Context

Historical Context and Setting of The Crucible

The Crucible is set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, during a period known as the Salem Witch Trials. This was a time of religious fervour, strict societal codes, and deep-seated fears of the supernatural.
- The Puritans, who had settled in the New World to escape religious persecution, established a theocratic society where the church held significant power over legal and moral matters.
- The belief in the devil and his ability to possess individuals led to a climate where accusations of witchcraft were taken extremely seriously, and dissent from the church's authority was equated with heresy.

The Salem Witch Trials began when a group of young girls in Salem Village claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. This led to a wave of hysteria, where suspicion and fear spread rapidly through the community, resulting in the arrest of over 150 people and the execution of 20 individuals, primarily women. The trials were characterized by a lack of due process, with spectral evidence (testimony about dreams and visions) used to prove guilt.
- Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, during another period of intense fear and suspicion in the United States known as McCarthyism.
- This was the height of the Cold War, and Senator Joseph McCarthy led a campaign to identify and prosecute alleged communists within American society, mainly targeting those in the entertainment industry and government. Like the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism was marked by paranoia, baseless accusations, and the ruin of many lives based on little or no evidence.
- Miller used the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory to critique the hysteria and injustice of McCarthyism, drawing parallels between the two periods to highlight the dangers of mass hysteria and the erosion of civil liberties.

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was an influential American playwright and essayist known for his profound explorations of the human condition and social issues.
Born in New York City to a middle-class Jewish family, Miller experienced the economic hardships of the Great Depression, which influenced much of his later work. He attended the University of Michigan, where he began his career as a playwright.
Miller's first major success came with All My Sons (1947), followed by his most famous play, Death of a Salesman (1949), which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Crucible (1953) further cemented his reputation as one of America's greatest playwrights. The play was both a response to the political climate of McCarthyism and a critique of the broader themes of hysteria, integrity, and the misuse of power.
Throughout his career, Miller's work consistently explored themes of moral responsibility, the individual's struggle against society, and the consequences of failing to uphold personal integrity.

His marriage to Marilyn Monroe in 1956 brought him into the public spotlight, but his literary contributions left a lasting impact on American theatre and culture. Miller continued to write and remain active in the theatre until he died in 2005, leaving behind a legacy of socially conscious and deeply humanistic works.