Introduction
The Crucible was a written by renowned American playwright Arthur Miller in 1952. It is a fictional accounting of the events of the Salem with trials that took place in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. The play was first performed in 1953 to mixed reviews and a lukewarm reaction, but a second run a year later became extremely popular and made the play a classic. Today, The Crucible is widely considered to be a central work of the American Drama canon and is central to American Literature courses throughout the United States.
Though Miller was inspired by reviewing historical documents that offer an account of the trials themselves, he made no effort to represent the real people upon whom his characters were based. While most of the characters accurately represent their historical roles, little evidence of personality or day to day interactions appear in historical record. Miller took artistic license with many of the roles, changing character's ages or combining historical figures to accommodate the plot arc of the production. All sentences that were meted out against the convicted are taken from historical record and the linguistic peculiarities, such as the term "Goody," are indicative of the period.
The title of the play references a device used for smelting solid materials into liquid. A crucible is a container that can withstand extremely high temperatures that will liquefy the materials contained within. This device serves as a metaphor for the action of the play, in which each of the characters are subjected to a crucible of fear and community pressure that forces changes upon them. Those characters, such as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse, that refuse to compromise their moral standards are shown as adamant materials that refuse to be molded by the situation they are subject to.
Though Miller was inspired by reviewing historical documents that offer an account of the trials themselves, he made no effort to represent the real people upon whom his characters were based. While most of the characters accurately represent their historical roles, little evidence of personality or day to day interactions appear in historical record. Miller took artistic license with many of the roles, changing character's ages or combining historical figures to accommodate the plot arc of the production. All sentences that were meted out against the convicted are taken from historical record and the linguistic peculiarities, such as the term "Goody," are indicative of the period.
The title of the play references a device used for smelting solid materials into liquid. A crucible is a container that can withstand extremely high temperatures that will liquefy the materials contained within. This device serves as a metaphor for the action of the play, in which each of the characters are subjected to a crucible of fear and community pressure that forces changes upon them. Those characters, such as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse, that refuse to compromise their moral standards are shown as adamant materials that refuse to be molded by the situation they are subject to.