full title · The CrucibleWhat the heck is a crucible anyway? Well, it's a piece of laboratory equipment used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures or to melt metal. It's a little container full of violent reactions. Seems like a pretty good metaphor for the violent hysteria that the little village of Salem contained during the witch trials.
Yes, Salem became a “crucible” for many people living there when they were brought before the religious court and accused falsely of being witches. If an accused person did not confess, she was hanged. If she did confess, she was spared death but marked for life as a person who worshipped the Devil. Under such conditions, several characters in this play, especially the central characters, John and Elizabeth Proctor, are forced to face their own Under such conditions, several characters in this play, especially the central characters, John and Elizabeth Proctor, are forced to face their own internal demons, a process that ultimately leads to internal, spiritual transformation.
The title (and the entire play) is also a metaphor for the anti-communist craze of America's Red Communist Scare led by Senator Joe McCarthy. Thanks to the efforts of McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee, the whole United States became a "crucible." author · Arthur Miller type of work · Play genre · Tragedy, allegory language · Englishcountry folk language of 1600’s America mixed with 1950’s every day American language. time and place written · America, early 1950s date of first publication · 1953 publisher · Viking Press narrator · The play is occasionally interrupted by an omniscient, third-person narrator who fills in the background for the characters. climax · John Proctor tells the Salem court that he committed adultery with Abigail Williams. protagonist · John Proctor antagonist · Abigail Williams setting (time) · 1692 setting (place) · Salem, a small town in colonial Massachusetts point of view · The Crucible is a play, so the audience and reader are entirely outside the action. falling action · The Falling action is the part of a story, usually found in tragedies and short stories, following the climax and showing the effects of the climax. It leads up to the denouement or catastrophe. The events from John Proctor's attempt to expose Abigail in Act IV to his decision to die rather than confess at the end of Act IV. tense · Present foreshadowing · The time frame of the play is extremely compressed, and the action proceeds so quickly that there is little time for foreshadowing. tone · Serious and tragic—the language is almost Biblical themes · a broad idea, message, or lesson conveyed by a work. The message is usually about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than explicitly stated Intolerance; hysteria; reputation, paranoia, superstition, betrayal: john, Mary Warren betrayed Abi and viceversa, religion, revenge, jealousy tragedy, motifs · are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece’s major themes. The narrative motif is the vehicle by means of which the narrative theme is conveyed. The motif can be an idea, an object, a place or a statement.Accusation; confession; legal proceedings in general symbols · Though the play itself has very few examples of symbolism beyond typical witchcraft symbols (rats, toads, and bats), the entire play is meant to be symbolic, with its witch trials standing in for the anti-Communist “witch-hunts” of the 1950s.
back to: Year 13 Written Text. Play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, 1953.
Key Facts about the play explained.
full title · The Crucible What the heck is a crucible anyway? Well, it's a piece of laboratory equipment used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures or to melt metal. It's a little container full of violent reactions. Seems like a pretty good metaphor for the violent hysteria that the little village of Salem contained during the witch trials.
Yes, Salem became a “crucible” for many people living there when they were brought before the religious court and accused falsely of being witches. If an accused person did not confess, she was hanged. If she did confess, she was spared death but marked for life as a person who worshipped the Devil. Under such conditions, several characters in this play, especially the central characters, John and Elizabeth Proctor, are forced to face their own Under such conditions, several characters in this play, especially the central characters, John and Elizabeth Proctor, are forced to face their own internal demons, a process that ultimately leads to internal, spiritual transformation.
The title (and the entire play) is also a metaphor for the anti-communist craze of America's Red Communist Scare led by Senator Joe McCarthy. Thanks to the efforts of McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee, the whole United States became a "crucible."
author · Arthur Miller
type of work · Play
genre · Tragedy, allegory
language · English country folk language of 1600’s America mixed with 1950’s every day American language.
time and place written · America, early 1950s
date of first publication · 1953
publisher · Viking Press
narrator · The play is occasionally interrupted by an omniscient, third-person narrator who fills in the background for the characters.
climax · John Proctor tells the Salem court that he committed adultery with Abigail Williams.
protagonist · John Proctor
antagonist · Abigail Williams
setting (time) · 1692
setting (place) · Salem, a small town in colonial Massachusetts
point of view · The Crucible is a play, so the audience and reader are entirely outside the action.
falling action · The Falling action is the part of a story, usually found in tragedies and short stories, following the climax and showing the effects of the climax. It leads up to the denouement or catastrophe.
The events from John Proctor's attempt to expose Abigail in Act IV to his decision to die rather than confess at the end of Act IV.
tense · Present
foreshadowing · The time frame of the play is extremely compressed, and the action proceeds so quickly that there is little time for foreshadowing.
tone · Serious and tragic—the language is almost Biblical
themes · a broad idea, message, or lesson conveyed by a work. The message is usually about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than explicitly stated Intolerance; hysteria; reputation, paranoia, superstition, betrayal: john, Mary Warren betrayed Abi and viceversa, religion, revenge, jealousy tragedy,
motifs · are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece’s major themes. The narrative motif is the vehicle by means of which the narrative theme is conveyed. The motif can be an idea, an object, a place or a statement.Accusation; confession; legal proceedings in general
symbols · Though the play itself has very few examples of symbolism beyond typical witchcraft symbols (rats, toads, and bats), the entire play is meant to be symbolic, with its witch trials standing in for the anti-Communist “witch-hunts” of the 1950s.