The military banned performances of his plays on army bases, and his request for a passport renewal was denied--forcing him to miss the European premiere of "The Crucible."
"Rather than physical fear, there was a sense of impotence," he said.
In 1956, McCarthy's House Committee on Un-American Activities subpoenaed him to testify. But Miller said the subpoena was only because of his impending marriage to movie star Marilyn Monroe--and that House prosecutors were only seeking publicity in the waning years of the McCarthy era.
When he refused to identify writers that he had met at a conference organized by socialists, Miller was cited for contempt of Congress.
"I began to despair of my own silence," he said. "I longed to respond to this climate of fear."
"The Crucible," he said, was his response.
When he realized that the witch trials bore a direct connection to McCarthy's communist hunt, Miller spent three days in Salem's library reviewing court transcripts. He said he was most struck by the preponderance of "spectral" and circumstantial evidence in the proceedings.
Read more in News
Foundation to Receive Increased Role, But Critics Question Its ApproachRecommended Articles
-
In Salem, A Skewed History LessonStanding outside the entrance to the graveyard in Salem, Mass., on Halloween night, they looked a little out of place:
-
Miller Tells of 'Crucible' OriginsArthur Miller, the world-renowned playwright widely regarded as a pioneer of American drama, recounted his experiences with the anti-Communist hysteria
-
Fairytales and HistoryV IEWED FROM THE 1950s, the Salem witch trials seemed a liberal's nightmare: a classic instance of arbitrary persecution by
-
JV Hoopsters WinThe B.C. J.V. basketball team lost only one out of 14 games last year. The Crimson did the damage then,
-
First Production of "The Witch""The Witch," a tragedy written by H. Wiers-Jenssen, a Norwegian, and adapted for the American stage by H. Hagedorn, Jr.,
-
The Mather Witch ProjectIn 1692, there was a tide in the affairs of the Mathers. Increase Mather, the family patriarch, had just reluctantly accepted his appointment as Harvard’s seventh president. His son, Cotton, was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young minister who fully immersed himself in all things Protestant. Neither had much to do with the other’s business, until something wicked came their way.
