Bibliograph

The crucible, a play in four acts, Arthur Miller ; with an introduction by Christopher Bigsby

Type

Label

The crucible, a play in four acts, Arthur Miller ; with an introduction by Christopher Bigsby

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Intended audience

NP L, Lexile

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The crucible

Oclc number

33256495

Responsibility statement

Arthur Miller ; with an introduction by Christopher Bigsby

Series statement

Penguin twentieth-century classics

Sub title

a play in four acts

Summary

"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 trail. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence

Classification