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18,996 ratings,
3.52
average rating, 866 reviews
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published
March 25th 2003
(first published 1953)
by Penguin Classics
binding
Paperback, 143 pages
characters
setting
The United States
literary awards
1953 Tony-Best Play
isbn
0142437336
(isbn13: 9780142437339)
description
"I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history," Arthur...more
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avg 3.52
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in January, 1974
This is a magnificent play about what happens when hysteria takes over a society, and evil people gain access to the levers of power; something, alas, which happens all too frequently.
The focus of the story is John Proctor's struggle to redeem himself from the horrible guilt he has suffered since committing adultery with Abigail. This is indeed very moving. But, for some reason, the part I think of most often is a detail concerning one of the minor characters, Giles Corey, who dies o...more
The focus of the story is John Proctor's struggle to redeem himself from the horrible guilt he has suffered since committing adultery with Abigail. This is indeed very moving. But, for some reason, the part I think of most often is a detail concerning one of the minor characters, Giles Corey, who dies o...more
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Read in March, 2009
recommends it for:
anybody simply searching for a decent read.
This play is yet another piece of classic literature that tends to appear on most Midwestern high school curriculums. These curriculums include "The Crucible" and other such works because of status rather than symbolism. (It is a bit ironic that symbolism is usually a cause of status...) Status over symbolism is definitely the case with what many people have described as "one of Miller's most overrated plays." Sure, this play has survived as an esteemed tale for decades, thus...more
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Read in October, 2007
I love this play and yet am doomed to never EVER see a good production of it. Are there good productions of it? Or is it something that is somehow only exciting on the page? Which is especially weird for a play. But that's been my experience with it over the last 12 years or so since I read it the first time and fell in love with it. For whatever reason, I didn't read this one in high school or college (lived under a rock, apparently!), so finally read it when I was auditioning for a produc...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
High School Juniors (because the state says so)
Arthur Miller's scathing indictment of 50's era McCarthyism was more interesting than I thought it would be.
Miller set the piece in Salem, MA during the infamous 1692 witch trials.
The play itself is divided into four acts and features the struggles individual villagers face as they are confronted with a hellish choice between hanging for witchcraft or falsely confessing, a choice which leads to the death of others.
The action is driven by a posse of teenage girls. In ord...more
Miller set the piece in Salem, MA during the infamous 1692 witch trials.
The play itself is divided into four acts and features the struggles individual villagers face as they are confronted with a hellish choice between hanging for witchcraft or falsely confessing, a choice which leads to the death of others.
The action is driven by a posse of teenage girls. In ord...more
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Read in March, 2007
The Crucible Review
ISBN 0-14-048138-9
Have you ever felt a feeling that you have felt before? At Massachusetts, Salem at the year of 1692, a mass-hysteria arises and this disaster leads to the death of many innocent people. Indecisive, they cannot tell right from wrong nor the truth from a lie. In The Crucible , people’s death is s...more
ISBN 0-14-048138-9
Have you ever felt a feeling that you have felt before? At Massachusetts, Salem at the year of 1692, a mass-hysteria arises and this disaster leads to the death of many innocent people. Indecisive, they cannot tell right from wrong nor the truth from a lie. In The Crucible , people’s death is s...more
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5 comments
This play is plagiarized directly from a movie called 'Day of Wrath' by the Danish director Dreyer.
Dreyer was raised in a strict Lutheran home and he understood spiritual fervor. All of his immortal movies deal with religious feeling in some way.
Sham Hack Miller writes about the Salem witch trials like he is producing an episode of Dateline on the subject. He has no understanding of this event and he is only interested in drawing parallels between Salem and Senator McCa...more
Dreyer was raised in a strict Lutheran home and he understood spiritual fervor. All of his immortal movies deal with religious feeling in some way.
Sham Hack Miller writes about the Salem witch trials like he is producing an episode of Dateline on the subject. He has no understanding of this event and he is only interested in drawing parallels between Salem and Senator McCa...more
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12/04/08
Jamie
added it
the crucible was kinda a wierd book, i could not understand it hardly at all, until i watched the movie then it helped my scatter thoughts come together, i thought it was crazy that they damned there souls to the devil, proctor admitted to what him and abigal had going on and was punished for his actions... the guilty people lied to save thereselves and to keep there names, however the inoocent was hung by there throat as they prayed aloud. this is a good book if you like sad touching old books....more
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I do have to say that seeing this play preformed is ultimately and unequivocally more rewarding than reading it from a book. The emotions of the actors on stage (I saw it on stage before I read it and long before it was made into a movie) brings the words to life.
That said, this is such a haunting tale. I know it was written right during the whole McCarthyism era in the USA and comparing the communist accusations to the Salem witch hunts is one of the best parallels I have seen.
...more
That said, this is such a haunting tale. I know it was written right during the whole McCarthyism era in the USA and comparing the communist accusations to the Salem witch hunts is one of the best parallels I have seen.
...more
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Read in January, 1968
recommended to Maureen by:
Tommy Capps
The first time I saw The Crucible onstage, I left the theater in tears. Although this play is really about the McCarthy hearings and the greater issues surrounding that time, it is set at the time of the Salem witch trials. We can see parallels between the lengths that people will go to in order to disassociate themselves from someone under scrutiny, and the danger of leaping to conclusions based on faulty testimony then and now. Think about the Homeland Security Act, and the way that the Bu...more
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Read in January, 1999
Another book that we had to read in high school. Very good- a classic. Mr. Miller wrote it based off of what he saw during the "witch hunter" in America, which took place during the 1940s-1950s and was called the "Red Scare." Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many people (politicians, actors, etc.) of being Communists (with little proof, or in most cases, no proof).
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Painful memories of having to endure this book in highschool.....
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Read in October, 2007
What can I say? I hated this. I hated it when I read it in high school, and I hate it now.
So, Arthur Miller allegedly wrote this in response to the McCarthy era, which we all know was the witch hunt of the 1950s. And, instead of setting it in the 1950s, he set his play in the time of the Salem witch trials. Clever, no?
And this is why the play is so unreadable. Who wants to read a play that takes place in the 17th century? Who wants to read about characters known as G...more
So, Arthur Miller allegedly wrote this in response to the McCarthy era, which we all know was the witch hunt of the 1950s. And, instead of setting it in the 1950s, he set his play in the time of the Salem witch trials. Clever, no?
And this is why the play is so unreadable. Who wants to read a play that takes place in the 17th century? Who wants to read about characters known as G...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommended to Tamra by:
my HS curriculumrecommends it for: anyone
This was my first Arthur Miller and I loved it! It was a HS curriculum book, so I wasn't hopeful. But it was genius and I loved it and I didn't get it that my classmates weren't so enthusiastic.
It started my love affair with Arthur Miller (eventually derailed by Mr. Peters' Connections), and I will always cherish that.
As for the play. Good read. Fast read, so even if you don't like it, you won't have wasted much time. It's a nice commentary on the times, too, no matt...more
It started my love affair with Arthur Miller (eventually derailed by Mr. Peters' Connections), and I will always cherish that.
As for the play. Good read. Fast read, so even if you don't like it, you won't have wasted much time. It's a nice commentary on the times, too, no matt...more
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05/16/09
Jasmin,
added it
I thought The Crucible was a very insightful book. Before I read this novel I thought it was going to be about some witches in Salem but, when I finished reading the book I learned that The Crucible was actually written through a historical point of view. The theme of this book is when one want something bad enough one shall do what ever it takes to recieve it. Just as the girls did in court when they all pretended that they were possessed just to recieve the attention. One person who cried witc...more
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03/22/09
Kali
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VOYA Evaluation Code: 5Q; 4P
A) Pre-Reading/Anticipatory Thoughts
I am excited to read The Crucible again. I haven't read this text since American Literature in 11th grade. To be honest, this was the only book that I actually read when I was in high school. I remember it was appealing because of its length and content. In addition, I have always loved reading and learning about witchcraft. This probably stems from my love of Halloween and my repetitive costume of a witch during m...more
A) Pre-Reading/Anticipatory Thoughts
I am excited to read The Crucible again. I haven't read this text since American Literature in 11th grade. To be honest, this was the only book that I actually read when I was in high school. I remember it was appealing because of its length and content. In addition, I have always loved reading and learning about witchcraft. This probably stems from my love of Halloween and my repetitive costume of a witch during m...more
Read in November, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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It was one of those rare books that are forced upon you and then when you read it, you fall. Hard. While Miller might have written it with the McCarthy Era in mind, it applies very well to the current era of singling out a group of people and labeling them as 'evil'. I reread it a few months back and it still gave me the chills. Proof of what the power of fear has. I'd recommend this to anyone and everyone, though if you're not one for symbolism and parallels, this might not work as well. ;)
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Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a good read because you get history and drama wrapped in one. Though it doesn't have a excellent hook and can be a bore at the beginning, it's worth reading. A slow start makes for a fast paced plot and as the story takes shape, the reader becomes enchanted by the deceit, brutality, denial, and love that is intricately woven to create a good book. As the reader progresses in the story, he or she will meet John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth(a struggling couple wit...more
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The Crucible by Arthur Miller was based on the witch trials in Salem Village in 1692. Miller writes about how a group of girls play a scandalous joke about witch craft. But the people of Salem are convince that witch craft really does exist. There minds become poison with hate and blame. Many innocent Village people are brought upon trail against a jury that refuses to listen to them. Character Jonh Proctor's wife Elizabeth was accused of witch craft even though the court had no evidence of her ...more
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The Crucible by Artther Miller was an intense play about the Salem Witch trials in Massachusetts during puritan times. It wasn't the best book i've read but it is a book lesson learned about what happens to people who misuse their principles or even virtous values that stain their reputation. What was so intense was the most inncocent people recieved the death penalty which was either being hung, crushed to death, or other painful deaths. The type of society back than was much more harsh than it...more
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quotes from this book
"Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven."
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