how is The Crucible a text that demonstrates Activism in America?
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Answers
Explanation:
Theater
The Crucible is one of the most well-known examples of political theater, with the witch hunt functioning as a direct allegory for the anti-communist hysteria of the period when Miller wrote the play. Political theater refers to theater that addresses and condemns political institutions to incite change. After premiering on Broadway in 1953, the play only ran for 197 performances, and Miller was subsequently called for questioning by Senator Joseph McCarthy. While today the play is celebrated as one of the strongest and most enduring indictments of McCarthyism, at the time Miller faced professional and personal ostracism for speaking out. He said of the period, “I was just out of sync with the whole country.” Other playwrights including Lillian Hellman, Bertolt Brecht, and Langston Hughes had also been targeted by McCarthy, but Miller was the only one to openly critique the current political climate. In comparing McCarthyism to a tragic, troubling, and shameful period in the crucial first years of the country, Miller presented an unapologetic indictment of the nation’s most powerful figures.
One of the earliest popular examples of political theater in the United States is Royall Taylor’s 1787 play The Contrast, which satirizes socialites as snobby and trivial in contrast to genuine and hardworking Americans. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin adaptations, or “Tom shows,” and Dion Boucicault’s 1859 play The Octoroon both directly addressed slavery and are often credited as contributing to the abolitionist movement as the nineteenth century’s most successful plays. As vaudeville increased in popularity through the twentieth century,
The desire to preserve and gain power pervades The Crucible as the witch trials lead to dramatic changes in which characters hold the greatest control over the course of events. Abigail's power skyrockets as the hysteria grows more severe