Arthur Miller Research Paper
Sarah Andrews
Caldwell
ENGL 1102
07-28-10
Arthur Miller was born October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York. His father Isidore Miller, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, owned a successful ladies’ clothing store and manufacturer despite his illiteracy. His mother, although a native New Yorker, had family roots in the same village of Poland as his father. Miller graduated from high school in 1932. He had been seemingly unimpressive throughout his early education, but nonetheless earned a degree in English from the University of Michigan in 1938. He married Marilyn Monroe in 1956, around the time that he was known as “the man who had all the luck”, but the two divorced soon after, in 1961. During his time as a student, he won multiple awards in …show more content…
While Miller could not be of much help to his friend, staying out of the committee’s sight could not be helped much longer. Miller himself was called before the HUAC in 1956. He admitted to the members that he had been to several writers’ meetings hosted by the Communist Party, but he could not honestly say to them that he was in fact a sympathizer to the Communists. Later, when he was questioned, he refused “to offer other people's names, who had associated with leftist or suspected Communist groups” (Liukkonen). Miller was cited for contempt of …show more content…
Miller himself seemed to have some difficulty admitting this point in the years after the play opened on Broadway. Around the time The Crucible premiered, Miller was quoted as saying “I am not pressing an historical allegory here, and I have even eliminated certain striking similarities from The Crucible which may have started the audience to drawing such an allegory” (Hendrickson, 3). At the time, Miller insisted that his work had no analogy to the current wave of McCarthyism present in America. After many years, and many interviews, Miller seemed not to know himself if the work had any connection to the actions of the HUAC or not. Miller later explains “It was a connection, above all… between himself, insofar as he feared he was about to follow others…and the ‘central image’ of…John Proctor” (Tallack, 2). This final quote from Miller about the direct connection between The Crucible and the era of McCarthyism, provides a basis for such an analysis of the play. The overarching themes of the McCarthy era, like the ones of The Crucible, are the continuing fear of distrust of neighbors, friends, and even the foundations of the respective
Caldwell
ENGL 1102
07-28-10
Arthur Miller was born October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York. His father Isidore Miller, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, owned a successful ladies’ clothing store and manufacturer despite his illiteracy. His mother, although a native New Yorker, had family roots in the same village of Poland as his father. Miller graduated from high school in 1932. He had been seemingly unimpressive throughout his early education, but nonetheless earned a degree in English from the University of Michigan in 1938. He married Marilyn Monroe in 1956, around the time that he was known as “the man who had all the luck”, but the two divorced soon after, in 1961. During his time as a student, he won multiple awards in …show more content…
While Miller could not be of much help to his friend, staying out of the committee’s sight could not be helped much longer. Miller himself was called before the HUAC in 1956. He admitted to the members that he had been to several writers’ meetings hosted by the Communist Party, but he could not honestly say to them that he was in fact a sympathizer to the Communists. Later, when he was questioned, he refused “to offer other people's names, who had associated with leftist or suspected Communist groups” (Liukkonen). Miller was cited for contempt of …show more content…
Miller himself seemed to have some difficulty admitting this point in the years after the play opened on Broadway. Around the time The Crucible premiered, Miller was quoted as saying “I am not pressing an historical allegory here, and I have even eliminated certain striking similarities from The Crucible which may have started the audience to drawing such an allegory” (Hendrickson, 3). At the time, Miller insisted that his work had no analogy to the current wave of McCarthyism present in America. After many years, and many interviews, Miller seemed not to know himself if the work had any connection to the actions of the HUAC or not. Miller later explains “It was a connection, above all… between himself, insofar as he feared he was about to follow others…and the ‘central image’ of…John Proctor” (Tallack, 2). This final quote from Miller about the direct connection between The Crucible and the era of McCarthyism, provides a basis for such an analysis of the play. The overarching themes of the McCarthy era, like the ones of The Crucible, are the continuing fear of distrust of neighbors, friends, and even the foundations of the respective