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Product Description
Product Description
Arthur Miller's classic parable of mass hysteria draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch-hunt of 1692 - 'one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history' - and the McCarthyism which gripped America in the 1950s. The story of how the small community of Salem is stirred into madness by superstition, paranoia and malice, culminating in a violent climax, is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.
About the Author
Arthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1963), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) and The American Clock. He has also written two novels, Focus (1945), and The Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), Chinese Encounters (1979), and In the Country (1977), three books of photographs by his wife, Inge Morath. His most recent works include a memoir, Timebends (1987), and the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1993), which won the Olivier Award for Best Play of the London Season, and Mr. Peter's Connections (1998). He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
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First Sentence
A small upper bedroom in the home of reverend Samuel parris, Salem, Massachusetts, in the spring of the year 1692. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
A small upper bedroom in the home of reverend Samuel parris, Salem, Massachusetts, in the spring of the year 1692. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book, set during Salem in 1692, mirrors the McCarthy witch hunt of the 1950's. Whereas then communists were rooted out, in Salem, it's witches. Hysteria grips the town, and Miller portrays this perfectly, and explores a frightening realism of the human mind. Feuds from long ago come back into light, and no-one is safe, not even from their children. This is an incredible play, and is firmly regarded as one of the best plays ever written.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Miller's title is appropriate for the play. He creates an atmosphere and mood in the play that is significant to the time that the Salem witch hunt took place and of the Puritan culture. Miller successfully captures the religious fanaticism of the period and adds it effectively to the play. I would recommend this play to everyone. It is very different to miller's other plays. It is superb from beginning to end.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I studied this play for my GCSE english course (as did many of the reviewers!) and .. I was impressed! It is hard to really appreciate literature when you are spoon fed every 'intent' and 'meaning' behind everyline. It's hard to finish and book that you've slowed disected along with 24 other studends and think 'wow'. But Miller managed it.
Incredibly quotable - I don't have a copy any more(!) but I can still remember some beautiful lines. One was already quoted by another reviewer!
Here are a couple of longer ones I found on a website:
'A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!'
'Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretenses ripped away.'
'You bring down heaven and raise up a whore! '
Also interesting, are the passages aside from the script, written by Arthur Miller to embellish the depth of the play. It works on many levels - An (admittedly inaccurate) historical account of the Salem witch trials; a reflection of the anti-communist 'witch hunts' of the McCarthy era which Miller was himself caught up in; and all at once it is also a glimpse at the nature of humanity and a struggle between good and evil, imagined and real, and the choices that people have to make.
I've also seen the film, which I think was very good, right up until the end, where the final scene (added to the end of the play) was (in my opinion) an embarassing mis-interpretation of the whole meaning!
Incredibly quotable - I don't have a copy any more(!) but I can still remember some beautiful lines. One was already quoted by another reviewer!
Here are a couple of longer ones I found on a website:
'A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!'
'Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretenses ripped away.'
'You bring down heaven and raise up a whore! '
Also interesting, are the passages aside from the script, written by Arthur Miller to embellish the depth of the play. It works on many levels - An (admittedly inaccurate) historical account of the Salem witch trials; a reflection of the anti-communist 'witch hunts' of the McCarthy era which Miller was himself caught up in; and all at once it is also a glimpse at the nature of humanity and a struggle between good and evil, imagined and real, and the choices that people have to make.
I've also seen the film, which I think was very good, right up until the end, where the final scene (added to the end of the play) was (in my opinion) an embarassing mis-interpretation of the whole meaning!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Must have
This book is a must have if you are studying The Crucible at school. Although not much room if you want to write I notes in it :)
Published 4 months ago by Em book
One of Miller's best
One of the reasons I have always liked Penguin Modern Classics is their minimalism - rarely more than the text, cheaply produced on reasonable quality paper in bindings that last... Read more
Published 6 months ago by RR Waller
the crucible
the book was in very good condition how ever it took extremely long to arrive but other than that everything was fine
Published 7 months ago by al
Certainly a good read.
I bought this book as it was needed to study in English literature. Firstly, the book itself was 'new' and in great condition. Read more
Published 13 months ago by James
Nothing to complain about
Apart from being a tiny bit tatty this is in good condition. There's nothing to complain about.
Published 20 months ago by CChapman
Fantastic !! Genius !
Auther Miller - what can i say ! definately now one of my favourite plays! putting this on at school in the autumn so i thought i would read it over the summer.... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Happy
an emotional read
In the current age of video, this play script was powerful enough to reduce me to tears with no visual stimulus. Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2009 by Bridget Oliver
A brilliant example of small-town thinking
Great story. This illustrates much in human behaviour around "witch hunts", be this communism, witchcraft, or whatever. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2007 by L. Baldachin
An essential read for any American history enthusiast
The reason why this play works on many levels as a background in American history is that it focusses on two main areas, namely the Salem witch trials of the 17th century and the... Read more
Published on 21 July 2006 by A.McIndoe
Brilliant!
I am a year 10 student who has recently read The Crucible, it is a fantastic play with amazing dialogue and strong, vivid characters. Read more
Published on 10 April 2006
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