The Crucible: Revised EditionA haunting examination of groupthink and mass hysteria in a rural community, presented here with enlightening criticism and commentary "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." This Viking Critical Library edition of Arthur Miller's dramatic recreation of the Salem witch trials contains the complete text of The Crucible as well as extensive critical and contextual material about the play and the playwright, including:
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Abby Abigail Williams accused American Arthur Miller asked audience believe Betty Biff called CAUCHON characters Cheever child Church Communist confess COURCELLES court critics Crucible D'ESTIVET DANFORTH Death Devil drama E. G. Marshall Elia Kazan ELIZABETH Elizabeth Proctor Eric Bentley evil Father Barry fear Giles Corey girl give goes Goody Goody Proctor guilt hand hang HATHORNE hear hero Herrick hurt innocent INQUISITOR JOAN John Proctor judge Kazan LADVENU live Loman look lord Martha Corey MARY WARREN McCarthyism MICKEY moral never night PARRIS Pause play play's playwright political poppet pray Puritan PUTNAM Quentin question Rebecca Nurse Salesman Sarah scene seems sense social soul speak spirits surely tell theatre thing Thomas Putnam thought Tituba truth turns voice WARWICK wife Willy witch hunt witchcraft woman word write York