THE CRUCIBLE—THE GUILT IN THE BACKGROUND.

November 3, 2008 · Theater

THE CRUCIBLE–THE GUILT IN THE BACKGROUND. Miller’s master stroke in THE CRUCIBLE was to write a play about a profoundly guilty man who must face false accusations. THE CRUCIBLE provides a clear example of the difference between the political plot and the emotional story in a Miller play. TIMEBENDS shows that from the beginning the central image of the play for Miller was the emotions of the central character, John Proctor: “For even in the first weeks of thinking about the Salem story, the central image, the one that persistently recurred as an exuberant source of energy, was that of a guilt-ridden man, John Proctor, who, having slept with his teenage servant girl, watches with horror as she becomes the leader of the witch-hunting pack and points her accusing finger at the wife he has himself betrayed.”

3 comments

Nick November 10, 2008 at 5:01 PM

My biggest complaint about Miller is that his themes and allegories are so obvious and repeated. DEATH OF A SALESMAN may be even more ham-handed.

Lee November 11, 2008 at 1:52 AM

Even worse is having the allegories repeatedly hammered home by a bad high school English teacher. Good art is timeless, and I think that The Crucible functions perfectly even without knowing the political climate of the 50s.

Another flashback: that same teacher also almost ruined Streetcar Named Desire.

Philip November 11, 2008 at 9:35 PM

Lee, you agree with me, and with Miller, that The Crucible stands on its own. The horror that John Procter has to face, that his adultery may have precipitated the false charges, is powerful. I tend to be impatient with allegory, which is almost of necessity obvious. However, the point that this kind of “witch hunt” has happened at least twice in our country is an important one.