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What are readers saying about The Crucible?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-17 01:37:27.
(Language: English)
   
Miller understood and was brave enough to put in writing the fact that McCarthy (and HUAC) had taken as many pages from the histories of the Salem witch hunts as they possibly could, and then twisted it to benefit their own selfish causes, all under the guise of making America a safer place to live. Miller must have been at his wit's end knowing that Bush/Cheney were repeating the mistakes that I'm sure he hoped would never again plague America.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-30 10:35:16.
(Language: English)
This was a good play in that it certainly got emotion out of the reader, mostly anger and disgust at some of the characters. Even though I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much it was certainly effective at it's goal which was to reveal the madness and pettiness that was the Salem witch trials.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-30 05:52:03.
(Language: English)
Read this play in 2hrs was so captivating&a great way to rebel against the Mc Carthy trials of it's era that Miller was subjected to along with the cream of american creative peoples of the time. A shocking true life tale of how a few girls tore a whole community apart through their jealousy&envy in Salam Mass.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-08-23 10:09:17.
(Language: English)
This is probably my favorite play of all time. The interaction between the characters is just beautiful. John Procter and his wife are two of the deepest characters I've ever seen on stage and their discovery of their love for each other is what really makes this show special.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-27 08:52:39.
(Language: English)
This was my first time reading this play all the way through; I'd read a portion of it before when in high school drama class, since the one other girl in the class did a scene from this for an assignment and I had to read the other parts. Knowing the background of when and why this play was written (during McCarthyism), as well as some stuff about old views on witchcraft and on witchcraft trials somewhat informed my reading of this play. I found those accusing the girls to be rather harsh, but maybe this was because of their views on witchcraft. I can definitely see how it relates to the McCarthyism going on in Miller's own time. It's definitely a good read, though not a fave.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-25 08:26:33.
(Language: English)
Good play.
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James posted a review at 2011-08-17 07:03:21.
(Language: English)
Chilling.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-13 02:53:43.
(Language: English)
The Crucible is a good historical piece and I give massive amounts of kudos to Miller for writing this and doing such a good job relating it to past and present events. This was a required read in my English class and after spending an entire semester sleeping, eating, breathing The Crucible, I was completely exhausted with it. I probably won't read it again but I do commend Miller for this piece - it really is quite revolutionary.
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sneha posted a review at 2011-03-05 01:36:23.
(Language: English)
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-18 06:04:34.
(Language: English)
Great Read
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-26 04:02:34.
(Language: English)
This is a terrific and really sad story. I would love to see it performed live, but the book is great. The Crucible is in no way a happy story, and what makes it worse is that the story, even down to the names of the characters, is basically historically accurate. I suggest The Crucible to anyone interested in good theater, American history or religious fanatacism. Very well done.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-15 03:18:41.
(Language: English)
Las brujas de Salem but we changed it to Las brujas que salen, My cousin Xenia was Tituba in the play that they did in el Teatro Presidente a long time ago, I was a child then, not going to school. and we wanted to know were our parents were going and then they told us what they had seen and Xenia was there and el Sr. Harry and la Sra. Eneida. Read the play and found out that even the puritan governor of Massachusetts was involved in the trial because how could these old biddies have property, it wasn't the costume and this good Christian/Protestant fellow was gong to help them go the way of the Christian martyrs.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-24 05:23:31.
(Language: English)
This play is very well written, but the subject of it makes you want to stick your head in a hole. The scariest part of all must be the fact that even though Miller wrote this about the Salem witch trials in ot order to mirror the time he lived in and the McArthyinsm that swept the nation at the time, it still remains more than relevant today. I hate reading about this level of religious delusion, but it remains to be a pretty accurate portrait of our own society, no matter which way you spin it.
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Emily posted a review at 2007-11-04 12:20:48.
(Language: English)
Okay, so all sorts of historical details are altered for the sake of character drama, but so what? It does not change the fact that this is one heck of a great play that offers it all: romance, betrayal, psychology, murder, and more, all set in a sleepy little Puritan town obsessed with witches that has become the victim of the "games" of a few young girls. While I would hardly recommend it to someone going for deep facts of the Salem Witch Trials, this still draws on historical characters and does an excellent job of portraying them as real people. You feel for them, even the ones you hate. "The Crucible" is well-named as the pot that heats everything up, and Miller takes minor events and shows how they become the tragedy that was the witch trials. This is an incredibly powerful and important story that teaches messages as the drama entertains.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-17 02:10:28.
(Language: English)
The play opens with the Rev. Parris praying by the bed of his daughter who is laying there motionless, it is feared that she has been bewitched from an unheard of evening of dancing with her cousin Abigail. Abigail is one of the key players is the whole plot. She is the first to start calling of names of women in the community she says are witches and have dealings with the devil. Later, a farmer named John Proctor enters the scene to see what is wrong with the Reverend's daughter. This is considered a big deal because Proctor is viewed as a not very Christian man because he doesn't go to church every Sunday. Being set in Puritan times, you can tell that the church was the center for everything, and everyone came to the Reverend as one would a public official. Proctor tries to convince the congregation that all this witchcraft stuff is all in the girls' heads and not real. But no one believes him because Abigail and Betty, the reverend's daughter, put on a very convincing show. It is later revealed that Abigail and Proctor once had an "interlude" together, and she does what she can to replace John's wife. Miller breaks in once in awhile in the book to compare this moment in history to that of McCathrism, which was in full tilt when the book was first published. It is hard for me to wrap my brain around people giving in to such blatant lies, and stupid reasoning. Because one Senator proclaims one way of thinking, like Communism, to be un-American a witch haunt, like the one in Salem, was reborn again. Both tales I feel just show how gullible people can be when a figure head opens his/her mouth. I don't want to give to much else away in case anyone else out there is reading, or going to see a production of "The Crucible." I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history or stories about human nature.
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Randy posted a review at 2010-07-26 09:27:22.
(Language: English)
Based upon the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s, this is a story about religion, prejudice, discrimination and relationships, as well as justice. This book was one of many outstanding pieces of literature which came out during the McCarthy witch-hunting era of the 1950s, and would appear to me to speak against the witch hunts of that time as much as those of the past.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-01 05:42:01.
(Language: English)
Throughout the play characters express their inner abhorrence for each other by punishing whom they personally dislike. All failures in humankind are formed on the basis of hatred that is kept for others. This hatred however is caused by the lack of humanity, education and true faith in a society. To correct these flaws all must try to expose them quickly, for these flaws are fueled from misunderstandings and bring out the worst in a society. Hysteria suppresses the little good that each of us can contribute, and makes us live lives of fear and dread. Illiteracy and war are examples of human failings, brought about by the lack of humanity; these failings blind us in their separate ways and cause us to do irrational things. Urged by vengeance, greed, jealousy, ambition, fear and hysteria one can commit deeds of cruelty and adopt cowardice by giving into emotions rather than to fight them.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-05-25 10:59:11.
(Language: English)
If you want to read about obnoxious, bratty teenage girls who somehow manage to convince some people to persecute and kill other people by being ridiculous little bitches, this is your book. If you're like me, that storyline will mostly just make you want to go smash your head into a wall. Multiple times. And then go puke in a corner... if you could. But all that smashing destroyed your head, so you don't really have any way to puke anymore. Though I guess you could puke out of the stump of your neck, that would just be gross. But I digress. Don't get me wrong, I've read and appreciated (I won't say enjoyed because that would just be... perverse) other books on similar sad topics of persecution and death, but this was unbearable. Perhaps it's the author?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-20 09:12:43.
(Language: English)
At various periods throughout American history, atrocities have been committed in the name of God or country. It is important for us to remember and, from time to time, re-examine these events to reaffirm the ideals upon which our country was founded, in order to form a more perfect union. Arthur Miller’s classic drama The Crucible is a literary vehicle that enables us to examine both the early period of our country’s history, the late 17th-century in Salem, Massachusetts, as well as the era during which this play was written, the 1950s, during the height of the McCarthy period. Moreover, it provokes thought regarding present day political philosophy.
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Scott'n'Shana posted a review at 2011-12-15 07:40:47.
(Language: English)
A little superstition, a little human nature, gossipy neighbors, and everybody's guilty until proven innocent. What could go wrong? Short, classic, and still timely.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-05 12:43:08.
(Language: English)
i know this is classic literature and it should be respect as such unfortunately this story is brilliant and original and such an insane topic to discuss, witches although this is more a court drama witches and witchcraft and what not was such a controversial topic especially in early colonial times that it gives The Crucible a reason to read but what made this such a horrible book to read was that the way it was written.it was written with barely any passion you dont feel anything as you read it.it doesnt grab you and throw you into that court room with them,it doesnt make you feel anything for the characters that you feel as though you did something wrong and this is your punishment.this book is a drag and i do not recommend it.honestly the movie has more emotion and passion then the book does and thats the movie was horribly directed and written but the actors keep you somewhat awake.this is a stinker people im sorry
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-16 07:50:19.
(Language: English)
The book does its job as a thinly veiled (or not veiled at all) allegory comparing the Salem witch trials to the Red Scare of the 1950's. I found it only slightly relevant to modern life; the only relation the book has to anything other than the trials / the scare themselves is the nature of our compulsion to assign blame and cast outcasts... out. Really not very interesting to me, though it gets its point across. I didn't think it was an especially sophisticated piece of writing, but again it did its job of protesting the anti-communist sentiment of the time it was written.
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Sarah posted a review at 2010-02-21 11:37:48.
(Language: English)
This story made my jaw drop to the ground...several times! What a frightening play! The message is timeless. Although it was written during the McCarthy era, it is appropriate for even these days...given the state of foreign policy in our country, and the popularity of Jerry Springer shows for example, where mob rules. I was horrified at the ignorance, the hypocrisy, the will for personal vengeance that the characters displayed. It's a perfect example of how we as people do NOT learn from our mistakes, and that as a society, events like the Salem Witch Trials continually repeat themselves in many forms, exposing how hell-bent we are to destroy each other! I've never seen this performed onscreen nor onstage but now I can't wait until the opportunity arises, because I'm sure that when The Crucible is performed, it will be utterly powerful. I hope that theaters will continue to produce this play forever, because no one should forget the irreparable damage that fear and ignorance can cause.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-21 11:51:24.
(Language: English)
"The Crucible" and "A Raisin in the Sun" are probably my two favorite plays by American authors. It's a play that can be read as an examination of the Salem witch trials and of the 50's and the McCarthy era. It's also a cautionary tale about how easy it is to get sucked into the hysteria/mob mentality. I think that several of the characters were real people. And I like the way the main character goes from selfishness to selflessness and self sacrifice. It's also an interesting study on how a marriage can be restored even after one of the spouses is unfaithful. I guess that the reason I love it so much is because the play is about forgiveness and self-sacrifice as well as a fictionalized account of the salem witch trials.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-31 08:49:53.
(Language: English)
Read this so many times. Always got the same message: that time, that place, those people: greedy, misogynostic cowards to the core. Always close the book hoping we have learned something and are better than that now?!?!
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