The crucible - Saint Ignatius' Moodle Community
The crucible - Saint Ignatius' Moodle Community
The crucible - Saint Ignatius' Moodle Community
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study guide<br />
RECOMENDED FOR MATURE<br />
AUDIENCES 15 YEARS AND OVER<br />
ADULT THEMES<br />
LOW LEVEL COARSE LANGUAGE<br />
Opens nationally February 6th
All in all, then, the seeds had been planted for the disaster that eventually would<br />
rip apart their community. Tituba’s presence among the girls, society’s<br />
repression, religious belief and fear of persecution, a sense of impending doom<br />
because of the raids by Native Americans (believed to be emissaries from the<br />
Devil), and the political instability of the colony mixed with the rivalries within<br />
the village - all combined to produce the social paranoia that fuelled the fires of<br />
the witch hunts. Long before the children cried ‘witchcraft,’ the people of<br />
Salem were suspicious of each other.<br />
Historical Background<br />
- <strong>The</strong> Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s<br />
2<br />
Historical Background<br />
- <strong>The</strong> Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692<br />
In order to understand how reasonable people could allow themselves to take<br />
part in the miscarriage of justice that the Salem witchcraft trials represent, we<br />
need to consider the kind of society the Puritans created in Salem Village,<br />
Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century.<br />
Massachusetts differed from the other colonies in that it was a theocracy, a<br />
commonwealth dominated by theology. Many of the Puritans who first settled in<br />
Massachusetts relocated so they could practise their religious beliefs without<br />
suffering persecution; they established a system of governance founded on and<br />
designed to preserve their religious principles.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Puritans in Massachusetts were convinced they were God’s chosen people<br />
on an errand to the wilderness. Puritans literally believed that they were<br />
establishing a New Jerusalem in the New World.<br />
In order to fulfil this divinely ordained destiny, they actually thought they had to<br />
combat Satan, who freely roamed the wilderness. At first, the Puritans wished to<br />
convert the Native American inhabitants who lived in the woods. When they<br />
resisted conversion, the Puritans decided that the Native Americans were agents<br />
of the Devil who had to be destroyed.<br />
Although charges of witchcraft were fairly common at the time, no other<br />
community experienced such widespread panic and terror. We have to wonder<br />
what was so unique about Salem Village that it experienced such mass hysteria.<br />
<strong>The</strong> frequent attacks by bands of roving Native Americans unquestionably<br />
contributed to the anxiety of the already insecure people.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se problems were compounded by the bitter antagonisms between rival<br />
factions in the community.<br />
Friction among the residents and the political instability of a village under siege<br />
define the motives of the adults in the community, but what about the children’s<br />
actions? Perhaps no single factor had more to do with the children’s fascination<br />
with witchcraft than the alluring presence of the exotic slave, Tituba. <strong>The</strong> effect<br />
of this fantastic figure on the impressionable young girls of Salem Village must<br />
have been tremendous. Certainly we can understand how children living in a<br />
repressed society might seek an outlet for their fantasies and hidden desires by<br />
turning to an unusual individual. Tituba must have been a popular source of<br />
amusement for children who sought diversion from their daily chores and<br />
routines.<br />
Arthur Miller had been fascinated by what he calls the ‘inexplicable darkness’<br />
surrounding the Salem witchcraft trials ever since he was a college student in<br />
the 1930s. He did not write about the event until the 1940s and ’50s when the<br />
Cold War mentality in America caused a purge of liberals and suspected<br />
communist sympathisers.<br />
Chief among those politicians who capitalised on the fear of the ‘red threat’ in<br />
America was Senator Joseph McCarthy. After World War II, Americans realised<br />
the Soviet Union was a powerful and potentially dangerous adversary. This view<br />
was seemingly confirmed by the news of Soviet nuclear capability. Threatened<br />
by real and imagined concerns, many Americans viewed this force as a sinister<br />
obstacle to the goal of world peace. Riding the wave of popular opinion,<br />
Senator McCarthy created a stir and rose to national prominence by<br />
announcing to the media that he had information proving that high ranking<br />
officers and executives in the United States State Department and in the military<br />
were known members of the Communist Party.<br />
His unsupported allegations gave rise to various congressional investigations<br />
designed to expose the dangerous threats hidden in society. In all walks of life -<br />
in film and television, business, education, and in government - innocent<br />
people were unjustly persecuted for their views. Civil liberties were suspended<br />
as many people were fired from their jobs simply because they were suspected<br />
of being communists. No longer was one innocent until proven guilty, which is<br />
the foundation of the American justice system. An accusation by an unknown<br />
informant was sufficient to end a person’s career and severely damage their<br />
reputation.<br />
Although Senator McCarthy enjoyed a few years of celebrity with his hostile<br />
interrogations, he was eventually proven to be a fraud. <strong>The</strong> ‘red scare’ ended,<br />
but not before many innocent people had their lives, families and careers<br />
destroyed.<br />
Arthur Miller was struck by the incredible similarities between the hysteria in<br />
Salem in 1692 and the hostile life in American society after World War II. He<br />
decided to write a play that would explore ‘the mystery of the handing over of<br />
conscience,’ which he viewed as ‘the central and informing fact of the time.’ In<br />
<strong>The</strong> Crucible, Miller uses the Salem witch trials to address this problem and<br />
to show why it is imperative that one not let his or her ‘name’ be used to hurt<br />
others.<br />
Ironically, in 1956, three years after <strong>The</strong> Crucible opened on the Broadway<br />
stage in New York City, life imitated art. Miller was called in to testify before the<br />
House Committee on Un-American Activities. He courageously refused to say<br />
anything that would bring harm upon another individual.
ENGLISH SECTION<br />
Before viewing the film<br />
Miller says that ‘even now we’re not that far removed from Salem. <strong>The</strong> Other is<br />
still considered the Devil . . . Too often what we regard as the devil is merely<br />
our desires, fears and guilt - our humanity.’<br />
Read Leviticus 16: 20 - 22 and discuss the origin of the term ‘scapegoat’.<br />
Find examples where a scapegoat has been made to carry the ‘sins’ of the<br />
community. What benefit is derived from scapegoating another?<br />
Examine recent race relations in Australia. Are racial groups used as<br />
scapegoats? For what? By whom?<br />
‘Witchhunt’ has entered common parlance. What does it mean? Find some<br />
examples of its use in the media.<br />
After investigating McCarthyism, consider parallels in contemporary<br />
Australia. For example, what does it mean to call someone un-Australian?<br />
After viewing the film<br />
A <strong>crucible</strong> is a vessel in which substances are heated to high temperatures, the<br />
impure elements being melted away to leave the pure elements behind.<br />
Is this an appropriate title for the play/film? Why?<br />
Adaptation:<br />
Read Miller’s play <strong>The</strong> Crucible. Take particular note of the stage directions<br />
which give insight into characters’ motivations.<br />
A play is made of words, a film of images. In adapting <strong>The</strong> Crucible to film,<br />
Miller focused on making the story move. Whereas the play was set in four<br />
rooms, the film uses varied locations, and the action moves fluently from one<br />
place to another, ‘like a man-made hurricane.’<br />
Is there any evidence in the film to suggest it had once been a stage play?<br />
Examine the narrative structure of the film and compare it to the play. What are<br />
the challenges for a writer in adapting from the stage to the screen?<br />
Miller has added scenes to the film which, while central to the play, were only<br />
described or imagined.<br />
What impact does depicting the scene in the forest have on the viewer’s<br />
understanding of subsequent events?<br />
While the play ends with Proctor in his cell, the film portrays his execution.<br />
Contrast the jubilant crowd at earlier executions with the final crowd scenes.<br />
Why has the mood changed? Does the depiction of this scene add weight to the<br />
film’s political message?<br />
Characterisation<br />
A strength of Miller’s script is the complexity of his characters. He has resisted<br />
the temptation to create wholly good or wholly evil characters: most are flawed<br />
human beings struggling to make sense of their experience.<br />
Miller observed, ‘A man who feels as deeply guilty as Proctor would have, in the<br />
normal course, gone along and fed into the witchcraft hysteria; it would have<br />
strengthened him against himself, to join this galloping mob of people in<br />
accusing everybody. . .’<br />
While Proctor is deeply flawed, he is also heroic. Examine Proctor, not only<br />
through his words, but in the way he is depicted (for example, working in the<br />
field with his sons). How does the depiction of Proctor differ from that of<br />
Parris and the Putnams? Why?<br />
Examine the relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor. Trace its<br />
development, from the early revelations of infidelity to the later scenes of<br />
farewell. Why do you think Miller refused to portray one as the villain, the other<br />
as an innocent victim?<br />
Elizabeth Proctor says, ‘He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from<br />
him.’ Proctor wants to live; Elizabeth loves her husband. What is it that neither<br />
is prepared to sacrifice for the sake of Proctor’s life? Why?<br />
Abigail is central to the witchcraft hysteria and the destruction of the<br />
Proctors. Is she evil? Are there points in the film where the audience feels<br />
sympathy for her? Towards the end of the film she disappears, and it is clear<br />
that she is ‘guilty’. Is there a single point at which the audience becomes aware<br />
of Abigail’s destructive intentions?<br />
Trace the sexual triangle that runs through the film. How are Abigail and<br />
Proctor portrayed when they first meet on screen? Examine the relationship<br />
between Elizabeth and Abigail. Is the Proctors’ ‘reconciliation’ climactic?<br />
Judge Danforth’s ‘particular danger is that his convictions are genuine and<br />
his commitment to rooting out the Devil is deeply felt.’ At times Danforth begins<br />
to doubt Abigail’s testimony. How do these occasions add to the complexity of<br />
the film?<br />
Sexuality<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> girls are starting to throb with a sexuality that grows in all of us when we<br />
come of age. But in Salem in 1692 there was no place for them to put that.<br />
When they dance in the woods, it’s so alarming to the rest of the community<br />
that it’s identified as witchcraft. It’s a story about how sex can bring a whole<br />
community crumbling down.’<br />
To what extent do you agree with this account of the film by director<br />
Nicholas Hytner?<br />
Note the difference in dress and hairstyles between the girls and the<br />
married women of Salem. What might the various representations signify?<br />
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Resolution<br />
‘Proctor signs the confession to save his life, but the judges demand the<br />
confession be made public, and he finds that he cannot live in a society<br />
uncommitted. He must be either totally and publicly against the accused or<br />
totally and publicly with them. <strong>The</strong>re is no middle ground of private<br />
commitment and public neutrality. This is Proctor’s final dilemma . . . and<br />
Miller will not . . . allow the individual to escape from his social obligations<br />
into his private life.’ (From Twentieth Century Interpretations of <strong>The</strong><br />
Crucible, Ed. John H. Ferres, Prentice-Hall, 1972.)<br />
Does <strong>The</strong> Crucible demonstrate that the political is personal, the personal<br />
is political?<br />
At the film’s conclusion we learn that Salem eventually came to its senses,<br />
but not before the loss of many innocent lives. What did the lives of Proctor,<br />
Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey represent, to Danforth, and to the people of<br />
Salem?<br />
Is it essential, in terms of the narrative, that these three die?<br />
At the end of the film, what are your feelings towards Proctor, Elizabeth,<br />
Danforth, Abigail and Mary Warren?<br />
Is <strong>The</strong> Crucible relevant today?<br />
Media Studies Section<br />
‘A timeless tale of truth on trial, <strong>The</strong> Crucible is a relentlessly suspenseful<br />
drama of collective evil and personal conscience. And at its centre is a vastly<br />
moving story of guilt, love and redemption.’<br />
This brief synopsis comes from the publicity material used to promote the film.<br />
Identify the elements in this description that seem to be popular or<br />
marketable to cinema audiences and discuss the attraction of these.<br />
Focus on one of the above elements, for example, ‘collective evil’, ‘love’,<br />
‘redemption’ or ‘personal conscience’, and discuss how it is represented and<br />
developed within the film.<br />
From the very first shot to the climactic cry of John Proctor, ‘I have given<br />
you my soul, leave me my name’, the film contains many suspenseful<br />
sequences.<br />
Select any one of these and discuss how various production elements and<br />
techniques contribute to the development of suspense and drama. Consider any<br />
of the following:<br />
camerawork<br />
lighting<br />
music<br />
setting<br />
visual composition<br />
editing<br />
sound effects<br />
direction of actors<br />
<strong>The</strong> Crucible has been described as ‘a timeless story’.<br />
Playwright and screenwriter, Arthur Miller, conceived the play in response to<br />
the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s ‘crusade’ in<br />
the early 1950s.<br />
To a certain extent the film has transcended its specific allusions to<br />
McCarthyism.<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> sad truth about this story is that it will always be topical,’ according to the<br />
film’s director, Nicholas Hytner.<br />
Films most often reflect the social values of the production period in which they<br />
were made rather than the period in which their stories are set.<br />
Identify the social values of the 1990s that could be reflected either in<br />
concrete or allegorical terms in <strong>The</strong> Crucible.<br />
Explore through discussion or written analysis how <strong>The</strong> Crucible might<br />
reflect the social and political climate of contemporary America or Australia or<br />
indeed, the world.<br />
<strong>The</strong> film is didactic in that it has a specific purpose and conclusion for its<br />
audience to draw. <strong>The</strong> message about the injustices suffered by the Salem<br />
community is reinforced by the postscript that appears as text after the final<br />
scene.<br />
Are there clearly identifiable heroes/victims/accusers?<br />
<strong>The</strong> film has a complexity in that at different points the audience is encouraged<br />
to identify with different characters.<br />
Explore how the film works to enhance the positioning of the audience to<br />
identify with a particular character.<br />
Select any three of the following characters and identify points in the film<br />
when you could identify or empathise with them. Explain what the character<br />
was feeling at that point and why you could understand them: John Proctor,<br />
Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, Rebecca<br />
Nurse, Mary Warren.<br />
Adaptation<br />
Casting<br />
‘Daniel’s manifest integrity means he can embody emotionally the idea of a man<br />
who feels morally compromised; he can encompass the wrenching dilemma<br />
faced by a man who can only accept God’s most precious gift - Life - if he is<br />
prepared to sacrifice his good name.’<br />
4
How does the use of cinema techniques contribute to the motion within the<br />
film?<br />
What does this motion represent? Consider the interrogation scene in the<br />
church.<br />
DRAMA SECTION<br />
Arthur Miller is acknowledged as America’s greatest living playwright. While<br />
most of his plays are set in contemporary America, his work is strongly<br />
influenced by Ibsen and even the early Greek tragedies which explore notions<br />
of self-knowledge and self-realisation. Miller has said that he wants his<br />
audience to have a ‘heightened awareness of what living in our time involves.’<br />
<strong>The</strong> Crucible’s director, Nicholas Hytner, never contemplated the possibility of<br />
approaching any other actor to perform the part of John Proctor. Particular<br />
actors bring certain qualities and associations with other roles to films. Day-<br />
Lewis brings to the role the same strength of conviction that he portrayed in the<br />
character of Gerry Conlon in In <strong>The</strong> Name Of <strong>The</strong> Father.<br />
Hytner said of Paul Scofield who plays Judge Danforth:<br />
‘It would have been easy enough to find one of those actors who specialise in<br />
the sinister, but Danforth’s particular danger is that his convictions are genuine<br />
and his commitment to rooting out the Devil is deeply felt.’<br />
Make a list of the qualities that each of the main actors brings to their role.<br />
Setting<br />
Study the final meeting between John and Elizabeth Proctor. Why is this<br />
such a powerful scene?<br />
How does the setting of this scene on the windy beach with its turbulent<br />
breaking waves contribute to its impact?<br />
<strong>The</strong> relevance of <strong>The</strong> Crucible’s story in today’s society is what prompted film<br />
director Nicholas Hytner to undertake this project. He believes that Miller’s<br />
story is universally truthful. Arthur Miller says that he sees in the Salem<br />
witchhunt many modern parallels of tyranny, evil and persecution.<br />
Miller skilfully combines symbolism with naturalism in most of his plays. <strong>The</strong><br />
Crucible is a very symbolic play and Hytner’s painstakingly authentic<br />
naturalistic film also includes strong symbolic elements which heighten the<br />
drama.<br />
Consider the opening sequence in the woods. A circular symbol is<br />
repeatedly used. Can you think of some examples? Are there any other reoccurring<br />
symbols? Discuss the use of water.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Crucible is a psychological drama which flourishes in an atmosphere<br />
of fear and suspicion. Imaginary devils and psychological obsessions were<br />
barely contained in the joyless daily ritual of Salem life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> power of suggestion is an extremely strong force. When a group of<br />
people take up a notion, and act upon it as a group against an individual, it can<br />
be an over-whelming force.<br />
Consider the plight of Tituba and Mary Warren who both broke down and<br />
‘confessed’ after repeated accusations.<br />
5<br />
<strong>The</strong> final scene as well as an earlier scene where Proctor and other<br />
townspeople follow the girls as they run into the sea present imagery with<br />
strong religious connotations.<br />
Proctor is accused as the crowd stand around him in the shallows. What<br />
biblical stories and characters do these two scenes allude to?<br />
Is this a coincidence? Are there other scenes/sequences/shots that include<br />
religious imagery? Explain how these might contribute to the characterisations,<br />
story and messages of the film.<br />
Production design<br />
Arthur Miller realised early in the adaptation process that finding images that<br />
would successfully convey what language had done on stage would be a<br />
formidable job.<br />
<strong>The</strong> director’s objective was ‘to make the film move.’<br />
Consider the use of the camera and editing throughout the film. In<br />
particular sequences the intercutting between shots is quite rapid and fluid<br />
whilst the camera is operated on a crane enabling movement above and<br />
amongst the actors.<br />
Drama Activity<br />
Choose someone to be the victim and place them in the centre of a circle.<br />
<strong>The</strong> rest of the group then form a circle and slowly walk around them chanting<br />
their name. <strong>The</strong> chanting should get louder and louder and more and more<br />
menacing.<br />
Substitute the victim’s name for a continual hissing, growling or sneering. Take<br />
turns at being victim. Discuss how you feel in this situation.<br />
Next, hold the circle position while the accusers on the outside interrogate<br />
the victim in the middle about their actions during a certain period of time -<br />
e.g. yesterday’s lunch hour.<br />
<strong>The</strong> aim of this exercise is to confuse and disorientate the victim with a series<br />
of contradictory questions and suggestions. This ‘victimising’ is not pleasant but<br />
it is an effective role play.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>crucible</strong> is a very wordy play. <strong>The</strong> characters are given a certain dignity<br />
and their relationships an old-fashioned formality by quaint phrases or<br />
grammatical usage. List some of the words and phrases used between the<br />
husbands and wives, families and close friends that are not in use today.
Improvise a short scene, i.e. a family meal with each member of the family<br />
speaking in this rather formal manner. (Remember to start the meal by saying<br />
grace - a thanksgiving for the food.)<br />
<strong>The</strong> producer and director went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the<br />
authenticity of this film.<br />
Consider -<br />
(a) <strong>The</strong> style of architecture.<br />
(b) <strong>The</strong> props, modes of transport and interiors.<br />
(c) <strong>The</strong> fashions and costumes.<br />
How does this attention to detail enhance our appreciation of the film? Does<br />
this authenticity make the characters more believable? Can you list some<br />
sequences in the film that would be impossible to reproduce on stage? What<br />
dimensions of the story would be lost without these sequences?<br />
Make-up supervisor Naomi Donne insisted that the actors wore no<br />
conventional make-up. ‘<strong>The</strong> life was very hard for these people and I wanted to<br />
reflect their lifestyle in their appearance’, she explained. She ‘weathered’ her<br />
actors by cutting and dirtying fingernails, painting on calluses or yellowing<br />
teeth.<br />
One of the most theatrical sequences in the film is the courtroom drama where<br />
John Proctor and his wife are summoned to appear before the judges and<br />
required to give a separate account of their relationship with Abigail Williams.<br />
This scene bears a striking resemblance to many stage productions of this play<br />
in its stark simplicity, the symbolic positioning of the accused - removed from<br />
other witnesses, isolated from each other, yet deliberately positioned to bear<br />
the full weight of the relentless questioning from the judges.<br />
Drama Activity - Divide and Conquer<br />
Select three people to be the accused. Give them a few minutes to collaborate a<br />
simple story - e.g. how they broke a piece of school equipment. What<br />
happened, who was there, conversations, details of surroundings need to be<br />
decided.<br />
Next send them outside the room and bring them in one at a time for their<br />
‘trial’. Record what each one says in response to aggressive, probing<br />
questioning from the rest of the group. Each of the accused must stay in the<br />
room after their questioning to listen to the responses of their peers in the<br />
same manner that John Proctor was forced to listen to his wife’s testimony.<br />
Record any discrepancies.<br />
Everyone in the ‘court’ must maintain a sombre judicial air to heighten the<br />
tension and the alienation of the accused.<br />
<strong>The</strong> use of ‘dance’ is a small but significant part of this film. <strong>The</strong> film opens<br />
with a group of young girls dancing in the woods. However, it is not just the<br />
dancing that this community wants to stifle, but the burgeoning sexuality of its<br />
adolescents, the females in particular. In the intensely Puritanical society of<br />
Salem, dance was forbidden as ungodly and sinful. Dance is often used as a<br />
medium to release pent-up emotions and frustration or as a bonding<br />
mechanism between social groups. Discuss the use of dance in other cultures -<br />
(a) as a ritual.<br />
(b) as an emotional release.<br />
(c) as a social mechanism.<br />
Young people and adolescents have often been at odds with adults about<br />
‘inappropriate’ dance styles. Can you list some of these? Discuss the use of<br />
dance as an emotional release among adolescents in our society. Could this<br />
ever lead to any ‘demonic’ or hysterical demonstrations?<br />
<strong>The</strong> Crucible opens on February 6, 1997. For further information on<br />
school bookings and group bookings, including the discounts<br />
available, please contact your local cinema.<br />
For enquiries and further information, please contact the Twentieth<br />
Century Fox representative in your state:<br />
Ms Tina Zaccardelli, 505-523 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000<br />
Tel: (02) 9261 7800<br />
Ms Michelle Kish, 9th Floor, 140 Bourke Street, Melbourne Vic 3000<br />
Tel: (03) 9663 4355<br />
Ms Roxanne Melloway, 1 Walden Place, Walden Lane,<br />
Brisbane Qld 4006 Tel: (07) 3252 7983<br />
Mr John Cronin, 15 Rose Street, Mile End SA 5031 Tel: (08) 293 2523<br />
Ms Shani Barr, West Centre, Level 1, 1260 Hay Street,<br />
West Perth WA 6005 Tel: (09) 485 1088<br />
Written for ATOM by<br />
Michelle Liddy, David Maloney<br />
and Jillian Scott © ATOM 1997<br />
Copyright Notice: Educational institutions may make and use copies of all or part of this Study Guide, only as reasonably required<br />
for its own purposes (for no copyright fees) and must not sell or lend such copies.<br />
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