your fun?) for more than six decades.