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"I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history", Arthur Miller wrote in an introduction to The Crucible, his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence.
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing "Political opposition...is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence".
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Subjects
fiction classics, literary criticism, historical fiction, witchcraft trials, trials, Historical drama, Trials (Witchcraft), Witchcraft, Open Library Staff Picks, Drama, martyrs, alcoholism, pressing, poppets, baptism, Ten Commandments, voodoo dolls, contempt of court, Cold War, Satanism, communism, post-World War II society, slavery in the United States, King Philip's War, Puritains, theocracy, Native Americans, Salem witch trials, Witchcraft in literature, Trials (Witchcraft) in literature, Classic Literature, Fiction, Literature, Long Now Manual for Civilization, Trials (Witchcraft) -- Drama, History, Massachusetts Salem, Witch hunting, Reading Level-Grade 11, Reading Level-Grade 12, American drama (dramatic works by one author), American fiction (fictional works by one author), Miller, arthur, 1915-2005, Operas, librettos, In literature, American Historical drama, History and criticism, Plays, Witches, American literature, Procès (Sorcellerie), Théâtre, Histoire, American drama, Witchcraft--drama, Witchcraft--massachusetts--salem--drama, Trials (witchcraft)--drama, History--drama, Ps3525.i5156 c7 1995, 812/.52People
Arthur Miller (1915-), Devil, God, Samuel Parris, Tituba, Abigail Williams, Susanna Walcott, Ann Putnam, Thomas Putnam, Betty Parris, Mercy Lewis, Mary Warren, John Proctor, Giles Corey, Rebecca Nurse, John Hale, Elizabeth Proctor, Ezekiel Cheever, George Herrick, John Hathorne, Thomas Danforth, Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good, George Jacobs, Bridget Bishop, Martha CoreyShowing 11 featured editions. View all 83 editions?
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02
The Crucible
2016, Penguin Books
paperback
in English
- 2016 Penguin Books edition (10)
0143129473 9780143129479
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03
Les sorcières de Salem: pièce en quatre actes
2015-09, Robert Laffont
Paperback
in French
2221191455 9782221191453
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08
The Crucible
1982, Turtleback (Penguin Books)
Library Binding
in English
- printing (54)
0606005072 9780606005074
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09
The Crucible
1982, Everbind (Penguin Books), Penguin Books
Library Binding
in English
- printing (62)
0140481389 9780140481389
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11
The Crucible
1974, Heinemann Educational Books
Library Binding
in English
- Reprint
0435225758 9780435225759
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Book Details
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Twentieth-Century Classics
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Work Description
The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists.
Also contained in:
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Arthur Miller's Collected Plays
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Collected Plays 1944-1961
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Crucible and Related Readings
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Penguin Arthur Miller
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Portable Arthur Miller
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Prentice Hall: Literature: The American Experience
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Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The American Experience
- Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The American Experience
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- Created April 1, 2008
- 17 revisions
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November 15, 2022 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
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April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from Scriblio MARC record |