Witch hunt (drama)

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Data
Title: Witch hunt
Original title: The Crucible
Genus: tragedy
Original language: English
Author: Arthur Miller
Premiere: January 22, 1953
Place of premiere: Al Hirschfeld Theater ( Broadway )
Place and time of the action: Salem, Massachusetts in 1692
people
  • Abigail Williams
  • John Hale ; pastor
  • Samuel Parris ; Pastor, Abigail's uncle
  • Betty Parris ; Pastor Parris' daughter
  • Tituba ; Pastor Parris' slave
  • Thomas Putnam
  • Ann Putnam ; Wife of Thomas Putnam
  • Mercy Lewis ; Putnam's maid
  • John Proctor ; a farmer
  • Elizabeth Proctor ; his wife
  • Thomas Danforth ; Deputy Governor
  • Mary Warren ; Maid of the Proctors
  • John Hathorne ; Judge at the Salem witch trials
  • Giles Corey ; Friend of John Proctor
  • Rebecca Nurse
  • Ezekiel Cheever
  • George Herrick ; Salem Police Director
  • John Willard ; Judge at the Salem witch trials

Witch Hunt ( English original title The Crucible) is a play by the American playwright Arthur Miller from 1953.

action

Witch hunt plays in 1692 in Salem , a community in what is now the US state of Massachusetts .

In the small town of Salem, the pastor Samuel Parris surprises his daughter Betty, his niece Abigail Williams and other girls in an occult ritual in the forest.

Some of the children do not seem to be recovering from the shock of the discovery. They pass out or get sick, but they only pretend to protect themselves. Since the "diseases" of children cannot be explained by doctors, rumors of supernatural events, of conjuring the devil and witchcraft, quickly arise.

Pastor Parris hires Pastor Hale, a devil specialist, to investigate his daughter's illness. The girls, above all Abigail, realize very quickly that they can escape punishment themselves if they accuse others of having driven them to do what is forbidden. They randomly name the names of parishioners who are said to be in covenant with the devil, and doom takes its course.

The governor's deputy, Danforth, and his assistant, Judge Hathorne, are opening a court in Salem. The main witnesses are the girls who soon denounce half of Salem as witches. Farmer John Proctor sees through the lies, however, and warns against believing the girls' charges. Abigail, who has a personal interest in Proctor because he had an affair with her while she was a maid in his household, accuses his wife Elizabeth of witchcraft. Elizabeth is arrested.

With the help of his maid, Mary Warren, Proctor tries to save his wife and to prove in court that Abigail and the girls are lying. First, Mary admits that the girls were just faking it. But under the pressure of the girls and after another staged seizure, she cannot keep her confession. Proctor confesses to his previous relationship with Abigail and tries to convince Judge Danforth of her hatred of Elizabeth. He lets Elizabeth come and questions her. But Proctor's wife, who wants to save his honor, claims that there was no relationship. While she is being led away, John reveals his confession to her. Mary collapses. She now accuses Proctor of being in league with the devil and forcing her to confess. Proctor is arrested and sentenced to death. Hale, having doubts about Proctor's guilt, leaves the court.

Riots in Andover are changing the situation. Parris fears an uprising in Salem too. In addition, the girls fled, especially Abigail. The court now recognizes his error. But the course of events cannot be stopped, otherwise authority and respect would be lost. Danforth, who wants to save face, now hopes that the returned Hale can bring Proctor and the others to a confession. Proctor actually confesses, but then tears up his confession and describes it as a lie. He and the others are hanged.

The development of events is also reflected in the behavior of the Church. While Pastor Parris simply watches for fear of jeopardizing his authority, Judge Hathorne suffices the belief of the naive, actually implausible girls to accept witchcraft from the accused and to condemn them. Despite the course of the process, he remains in his rigid stance and thinks he can no longer go back. His vanity and inability to admit error as a person of authority make it impossible for him to stop trying innocent citizens. Only Pastor Hale can see. In an attempt to save innocent lives, however, he must desperately realize that he cannot fight the madness.

Historical background and topicality of the piece

The play witch hunt is based on actual events . Miller uses the names of existing people. He wrote the piece as a commentary on the communist hunt in the McCarthy era . With the support of Jean-Paul Sartre (as screenwriter) and the GDR production company DEFA , a film was made in which stars close to the French Communist Party played: Mylène Demongeot (Abigail), Yves Montand (John) and Simone Signoret (Elizabeth).

The people of Salem at the time were descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers , English Puritans who emigrated to America on board the Mayflower in 1620 . According to Puritan beliefs, life was not fun but hard work. Any entertainment such as partying, dancing or reading novels was forbidden. Faith helped them to get through the difficult life in an unknown, threatening land, but they were also fanatical about not dishonoring and corrupting the “New Jerusalem” they wanted to build by “wrong” ways and deceptive thoughts.

"The Salemer," says Miller, "established a theocracy for high goals , a combination of state and religious power, the function of which was to hold the community together and prevent any discord."

The girls, some of whom danced naked in the forest, knew that what they were doing forbidden could result in severe punishments (e.g. whipping). So they faked fits to avoid punishment, and when the rumor of witchcraft surfaced, they were happy to shift the blame on to others. The villagers, constantly afraid of a threat to their religious community, were again glad to have found an explanation for the mysterious "illnesses" of their children.

150-300 people were arrested on the girls' testimony, 30 of whom were sentenced to death. 19 were hanged, one was tortured to death, and four died in prison. Quite a few confessed to save their lives. The others were later pardoned after the governor convened a new court due to increasing criticism of the evidence.

Some of the girls made public apologies, as did Pastor Hale. Elizabeth Proctor married again; Abigail Williams reportedly later turned up in Boston as a prostitute.

In 1711, when the children of the victims had grown up, compensation of 578 pounds and 12 shillings (around € 42,000 today) was granted, of which John Proctor's family received the highest individual share at £ 150.

Arthur Miller's life

Arthur Miller (1915–2005), born in New York as the son of a Jewish immigrant, was strongly influenced by the Depression of the 1930s, when his father's textile factory went bankrupt. This experience and his Jewish upbringing aroused Miller's critical awareness. He made his breakthrough on Broadway in 1947 with the drama All My Sons . Key issues such as the confrontation with the delusion, the father-son conflict and personal with both linked suppression and social responsibility were in Death of a Salesman ( Death of a Salesman added) again, and for the Miller 1949th a. received the Pulitzer Prize . In 1953 The Crucible (witch hunt) appeared after Miller had dealt intensively with the subject and the real historical events.

Witch Hunt is a play about the witch craze in the early modern era, but it is also a play about social phenomena that can occur again and again in our time. It turns against fear and mass madness, against denunciation, sniffing out attitudes and against the abuse of political power.

The theme of the play and his social commitment contributed to the fact that Miller was suspected of being an opponent of America in the 1950s at the time of McCarthyism . He was supposed to name the names of people who had participated in communist writers' meetings in order to “uncover anti-American activities”. He refused to testify and was sentenced to imprisonment and a fine for "disregarding Congress". The sentence was overturned a year later.

In 2003 Miller was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for Individual Freedom in Society.

Miller died of heart failure on February 10, 2005 at the age of 89 in Roxbury , Connecticut, USA . According to media reports, he suffered from cancer and, most recently, from pneumonia.

Film adaptations

Radio plays

Secondary literature

  • Betsy B. Aswad: The Crucible . In: Hermann J. Weiand (Ed.): Insight IV - Analyzes of Modern British and American Drama . Hirschgraben-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M., ISBN 3-454-12740-8 , pp. 230-238.
  • William Bly: Reading Aids Arthur Miller "The Crucible" . Klett Verlag 1990, ISBN 3-12-922236-7 ( Barron's Educational Series )
  • Gisela Hermann: The Individual and Society · Discussing Arthur Miller's Play "The Crucible" in a Historical, Political, and Psychological Context . Bayerischer Schulbuch-Verlag , Munich 1984, ISBN 3-7627-5071-8 .
  • Rainer Lübbren: witch hunt . In: Rainer Lübbren: Arthur Miller . Friedrichs Dramatiker des Welttheater, Volume 19, Friedrich Verlag, Velber near Hanover, 2nd edition 1969, pp. 60–76.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. See Bernhard Reitz: Epilogue · The witch hunt of Salem . Published in the text edition by Bernhard Reitz (Ed.): Arthur Miller, The Crucible, A Play in Four Acts . Reclam-Verlag Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-009257-4 , pp. 199-216. On Miller's deviations from historical sources, cf. ibid, p. 216ff.
  2. See William Bly: Reading aids Arthur Miller "The Crucible" . Klett Verlag 1990, ISBN 3-12-922236-7 , pp. 1-5.
  3. See William Bly: Reading aids Arthur Miller "The Crucible" . Klett Verlag 1990, ISBN 3-12-922236-7 , p. 10f. See also Rainer Lübbren: witch hunt . In: Rainer Lübbren: Arthur Miller . Friedrichs Dramatiker des Welttheater, Volume 19, Friedrich Verlag, Velber near Hanover, 2nd edition 1969, p. 61ff.
  4. See Rainer Lübbren: witch hunt . In: Rainer Lübbren: Arthur Miller . Friedrichs Dramatiker des Welttheater, Volume 19, Friedrich Verlag, Velber near Hanover, 2nd edition 1969, pp. 60f. See also Bernhard Reitz: Epilogue · The Salem witch hunt . Published in the text edition by Bernhard Reitz (Ed.): Arthur Miller, The Crucible, A Play in Four Acts . Reclam-Verlag Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-009257-4 , pp. 199-207.
  5. See Bernhard Reitz: Epilogue · The witch hunt of Salem . Published in the text edition by Bernhard Reitz (Ed.): Arthur Miller, The Crucible, A Play in Four Acts . Reclam-Verlag Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-009257-4 , pp. 199-207. See also: Echos Down the Corridor . In: Arthur Miller: The Crucible , ed. and edited by Wilfried Uhlmann, Lambert Lensing Verlag, Dortmund 1965, p. 99.
  6. ^ [1] Petitions for compensation and decision concerning compensation, 1710-1711 . Retrieved on April 29, 2014. See also Bernhard Reitz: Epilogue · Die Hexenjagd von Salem . Published in the text edition by Bernhard Reitz (Ed.): Arthur Miller, The Crucible, A Play in Four Acts . Reclam-Verlag Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-15-009257-4 , p. 207.
  7. See William Bly: Reading aids Arthur Miller "The Crucible" . Klett Verlag 1990, ISBN 3-12-922236-7 , p. 7.