...Arthur Miller was born in Harlem, New York on October 17th, 1915. He was raised in a moderate household, but lost everything during the Wall Street Crash in 1929. After the crash, he and his family moved to Brooklyn. Arthur worked through his troubles so that he could attend college at the University of Michigan. In college he wrote for the student paper and was in the play called, No Villain. Miller was inspired by one of his professors named, Kenneth Rowe. He was inspired by his approach of playwriting, and wanted to begin his career. He wrote the play, The Man Who Had All The Luck. This play closed after only four performances into the season because of terrible reviews, but six years later, he wrote the play All My Sons, which was a tremendous achievement for him, and achieved the tony award for it. He had many other achievements as well. He wrote the story “Death of A Salesmen,” in less than one day, and was loved by so many people in the theatre. This play won many different awards. Miller married Marilyn Monroe, who starred in the screenplay called “The Misfits,” After leaving his first wife, Mary Slattery. However, in 1961 miller and Monroe were divorced. Lastly he married another woman who was a photographer from Austria. Her name was Inges Morath. They had two children together named Rebecca and Daniel. Daniel had Down syndrome. Miller wanted nothing to do with his son, and asked that he be excluded from the family’s personal life. One of the main stories that...
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...ARTHUR MILLER Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953) and A View from the Bridge (1955) Arthur Miller's Childhood: His father was a productive shop-keeper and clothing manufacturer, until the Great Depression dried up virtually all business opportunities. Yet, despite being faced with poverty, Miller made the best of his childhood. He was a very active young man, in love with such sports as football and baseball. College Bound: In 1934, Miller left the east coast to attend the University of Michigan. He was accepted into their school of journalism. His experiences during the depression made him skeptical towards religion. Politically, he began leaning towards the "Left." And since the theater was the cutting edge way for socio-economic liberals to express their views, he decided to enter the Hopwood Drama competition. His first play, No Villain, received an award from the University. It was an impressive beginning for the young playwright: he had never studied plays or playwriting, and he had written his script in just five days! Broadway Bound: After graduation, he continued writing plays. During World War II, his writing career gradually became more successful. In 1940 he crafted The Man Who Had All the Luck. It arrived on Broadway in 1944, but...
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...of struggle to many of Arthur Miller’s poems. “The Crucible” deals with extraordinary tragedy in lives of normal people due to the witch-hunts. “All My Sons” probes with the idea of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American population, influenced from the desperation and paternal responsibility put on people. Lastly, “Death of a Salesman” a work based on the American dream and national values, was influenced greatly by his hatred relationship with his uncle. The historical and personal events that occurred during Arthur Miller’s early life greatly influenced his writings of “The Crucible”, “Death of a Salesman”, and “All My Sons”. “The Crucible” was historically influenced by those trying to cleanse American culture of anyone who persisted in seeing the Soviet Union as a source of good in the world. This disgusted Miller so much that he based “The Crucible” on the anti-communist hysteria that pervaded the 1950s America, and the witch-hunts of the late 17th century He hated the idea of tragedy in ordinary lives and had much concern for the physical wellbeing of the working class. The outburst of these ideas caused him to be called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and was convicted of contempt of Congress for not cooperating (this conviction however was later appealed). The unraveling of his troubled and turbulent marriage with Marilyn Monroe was the main personal event that influenced Miller’s writing of this play. Miller reflected that the meaning...
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...A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF ARTHUR MILLER'S LIFE AND WORKS [This chronology has been compiled and crosschecked against a number of sources, however, a special acknowledgement should be made to the thorough "Literary Chronology" and appendices printed in The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller, eds. Robert A. Martin and Steven R. Centola.] 1915 Arthur Aster Miller was born on October 17th in New York City; family lives at 45 West 110th Street. 1920-28 Attends Public School #24 in Harlem. 1923 Sees first play--a melodrama at the Schubert Theater. 1928 Bar-mitzvah at the Avenue M temple. Father's business struggling and family move to Brooklyn. Attends James Madison HIgh School. 1930 Reassigned to the newly built Abraham Lincoln High School. Plays on football team. 1931 Delivery boy for local bakery before school, and works for father's business over summer vacation. 1933 Graduates from Abraham Lincoln High School. Registers for night school at City College, but quits after two weeks. 1933-34 Clerked in an auto-parts warehouse, where he was the only Jew employed and had his first real, personal experiences of American anti-semitism. 1934 Enters University of Michigan in the Fall to study journalism. Reporter and night editor on student paper, The Michigan Daily. 1936 Writes No Villain in six days and receives Hopwood Award in Drama. Transfers to an English major. 1937 Takes playwrighting class with Professor Kenneth T. Rowe. Rewrite of No Villain, titled, They Too Arise...
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...filled with the happy endings that people want them to be. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem started to dance with the devil, causing reputations to become entangled with life and death. Spurious witchcraft claims appeared rampantly in the town, forcing everyone to pick whether they want to live by their morals, or stray and be safe. The negative impacts of the witch trails are rooted all around, there was, a social unrest among the townspeople, failure in the court system and a misguided church which together form a bad situation to be in. All the claims of witchcraft started due to Abigail and her group of friends out in the forest dancing. Getting caught, in a time were dancing was prohibited. In the beginning of the story, Parris talking to Abigail says, “And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest?” (Miller, Act 1) Basically, the Parris, the minister of the church in Salem, was...
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...McCarthyism and The Crucible During the tense era of McCarthyism, “The Crucible” a book about the Salem witch trials was written and published. The Salem witch trials of “The Crucible” , were women making accusations of people participating in witchcraft. Arthur Miller the author of “The Crucible” is compared to McCarthyism because Joseph McCarthy, a senator, accused people of being communists, or having relations with communist. During the 1950s, if anyone was accused of witchcraft they would be put on trial, or anyone having confession of participating in witchcraft would be given an execution. In Act 1 of “The Crucible”, Betty is the daughter of Rev. Parris who has fell ill after participating in witchcraft with her cousin, Abigail. Abigail...
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...During this book you will see many people die for for a reason now-a-days people don’t believe in. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller. This play is based on the events of 1692 and 1693. During this time people believed in witchcraft. Witchcraft is the belief that people made a pact with the devil to do magic. Through it all people stayed true to their values like Rebecca Nurse who stayed to her belief with God and the devil was never here. While I stick to my values through hard times. Early in Act 1 Betty does not wake. Rebecca was one of the ones to examine her. The quote was “...A child’s spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it, you must stand still…”(Miller 22). Through her quote she hints at how through her values she believes no devil touched this kid. While no one believed her she stuck to her value of god and that the devil is not in Salem....
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...Arthur Miller wrote an imaginatively creative interpretation of the famous Salem Witch Trials in his 1953 fictional play The Crucible. Though the actual details of these true events are unknown, Miller takes his audience back to the overtly religious town and brings to life characters found in historic documents from the 1692 hearings. He cleverly unfolds an intriguing tale of possibilities about the Salem witch hunt which occurred during an era when America was partially unsettled and primitive. This harsh setting easily produced a fear that overshadowed many predominately puritan settlements where it was common to attribute every occurrence, no matter how small, to good or evil, the Lord or Lucifer. The strict environment was bound by rules...
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...In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is accused of witchcraft which later in the book caused his death. The book is about how in Salem the false accusations witchcraft is frowned upon which resulted in the deaths of the many innocent people. John Proctor’s life throughout the book relates to Arthur Miller real life in many ways. Arthor Miller explains how Marilyn Monroe had made a big impact on his life and how he’s in love. His situation in all this is that he was basically having an affair with Marilyn even though he had a wife. His actions were that he left his wife for Marilyn and his beliefs are that he realized he was doing wrong. In The Crucible, John Proctor is similar to him in a way by how he had an affair with...
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...Truth and Lies How can one’s reputation affect his or her decisions? Reputations decide whether or not one is accepted or denied within the community. With reputation, comes a great responsibility, the responsibility of maintaining that reputation through actions of right and wrong. One’s actions can overall result in a truthful representation of one's reputation, or the falsity behind one's lies. In the tragedy, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, reputation motivates one's actions, whether right or wrong, to ultimately derive in life, or death. The idea of reputation can persuade someone to create lies, in hopes to achieve his or her desired position within the community. The doubts of Abigail's good reputation within the community prompts...
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...“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!” When Arthur Miller wrote this line in his book the Crucible a lot of emotion was felt and implied. In the religious town of Salem in 1692, a horrific incident occurs as neighbor turns on neighbor, and as the fear of witches grows. Many people realize that this is an opportunity to fulfill their greed and seek revenge on those they hate. The low moral value of most Salem residents becomes obvious as the story continues, but there are a few people who have strong morals and they are made known as they face the challenges of a falling community. As John Proctor tears up the document that will save his life, it seems obvious that he stands up for his morals. John Proctor is constantly haunted by his past sins with Abigail Williams, and does not feel forgiven until the end of the story when he talks with his wife before his death. John goes to court to save his wife but is accused of witchcraft, placed in a prison, and given the choice to hang or confess. He originally confesses but, when told his confession will be posted on the church, tears it in half. He does this because he finally feels forgiven of his sins with Abigail, and he knows that if he confesses his name...
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...Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman uses a revolutionary technique to portray the protagonist, Willy Loman. He juxtaposes the scenes of present with those of the characters past to provide insight into Willy’s behaviours and beliefs and thus reveal how Willy has been victimized by the American Dream. The concept of developing a protagonist’s character by depicting formative experiences is one that offers an excellent approach to analyzing Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. By juxtaposing scenes of the protagonist’s present with scenes from Willy’s past, Miller provides insight for Willy’s behaviours and beliefs. Through lighting and sound techniques, Miller recreates significant moments in Willy’s life that shape him. Miller’s staging...
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...The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. In this small town we see how hysteria spreads like wildfire when a group of young girls, led by a seventeen year old named Abigail, stir up some trouble. Hysteria takes place all throughout the story and we can see that it is an important aspect of the play. In Act 1 we see hysteria when Mr. Hale questions Abigail about what they were doing dancing in the woods. Abigail doesn’t want to get in trouble so she takes the easy way out and blames Tituba. “Abigail: She made me do it! She made Betty do it!”(Page 43) As Hale questions her, they bring in Tituba and Abby immediately points to her and blames her to take the attention off herself. This is when the chaos truly begins, Tituba gets upset with Abby but they keep asking if she saw the devil. To get herself out of trouble she confesses so she won’t be hanged. Tituba begins to say she saw other people with the devil...
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...The Salem Witch Trials that went through the town of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690’s put the town through a period of tribulation. In Act III of The Crucible, written to take place during the trials, playwright Arthur Miller creates a hysterical mood amongst the characters in the courtroom through his use of stage direction and exclamatory sentences. Based off the actions of the girls, led by Abigail, and the response of those in attendance, an increasing panic settles upon the courtroom. At the beginning of the scene, Abigail makes a “chilling cry, [and] screams up to the ceiling” (114). Being such a sudden interruption, Abigail immediately alarms the the courtroom and creates a growing dramatic tension. As the trials ensue, the townspeople...
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...use of language, aesthesis, truth, expression, fiction, and affectiveness. In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s stylistic devices convey not only bitter deception and bleak despair, but also hopeless despondency and forlorn anguish to display the realism and iniquity of the common man. As a representative form of American realism, Death of a Salesman portrays the use of language to convey a feeling of acrimony that demonstrates the relationship between the ideas of Willy Loman and the American common man. Willy Loman as the protagonist and the antagonist of his own story creates the sense of language that develops the idea of being “liked and you never will want” stating the façade of the Willy’s society (Miller 21). While communicated to the audience through a form of realism, his language functions as the crevice between the real and non-real. As development of language continues sometimes Willy Loman’s clichés “rise to the level of pure poetry” (Roudane 369). The use of language constructs poetic symbolism and closes the gap between non-realism and realism. Throughout the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain utilizes a poignant sense of diction reciprocating the slang the common man used in the Antebellum South. The language exhibits the principles of Death of a Salesman in its acrimony and pain through Loman’s statement “a man is not a piece of fruit!” (Miller 61). This sense of diction drives the main ideas and connects these ideas to those of the average man...
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