The Crucible

Arthur Miller

Review By: Shelby

The Crucible is a play set in the 16th (or it may be the 17th, who knows.... spark it) about the Salem Witch Hunts. There's this girl called Abby, who basically wants to get revenge on John Proctor's wife, because Goody Proctor fired her because she found out they were having an affair. (I so did not give it away).

Abby's cousin is sick, and they think it's because all the girls were out in the forest practicing witchcraft. They accuse Abby at first, but then she starts naming names and so begins the witch hunt.

Abby and these other girls go around testifying with "Spectral evidence", i.e., going into fits before the "witches". Meanwhile, John Proctor and others are trying to bring real justice into the system.

We read this in class, and apparently, it's called The Crucible because each character is put through a test (like in chemistry, a crucible is a container in which you heat things to purify them. or something.). This play was written during the Red Scare, which was like the witch hunt of the 20th century. The playwright, Arthur Miller, was accused of being a communist. So this play really says a lot about America in the time it was written.