Abstract:

As one of the most distinguished dramatists in the 20th-century American literature, Arthur Miller pays close attention to the social reality, so he was recognized as “the conscience of American drama”. The Crucible (1953) is one of his representative works and has profound realistic significance. It is a social problem play which uses the past to satirize the present. With many distinctive characters and well-designed events, the play powerfully attacks on McCarthyism rampant in the 1950s. And Arthur Miller’s criticism obviously and directly points at the American political pressure, the deprivation of morality and humanity of that era.
Referring to The Crucible, many scholars home and abroad have studied it from many aspects and have made remarkable academic achievements. But they mostly focus on the drama’s tragic factors while overlooking the study of its comic factors and multiple themes. By looking into the historical environment and creation background of the work, this paper attempts to analyze the comedy, tragedy and tragicomedy as the characters and events in the play demonstrate so as to reveal the very purposes of the playwright. Confronting the darkness and evil forces in reality, Arthur Miller shows the importance of human beings’ self-redemption, returning to humanity, women’s self-esteem, self-love and independence. All these are thought-provoking and full of realistic meanings.

Key words: Arthur Miller; The Crucible; tragicomedy

摘要：

作为美国20世纪最著名的戏剧家之一，阿瑟·米勒密切关注战后美国社会现实，40年代发表的《全是我的儿子》和《推销员之死》等作品为他赢得国际声誉，1953年创作的《萨勒姆的女巫》则进一步奠定了他作为美国戏剧的良心和伟大的现实主义剧作家的地位。《萨勒姆的女巫》是一部借古喻今的社会问题剧，具有深刻的现实意义。该剧作塑造了各具特色的人物形象，抨击了盛行于50年代、代表美国高压政治的麦卡锡主义，揭露当时社会普遍的人性沉沦，同时也说明了人类道德救赎的迫切性。
  关于《萨勒姆的女巫》这部作品，很多中外学者从不同角度作过颇为深入的研究，并取得了显著成果。但学者们主要集中在对作品悲剧色彩的分析探讨，而对其喜剧色彩、悲喜剧特色以及多重主题的研究涉及不够。本文试图通过了解作品的历史环境、创作背景来辨析作品中人物、事件的悲剧、喜剧和悲喜剧特色，揭示剧作家的多重创作意图。剧作家直视现实生活中的黑暗与邪恶如政治迫害、人性堕落，指出人类自我救赎、女性自尊自爱自立的重要性和必要性，而这些在当下社会有着巨大的现实意义。
 
关键词：阿瑟·米勒；《萨勒姆的女巫》；悲喜剧