Introduction

Arthur Miller was born in Harlem, New York city, on October 17, 1915, the second of three children of an unlettered but prosperous clothing merchant and his wife. Both his parents were Polish Jews, though his mother was born in the United States. The boy was raised in Manhattan and later Brooklyn. He was educated at the University of Michigan, where he began to write plays. Hi made his name with All My Sons (1947), an Ibsenesque drama about a manufacturer of defective aeroplane parts, and establishing himself as a leading dramatist with Death of a Salesman (1949), in which a travelling salesman, Willie Loman, is brought to disaster by accepting the false values of contemporary society. This was followed by The Crucible (1952), in which the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 are used as a parable for McCarthyism in America in the 1950s. A View from the Bridge (1955) is a tragedy of family honor and revenge, sparked by the presence in longshoreman Eddies apartment of two illegal Italian immigrants; the lawyer Alfieri comments as chorus on the inevitability of the action. The Misfits (1961) is a screenplay written for his then wife Marilyn Monroe. After the Fall (1964) presents a semi autobiographical figure of Quentin, seeking to comprehend the meaning of his own past relationships, and The Price (1968) contains the lives and opinions of the two long-estranged brothers, who meet to dispose of the old family house. Other plays include The American Clock (1980), Playing for Time (1981), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994). Miller also published short stories and essays, and adapted Ibsens An Enemy of the People (1951). Although most of Millers plays are set in contemporary America, and on the whole offer a realistic portrayal of life and society, the overtones from Ibsen and Greek tragedy are frequently conspicuous and the theme of self-realization is recurrent; in some of the works, symbolism and naturalism and naturalism are unobtrusively combined. A volume of criticism, Theatre Essays, was published in 1971, and an autobiography Timebends, in 1987.
The Crucible

The Crucible examines the witch hunts that took place in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts. When he wrote it, Arthur Miller was already a successful playwright. The play also subtly refers to the 'communist witch hunts' in the USA in the 1950s. The action of the play is set in the town of Salem. The play begins with Reverend Parris praying over his daughter, Betty, who lies unconscious on her bed. Reverend Parris questions his niece, Abigail Williams, and several girls about what has happened. We learn that the girls were all involved in activities in the forest led by Tituba, Parris's black slave from Barbados. Parris had discovered them and startled them so much that Betty collapsed and has not recovered. Its climate of terror is the first we know of this play. The slave Titubas initial fright is followed by the Reverend Parris fear-and the fear is of witchcraft. He has discovered some girls dancing like heathen in the forest, and shaken, he tells his niece Abigail (who led them) what he saw: I saw Titubaand I heard a screeching and gibberish

coming from her mouth. She were swaying like a dumb beast over that fire! in the shock of discovery a child (Betty) has fallen sick, and the town leaps to cry witchcraft. Abigail, to escape whipping, embraces the excuse, and in the general hysteria vengeance breaks out. Terror surrounds the town as a result Reverend parris sends for Reverrend Hale to discover whether or not there are witches in Salem. Hale summons Tituba with all authority and accusses of conspiring with the Devil. In order to save herself she feigns as if she is possessed and starts giving names of those involved. Startlingly, Abigail joins Titubas confession with her own and in an orgy of relief betty feverishly joins in the random calling out of names. Mass hysteria ensues as the children cry out as if possessed and the occasion empowers the hitherto powerless to settle old disputes and take vengeance under the pretext of witchcraft. Miller clearly mentions in his preface: the central impulse for writingwas not the social but the interior psychological question which was the question of that guilt residing in Salem which the hysteria merely unleashed but did not create. Against this background Miller enables the readers to glimpse on the Proctors ( John and Elizabeth) bleak relationship. As the action progresses it becomes clear that Abigail was a servant in the Proctors house and loved John. When this came to Elizabeths notice she had dismissed her. For Abigail, this is the right time to settle old dispute with Elizabeth. In Salem a court has been set to try and hang those accused in witchcraft, if they will not confess. Abigail and the other girls have been elevated to sainthood. where she (Abigail) walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel. And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor the persons clapped in jail for bewitchin them. Proctore servent mary Warren, one of the girls involved in the heathen dancing, returns with the news that the fourteen arrested have grown to thirty-nine. The number keeps mountion up with Martha, Rebecca and even Elizabeth are accused of witchcraft and arrested. Proctor suffers from a dilemma. Either has to disclose his affair with Abigail to prove her accusation baseless ( of course that will ruin his good name) or to let his wife die. He insists that Mary testify in court but even this attempt fails. Abigail cries out Mary Warren as a witch: Mary has assumed the shape of a bird and high on a beam she stretches her claws, about to swoop down on the children and tear their faces. The girls scream and Mary finds herself screaming with them. She goes wild and accuses Proctor of being the Devils man. Left with no choice Proctor discloses the truth about his and Abigails relationship in the court: A man will not cast away his good name. you surely know that I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name. Elizabeth is called to confirm his accusation; she lies to save his name so gets John Proctor arrested.

Meanwhile Mr. hale is disillusined comes to urge those accused to confess, as if they die he counts himself their murderer. Elizabeth is fetched in the hope that she will persuade Proctor to confess. Again his is left with two choices- either to confess himself a withch and be spared (which initially he belives would be fraud for him to die like a saint and besmirch the honor of those that hang) or insist on his innocence and behanged. Temtation are always temting and Proctor too surrenders to the temtations to survive so he confesses himself a witch. But when he is asked to implicate others he refuses: I speak my own sins: I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it. Proctors ultimate realisations that he cannot sell himself for his life makes him a hero. For Proctor, the ultimate value a mans own conscience prevails.
Millers Art of Chacteracterization

As far as Millers art of chacterization is concerned, all My Sons and Death of a Salesman are for more complex and subtle. The Crucible was to center on John, elizabeth and Abagail. Critics found the character abstract and accused Miller of replacing people by types. Walter Kerr protested unassailably: it is better to make a man than to make a point. This was cited as the place mean dramatic fault. However, to say that it is an inferior art would be wrong. The reasons for the disappointment of critics and the audience alike is altogether more personal, based on habit and conditional expectation. Miller says: the society of Salem was morally vocal. People then avowed principles sought to live by them and die by them. I believe that the very moral awareness of the play and its characters-which are historically correct- was repulsive to the audience. Where Miller is interested in causes (why), the audience cares only for results (what).