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Arthur Miller Criticism

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Arthur Miller is a highly distinguished author. He is considered by many to be one of America's greatest writers. As distinguished a writer he is, Miller deserves to be selected for a spot in the prestigious American Author Hall of Fame. His works meet the criteria for the American Authors Hall of Fame since they have themes important to society, are unique, and have universal appeal. Arthur Miller's works meet the American Author Hall of Fame's first criteria by dealing with themes highly important to society. Some serious themes prevalent in his works were antisemitism and economic inequity (Christenbury 187). Jewish himself, Miler had faced antisemitism first-hand. In the workforce, his bosses and coworkers often discriminated against …show more content…

A second unique aspect about Death of a Salesman was its depiction of the American Dream. Within the play, it depicts the failure of the American Dream (Moss and Wilson 111). Miller's The Crucible also is unique. The Crucible's plot is not what makes it unique; Instead, it is the symbolism within The Crucible that differentiates it. Miller wrote The Crucible during a rather hostile time in history when innocent people were persecuted after being accused of being communists. This metaphorical "witch-hunt", called the Red Scare, closely parallels the plot of The Crucible (Zeff, "Crucible, The"). The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials (Zeff, "Crucible, The"). Like the people accused of communism, those accused of witchcraft in Salem often were accused with flimsy proof, if there was even proof at all (Christenbury 192). Going even farther into the Red Scare allegory, the man that started the Red Scare, Joseph McCarthy, can be compared to The Crucible's Abigail, the girl who was the one who started accusing others of witchcraft (Christenbury 192). Abigail's mindless accusations of people being witches quite obviously parallels McCarthy's accusations of people being communists. Universal appeal, the third criteria for the American Author Hall of Fame, is met by Arthur Miller's works as well. A number of Miller's works have universal appeal, but the most universal work of his is Death of a Salesman. Beloved by audiences,

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