The Crucible

Arthur Miller

Mar 2003 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

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 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

Ratings and reviews

The story is very messy, none of the characters are likable at all. It's overly dramatic and I can tell how fake the worry is. I hate that it's very sexist and most hate is geared towards women. I hate how religious it is even though it pertains to the story it still annoys me. I can't even stay awake for it. This is a book that I'll never read again.

This book is amazing and not for the plot or characters or setting. This was written to express the red scare relating it to the trails in Salem. The moral and underlining theme are perfect and very real to life. Others using scape goats and throwing each other under the bus to save themselves. How rumors can effect innocent life's. Miller is a very smart man and a very good writer, would suggest reading to all who haven't and wish to be enlightened.

This book is being used for education purposes. Sides Google already has plenty of money. And I need it for a test. Ugh I guess I'm going to Freddie's to buy a Google play card.

About the author

Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1963), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) and The American Clock. He has also written two novels, Focus (1945), and The Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), Chinese Encounters (1979), and In the Country (1977), three books of photographs by his wife, Inge Morath. More recent works include a memoir, Timebends (1987), and the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1993), which won the Olivier Award for Best Play of the London Season, and Mr. Peter's Connections (1998). His latest book is On Politics and the Art of Acting. Miller was granted with the 2001 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.