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Cover of The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

  • 151 pages · about 3 hours
  • First published 1953
  • 83 editions
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1 About this book

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.

  • Classics
  • Historical fiction
  • Historical drama
  • Trials (Murder)
  • Witchcraft
  • Drama
  • Alcoholism
  • Cold War

2 What to expect

A play about the Salem witch trials of 1692, in which accusations spread until a whole community is on trial. Miller wrote it in 1953 as a parallel to the hunt for communists in his own day, and its subjects are hysteria, false confession, reputation and conscience. It is in four acts, tense and quick to read, and it changes some of the historical facts for the sake of the drama.

Good for readers who want: a classic American play, the Salem witch trials, and a study of mass hysteria.

3 About Arthur Miller

1915–2005

Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). His drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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