Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
"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 of 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 illuminates 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."
--back cover
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Previews available in: English French German
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?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
01 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
02
The Crucible
2016, Penguin Books
paperback
in English
- 2016 Penguin Books edition (10)
0143129473 9780143129479
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
03
Les sorcières de Salem: pièce en quatre actes
2015-09, Robert Laffont
Paperback
in French
2221191455 9782221191453
|
cccc
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
04 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
05 |
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
06 |
cccc
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
07 |
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
08
The Crucible
1982, Turtleback (Penguin Books)
Library Binding
in English
- printing (54)
0606005072 9780606005074
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
09
The Crucible
1982, Everbind (Penguin Books), Penguin Books
Library Binding
in English
- printing (62)
0140481389 9780140481389
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
10 |
cccc
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
11
The Crucible
1974, Heinemann Educational Books
Library Binding
in English
- Reprint
0435225758 9780435225759
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
First Sentence
"In 1692 nineteen men and women and two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in a small village in eastern Massachusetts."
Edition Notes
Penguin Classics
US/CAN
Contributors
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
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:
-
Arthur Miller's Collected Plays
-
Collected Plays 1944-1961
-
Crucible and Related Readings
-
Penguin Arthur Miller
-
Portable Arthur Miller
-
Prentice Hall: Literature: The American Experience
-
Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The American Experience
- Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The American Experience
Links outside Open Library
Community Reviews (2)
Feedback?History
- Created April 29, 2008
- 16 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
November 27, 2020 | Edited by Lisa | Edited without comment. |
April 3, 2019 | Edited by Lisa | Edited without comment. |
March 12, 2019 | Edited by Lisa | Added edition details from linked copy. |
March 12, 2019 | Edited by Lisa | Added new cover |
April 29, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |