Comparing the two plays 'The Crucible' and 'In The City' (3rd part of 'Barbarians')

The first 200 words of this essay...

Part 1

I am comparing the two plays 'The Crucible' and 'In The City' (3rd part of 'Barbarians'). Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible in 1953, at the time of McCarthyism. 'In the City' was written by Barrie Keefe in 1977. 'The Crucible' was set before it was written; however 'In The City' was set around the time it was written.

'The Crucible' is set in 1692, Salem, Massachusetts. There is a general theme of suspicion, as the Salem witch trials were what was happening at the time, and show how the suspicion and superstition led to constant accusations and harsh punishments. This idea stemmed from the original stimulus of the McCarthy communist persecutions, as does the idea of 'naming names' to get off the hook. It was written as an allegory; Miller would not have gotten away with writing a play openly on the political affairs of the time, due to censorship laws. He himself had been in front of the 'House of Un-American Activities Committee' (H.U.A.C.), an organisation who demanded that anyone who had attended a communist meeting had to name anyone who they had seen there. This is shown when Betty and Abigail are