I read “The Crucible” in my college freshman English class in the 1960’s, but I can't recall if the McCarthy and Rosenberg connections were heavily emphasized or not.
I do recall that my well known freshman chemistry professor wore an anti-Vietnam War “Peace Symbol” pinned to his suit coat each day, which was a fairly scandalous and brave act at my fairly Conservative southern university.
In the 1970’s, I saw “All My Sons” performed in Fort Lauderdale with Jack Klugman in the lead role. Since I come from five generations of American small business owners, I found a play about the habitual corruption of business owners to be, well, tendentious and irritating.
The greatest impact that Arthur Miller had on my then adolescent generation was his marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Complete shock is the only way I can describe the reaction of my male friends when America's greatest female sex symbol married an ugly old man. That shock was soon eclipsed when Jackie Kennedy married the grotesque Aristotle Onassis.
Did Miller ever write a play about beautiful women who marry gross old men?
At this stage in my life, I could use some good literary advice on that subject!
Miller was neither an old man or an ugly old man when he married Marilyn. In fact, as someone who would see him on the streets of NYC, he was quite an attractive man. He wrote a play about Marilyn and damned if I can think of its title. Help me, someone!
Marilyn was a fine actress and comedian. I blame the truly ugly Lee Strasberg who told her that she was a genius and an intellectual - the latter clearly she was not - and because of that, she sought out brainy guys to bolster her idea as an “intellectual” woman. That led to the poor woman thinking that Carl Sandburg was a genius.
She was in reality, a very intelligent and savvy woman but fell for all the phonies (Elia Kazan, I mean you!) who were basically trying to get into her pants. I exclude Miller from this who at least married her and cherished her for a few years. He eventually could not put up with her drink and pill addiction or her reliance on the awful Strasberg family. (Paula, I mean you!)
This is a very complicated story of a woman who, for a few short years, was America’s greatest comic actress. I didn’t say that - David Mamet did.
Miller wasn't any older than DiMaggio. But Joltin' Joe was a big male sex symbol while at 40-41 Miller already looked like an older man.