Crucible Introduction by Sa Rang Kim

-Mass Hysteria and Fear-

99072835_ — 2023-11-14 06:35:44 UTC

The play shows how the emotion of fear can dominate the community rapidly. The accusation of the witchcraft has all came from the emotion of fear of the young girls in the town rather than real evidence. This showcases the destructive potential of mass hysteria. The significant part of this part is that this play is based on a real story. This fact shows how dangerous it is for a community to be driven by fear rather than rationality.

-The Theocratic Society-

99072835_ — 2023-11-14 06:44:19 UTC

"The Crucible" is set in the time period when it was a theocratic society. This means that the church and the state was one and that religion was a very important thing in the community. This is a form of Protestantism more known as Puritanism. Because of this type of society, the moral laws and the state laws were considered the same. It meant that sin and the status of an individual’s soul are matters of public concern.

-Faith vs Knowledge-

99072835_ — 2023-11-14 06:56:19 UTC

Back in the days when witchcraft was first spread in Salem, Massachusetts, there were young girls who confessed that they were witches. This made people believe strongly that Satan was sending witches to harm them. However, the young girls who confessed that they were witches were all fake. The adults almost forced them to fake it and say that they were witches. People who forced the young girls to confess knew that it was all fake and there's no such thing as witches, but they chose faith based on the atmosphere their community had back then rather than their real knowledge that they had. People who had faith in that witches are real, never tried to have research, or doubt the spiritual evidence that people faked. The people who faked the spiritual evidence also knew that witches weren't real, but they decided to use the faith people back then had to get rid of people they didn't like, rather than knowledge they had.

-Arthur Miller in the Crucible-

99072835_ — 2023-11-14 07:08:50 UTC

The play "The Crucible" is very similar to the situation that Miller was in, expressing his feelings about it. The Salem Witch Trial is the trial that witches got from fake spiritual evidences. Miller was in a situation where he was wrongly accused as a communist. He was also wrongly accused for un-American activities during McCarthyism in the 1950s. This was all under a false accusation which he express his feelings and the situation by the play "The Crucible". It was an allegory of the McCarthyism that he didn't fully agree with.

-McCarthyism-

99072835_ — 2023-11-14 07:34:20 UTC

McCarthyism was a period of political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s. It was very conservative and opposing to communism. The idea of McCarthyism is mostly opposing to communism, which was right after the WW II which gave the Americans great fear of communists. It was the time period when the Cold War has just started, growing tensions with the Soviet Union, increasing the awareness of communism by propagandas. This is referred to the modern-day witch hunt because anyone who were accused as communist was basically out of the American society. Miller was also targeted by the McCarthyism that he supported communism and wrote "The Crucible" as an allegory for McCarthyism.