The Crucible

Arthur Miller

‘I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history’.

Set during the Salem witchcraft trials, this play is most famous for its metaphor for McCarthyism--in fact, three years after the play was produced, Miller himself was called before HUAC. In the play, Miller used colonial language to near-poetic effect; the plot involves characters who have to make certain moral choices concerning their communities and their friends. Miller explores the handy scapegoat that an accusation of witchcraft can be: a father can dismiss his daughter's behavior, a landowner can acquire still more land, a serving girl can attract attention to herself, and emotions can be displaced onto other people. Miller fully explores the power of an accusing figure.

Condition: acceptable / wear to cover / shelf wear to edges / pages in good condition /