The Crucible
"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" John Proctor, Act 4 of The Crucible
"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" John Proctor, Act 4 of The Crucible
The Crucible is a play set in the late 1600s in Salem and is based on the Salem Witch Trials. However, the play was written in the 1950s and is an allegory of McCarthyism and the Red Scare of the 1950s. During the 1600s, many innocent people were accused to being witches and paid with their lives. During the 1950s, Senator McCarthy and the House Committe of Un-American Activities accused hundreds of people of being Communists. We’ll be talking quite a bit about this historical connection.
To learn more about Arthur Miller and his other plays check PBS: American Masters.
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