num_pages: 152
description: The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller's edgy masterpiece, that very belief will have poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft-and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village.First produced in 1953, at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witchhunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil. It is a play that is not only relentlessly suspenseful and vastly moving but that compels readers to fathom their hearts and consciences in ways that only the greatest theater ever can.(back cover)
language: English
title: The Crucible
titlecomplete: The Crucible
characters: John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, Rev. Parris, Rebecca Towne Nurse, Tituba, Mary Warren, Deputy Governor Danforth, Giles Corey
genres: Classics, Drama, Historical, Plays, Read For School, High School, School, Historical Fiction, Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 394788
places: Massachusetts, Salem, Massachusetts
awards: awardedAt: -536428800000
name: New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
category: Best American Play
publisher: Penguin Books