An Introduction to "The Crucible"

An Introduction to Salem

The town of Salem was a small settlement on the east coast of what is now Massachusetts in the United States of America. It was one of the earliest towns in New England, but at the time the play is set, it had been in existence for less than seventy years.The people of Salem were settlers in a hostile environment - a land in which they struggled to establish farms and live off the land; a land which was bordered by vast unexplored areas. As Abigail reminds us when talking of the death of her parents, there was also a threat from marauding Indian tribes. Life was hard. The religious rigour of Puritanism, under which they lived, made their lives even more harsh and demanding.

Puritanism

A group of Puritans, known as the Pilgrim Fathers, sailed on The Mayflower to New England in 1620. Their strict religious ways had become unpopular in England, and they sailed to North America to escape religious persecution. Other Puritans and colonists followed.
Puritans lived by a strict code. They kept to simple, plain dress. Men ruled the household, and took all the major decisions. Children knew their place and were expected to be dutiful. They did not have much in the way of entertainment, as they didn't allow dancing, theatre, reading for pleasure and they did not even celebrate Christmas. Attendance at church was essential and strict records were kept of who attended and who did not. Note how Hale persistently questions the Proctors on their attendance at church. Unnecessary work and household chores on Sundays were frowned upon.
They had a binding duty to the Church and were ruled by the words of the Bible. If the Bible, therefore, acknowledged the existence of witches then Puritans would believe in their reality. As Proctor states: 'The Bible speaks of witches and I will not deny them'.As you read/watch the play, consider the effects of Puritanism on such characters as Parris, Abigail, Proctor and Elizabeth.

Witchcraft

To the people of seventeenth century Salem, witchcraft was a very real and potent threat. Across Europe in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries many people - perhaps those seen as odd or outsiders - were accused of being witches, and were tortured and executed.
The persecution of witches spread to England under the rule of James I and with the Puritans, it also spread to the new settlements on the east coast of America.The Church said that witches made a contract with the Devil and that the witches kept a book with signatures of those contracted to the Devil. The Devil would then work through them and their 'familiars' (evil spirits in the form of an animal - a cat or a toad, for example.) Witches were thought to commit crimes or 'maleficium', such as making cows sick, turning beer sour, flying broomsticks or causing injury to people.
There were said to be various 'proofs' of a witch including:
the testimony of a fellow witch
the common belief/accusation of those who live with the suspected witch
cursing or quarrelling being followed by some mischief or mishap
the person suspected has the Devil's mark (perhaps a birthmark or deformity)
the person contradicts her/himself when questioned.Matthew Hopkins set himself up as Witch-Finder General, and between 1644 and 1646 he had over 200 people hanged as he searched for witches in the east of England. For each execution he was paid one pound.

Miller and McCarthyism

As well as understanding some of the historical background to the play, it's important to be aware of the historical context of when the play was actually written in 1953. Miller was not only intrigued by the witch trials of seventeenth century Salem, but he was also concerned with more recent events in the United States.At the end of World War Two, two powerful nations emerged - the USA and the USSR. Despite having been allies in the war, both countries were distrustful of each other. A battle for nuclear weapon superiority arose between the two: the capitalist United States versus the communist Soviet Union. Mistrust and hostility between the two grew - giving rise to the 'Cold War' - and the United States worked at home and abroad to oppose the spread of communism In this climate of fear, a United States Senator, Joseph McCarthy, alleged that government departments were being infiltrated by communists and he waged a campaign against them. He accused and vilified many public servants including teachers and civil servants as well as more prominent personalities..Miller was caught up in the frenzy, being asked to apologise for an interest in Marxism when he was younger. Brought before the House Committee of Un-American Activities, he refused to apologise and was sent for trial. Initially he was fined and given a suspended prison sentence, but he appealed and was acquitted. Miller fought to maintain his dignity and his principles. This was shortly before The Crucible first opened.