Status
Description
"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 meets with diabolical malevolence."… (more)
User reviews
Dialogue is (obviously) the foundation of any play, and Miller’s is snappy and engaging. It doesn’t
"I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris [the preacher]. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more."
The historical setting is the Salem Witch trials—a dark and tragic era of American history. The fourth act in particular brings this depravity to a head. I could almost hear the fifth movement of Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique echoing in the background while I read it.
You can’t go wrong with Arthur Miller.
Most people read this in high school and/or college and think it's only a play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote this as a backlash to the McCarthyism during the 50s,
Look around yourselves, friends and neighbors. Now we have government officials trying to keep us in a constant state of fear of Terrorists. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
This book may never lose its relevance.
Miller writes in such a way that we feel the utter disbelief, despair, and almost hopelessness of those accused of witchcraft. So many logical fallacies populate the mindset of the magistrates in charge of hearing the accusations and sentencing the accused that it’s hard to keep track of them all.
Some archaeologists claim that the downfall of the human race came with the rise of civilization during the Neolithic revolution 5,000-10,000 years ago. More specifically, I would add that the advent of organized religion was the true catalyst. Over the millennia it has set the stage for mass hysteria, persecution, genocide, ecological terrorism, and mass animal and plant extinction. I believe belief in organized religion allows adherents to deny climate change, and gives them an excuse to persecute those who are not like them, to drive to extinction plants and animal species, and to rape the earth, all the while looking to the sky for validation. They turn a blind eye to the reality of the Mother Earth we live on in favor of the invisible father they long to reunite with. They see no hypocrisy in their actions. Yet, they ignore the wisdom and words of the god they claim to follow (Jesus) in the name of seeking favor with the lie invisible sky deity.
The Crucible is a haunting example of the horrors that occur when church and state are not kept separate.
There are so many memorable lines from this play, but a favourite of mine is when Proctor tells his wife that her justice would "freeze beer". And where he says "I have not moved from here to there without thinking to please you, but an everlasting funeral marches in your heart". My goodness, but even the bickering is well written.
There are even funny lines, and lines that Miller thought would be funny be where the audience is typically deadpan. One of those lines is where the inquisitor/lawyer/preacher Hale says "we must not look to superstition in this - the devil is very precise". Miller thought that would raise the roof with laughter, but the audience is always serious at that point.
Please accept my apologies for any errors in the quotations - am providing them by memory here.
I didn't feel truly immersed in the play until midway through Act III. There's a moment that made my heart break for the main two characters, Protor and his wife. It reminded me of a tragic version of The Gift of the Magi. The third and fourth acts deal with the characters' motives for the decisions they make and the eternal consequences of their actions. The play feels a bit stiff in the first half, but hang in there for the final acts. It was worth it.
This play sets the scene for the Salem witch trials in America, that have spawned the tacky souvenirs and witch type mania over there. Based on the true events that