Literary Criticism

'The Crucible' is the all-star casted 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It's the dramatized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in 1692-93. An allegory for McCarthyism and its hearings in the early 1950's, Miller was questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and convicted of contempt of Congress in 1956 for refusing to provide the names. Starring George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst, Tuesday Weld, Fritz Weaver, Melvyn Douglas, and Henry Jones.

Abbreviated but superb 1966 television adaptation by Arthur Miller of his Pulitzer Prize–winning modern tragedy—starring the incomparable Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock, re-creating their original Broadway roles as the Lomans. In a career-defining performance, Cobb portrays the suffering Willy Loman—the middle-aged man at the end of his emotional rope—with Dunnock equally impressive as his patient wife, Linda. George Segal and James Farentino play their disillusioned sons, Biff and Happy. Gene Wilder also stars.

By the 1940s, the travelling salesman had become a familiar part of American life and Americans were relishing their newfound economic prosperity. But beneath the country’s mask of economic contentment, many fears and anxieties continued to fester. This video looks at how the idea of the American Dream inspired and influenced Arthur Miller’s play ‘Death of a Salesman’. It provides a valuable accompaniment to students studying this film.