Name:______Date:______Period:______

Arthur Miller and the Red Scare

Arthur Miller 1915-2005

He was born in ______.

His father owned a clothing-manufacturing business and owned a shop; he lost everything during ______.

His father’s loss______Miller and almost all his writing.

He did odd-jobs after high school to earn money for college.

He graduated from the University of Michigan with an______and a desire to write ______.

After several “flops”, he eventually gained fame through several of his plays

  • What famous actress was Arthur Miller married to?

Trouble Rears Its Head…

In the 1950s, headed by Joseph McCarthy, Congress established the ______

______(HUAC) in response to the fear of communism (a.k.a.The Red Scare).

The committee was set-up to ______

______.

This became known as “______” because Senator McCarthy lead the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason ______

______.

Many in the ______were targeted:

  • screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals

Once they were under investigation by the HUAC many of these people were ______.

  • They were ______in their field because of their political beliefs or associations, real or suspected.

Artists were blacklisted on the basis of one or more of the following reasons.

  • Alleged membership in or sympathy toward theAmerican Communist Party,
  • Involvement in liberal or humanitarian political causes that enforcers of the blacklist associated with communism
  • Refusal to assist investigations into Communist Party activities
  • Some were blacklisted merely because their names came up at the wrong place and time.

Miller WritesThe Crucible

The questioning done by the HUAC ______

______, especially after visiting Salem, MA in 1952.

Miller’s friend Elia Kazan had been called before the HUAC and chose to “save” himself by naming names, which included Miller.

Miller immediately proceeded to write The Crucible; its relevance to the current U.S. situation was clear and ______.

Miller’s HUAC Problems

U.S. State Dept. would not renew Miller’s passport to travel to Belgium to view a 1953 production of The Crucible.

Miller was questioned by the HUAC in 1956; ______and was cited for contempt, fined, sentenced to jail time.

His sentence was ______in 1958; he never went to jail.

The Purpose BehindThe Crucible

The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller in 1953 as an______for McCarthyism or the so called (second) Red Scare.

An allegory is an______where characters or events ______ideas and concepts.

Miller felt many personal convictions to McCarthyism as a result of a multitude of events that happened in his life.

Wanting to point out to the world the amazing parallel between the unjust Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the (second) Red Scare from 1948 to 1956, Miller wrote The Crucible______

______.

He ______of Salem, where gossip, rumors, and fear were evidence enough to convict people.

The term “______” now applies to any activity where people are looking for a scapegoat or where they are using accusations to get revenge or to get personal gain or attention.

Crucible Definition

The dictionary defines a crucible in the following ways: as a vessel of metal or other material used for heating substances to high temperatures; a hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which liquid metal collects; or any severe or searching test. A crucible has great forces applied to it, and its contents often are melted, changed, or destroyed.

Why do you think Arthur Miller chose to name his play about the Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible?