Arthur Miller's play 'The Crucible' was produced in 1953 in the middle of the McCarthy political 'witch-hunt' in America. Under the chairmanship of Senator Joseph McCarthy the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) became paranoid in searching for Communists, ex-Communists and Communist sympathisers among the American public in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This was known as McCarthyism. The HUAC named many innocent people and careers were ruined. The HUAC originally investigated anything threatening the stability of the state. Communist and Fascist groups were both pursued. However, the HUAC turned out to be a far right-wing organisation and supported the infamous Klu Klux Klan.
             Arthur Miller saw many similarities between the 1950s McCarthyism and the 1692 Salem witch-trials, such as the exaggerated fear of a common evil, the over-reactions bound to fear and suspicion and the idea that if no confession was made it was a sign of guilt. Miller felt so strongly about both situations that he wrote 'The Crucible' as an allegory of the 1950s in America.
             'The Crucible' is set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts in1692. The people who had settled there had previously emigrated from England to form a new life, free from religious persecution. They were God-fearing and believed most devoutly in confessions 'saving' ones self from the sins committed. They also believed that there should be only one religion, which happened to be theirs. Any other new ideas about Christianity were heresy. When individualism started seeping through, fear took hold. People had previously found safety in numbers, safety in the fact that all members of their society held their beliefs. This fear prompted the witch-trials.
             The Protestant society was very restricted and strict. All entertainment was banned, children's' toys and games also. Dancing, singing (except that at church...