A haunting examination of groupthink and mass hysteria in a rural community The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller’s edgy masterpiece, that very belief will have poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft—and … witchcraft—and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village.
First produced in 1953, at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witch-hunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil. It is a play that is not only relentlessly suspenseful and vastly moving but that compels readers to fathom their hearts and consciences in ways that only the greatest theater ever can.
“A drama of emotional power and impact” —New York Post
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I may be a little unpopular with my 3 of 5 stars rating for The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, but in my world, a 3 means it’s your generally good book/play/movie with some great things, some bad things, and an overall “yeah, you should probably read it.”
The topic: Salem Witch Trials, one of my absolute favorite time periods in American history to research. Miller is brilliant, I acknowledge it. He bring suspense, timing and charisma in everything he does. But when this is about an episode from our history over 250 years before the play was written, I expected something a bit different / stronger. Too many scenes were too dry for me.
So many schools put this play on as a high school production. Even in colleges sometimes. I was tempted to look for it on Broadway… I mean, I do live in NYC. Why wouldn’t I go try it out? Really… I blame myself here.
Characters are great. You do feel strong emotions towards them. I think what I wanted more of… was the mysterious air surrounding those deemed a witch. There are some scenes where it’s almost there for me, but ultimately… I wanted more. I should probably give it another chance… it’s been almost 25 years.
This is a dark book about a very dark period of time in history. So easily people are swayed with popular beliefs.
Read this in high school, the story still resonates today.
This is the ultimate Salem Witch Trials book. We’ll written, anyone can find herself/himself in the story. S True Classic
In researching my ancestry, I came across John Proctor as one of mine. There were a few others in my lined that had been suspected of being witches as the label was noted besides their names too. Then I was reading about the Crucible and Proctor being its main character and just had to get the play. As a historian of American history, I learned about the Salem Witch Trials early on and felt sad for the wrongly accused as their deaths should be on the shoulders of those who falsely accused them of witchcraft. The play captures all of the drama in the accusations. The trial was a travesty of justice. Not only that, the new forward followed the case and it was not until the 1990s that the convicted were exonerated by the Massachusetts Court. A lot of good that will do now. Maybe its why i cannot watch films of innocent and falsely accused people at all. My genes are speaking to me..
not interesting at all
It just shows how gullible some people can be. That they don’t think for themselves. It shows a depraved human condition.
Brilliant and amazing.
This is a play that is based on historical people and real events. It tells the story of the Salem witches in Massachusetts in the 1600s. There is a group of teenage girls that were caught practicing witchcraft in the woods, but turn the tables and confess to seeing at least 100 women and men in the town with the Devil. The courts believe the children and arrest all the people they name.
This story was quite good. I live in Massachusetts, and enjoyed visiting Salem and learning about the witch trials. I shook my head several times reading this book – did these adults really take the word of these children over well respected men and women in the town? If these adults confessed – they were let go. If they didn’t confess – even though they weren’t guilty, they were hanged. Huh? Madness. Many women and men died because they were accused and tried in court for witchcraft, and they were hanged even if they were innocent. Incredible.
I recommend this book. It was well written, and flowed nicely, and the story was easy to read. Check it out.
After finishing our Native American unit in my literature class, our class then moved on to the overbearing and frankly hard to follow Puritans. Let me first state that Puritans are kind of crazy. I mean, I guess it’s good to have high values but they are overkill! They really did let little rumors and lies control their lives and let fear control them. This book tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials. To my surprise the book was actually fairly accurate, but with minor alterations. First alteration, Abigail Williams is sixteen when in reality she was only eleven. Second alteration, Abigail has an affair with John Proctor but in reality they hardly talked to each other. But apart from those two things the book was fairly accurate. Arthur Miller did a fantastic job of describing the trials and it actually went pretty quickly. Abigail, the main charactor, is the anti-protganist who you’ll hate but have to acknowledage that she is pretty smart. Then there’s John, the tragic hero who really gets it in the end. Interesting fact, Arthur Miller wrote those book during the Red Scare in the 1950s. During this time Miller was accussed of being a Communist and was called to trial. Understandibly he didn’t like that because he wasn’t Communist. So, instead of making a play of people accused of being Communists he wrote about the witch trials instead. Hmm, learn something every day.