The Crucible (Viking Critical Library) [Paperback]

Arthur Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Based on historical people and real events, Miller's classic play about the witch hunts and trials in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror which Miller uses to reflect the anti-Communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the U.S.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Later Printing edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140247726
• ISBN-13: 978-0140247725
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. He was awarded the Avery Hopwood Award for Playwrighting at University of Michigan in 1936. He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Algur Meadows Award. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and was awarded the Prix Moliere of the French theatre, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pulitzer Prize, as well as numerous other awards. He was named the Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2001. He was awarded the 2002 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters and the 2003 Jerusalem Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars WITCH TRIALS, PART I, June 7, 2007

By 

Alfred Johnson (boston, ma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Crucible (Viking Critical Library) (Paperback)

This play, based on the infamous Salem witch trials of the 1690's that New England still has not lived down, was written by Arthur Miller in an earlier period in American history, the 1950's, when hysteria over the alleged internal "Communist menace" dovetailed with the opening of the coldest part of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The dramatic tension of the play cannot be understood except as a parable on that then current atmosphere. Miller draws parallels with the earlier period of hysteria, in this case the irrational hysteria over witches in the isolated, inward-looking fervently Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts. The comparisons in reaction to the witches and `reds under the bed' are startling as far as the response of the societies and individuals in those societies community were concerned. Obviously in the play one needs a hero, even if it is the flawed and `fallen' John Proctor who will stand up, in the final analysis, even unto death for his principles. We will always find a few, even if reluctant, fighters in such circumstances. What is more compelling, and frightening, is the reaction of the `honest' town folk. Then, as in the case of the Cold War hysteria, those `good' folk turned the other way, joined actively in on the action or in some way justified the trials. As we are again in a period when the new hysteria is over Islamic fundamentalists and their motives this remains an extremely powerful cautionary tale. Read the play and/or watch a movie version of it.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars it's great., April 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Crucible (Viking Critical Library) (Paperback)

I have finished reading the Crucible - it is simply great. The text is wonderful, full of ironies and dramatic scenes - for example, the scene where Elizabeth lies for the first time in her life to save Proctor's reputation, only to realise that her good intentions have unwittingly helped Abigail. Land wars, revenge and a host of other reasons show us the repressed state Salem was in in those days. The relationships between the main characters : Proctor, Parris, Abigail, etc, were understandable and one could actually feel himself or herself praying that a particular character would survive the madness, or feel sympathy for even the villains. The Crucible was a great experience for me, and I hope that via this review many of you out there will go and buy this book to see what I mean.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic tale of witchcraft .., April 17, 2001

By 

tia (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crucible (Viking Critical Library) (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this play even though it was a class assignment. It gives you a feel of this huge chunk of our worlds history that no one can fully understand. I wasn't really into ready anything of this sort, but it was really cool. I liked it a lot :)