Library Guides: The Crucible: Overview

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Brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)

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Provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.

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Lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)

General Capabilities

Enduring Understandings

Students should understand how to produce a reasoned analytical response and a creative response to a text.
Students should understand that a variety of interpretations of a text are possible, and that viewpoints should be supported with evidence.

Quick Links

The Crucible | Introduction

"The Crucible was written to warn people of how power can corrupt and be misused to persecute people, but it is a historical play set in a particular time and place that is remote to us today" (McCarthy, S., 2011., p. 4)

"When The Crucible was published and produced in 1953, many audiences and critics felt that the play, with a plot focused on the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s, was an analogy for the McCarthy investigations that were going on at the time. Some of the same issues, such as mass hysteria and unchecked power, were at the forefront of both historical events.” (Bloom, H., 2010., p. 13)

The Crucible | Study Guides

Level 1

Plot and structure in “The Crucible, Arthur Miller”, (McCarthy, 2011, pp. 13-35.)
● How does The Crucible tell the story of the Salem witch trials in four acts? ● What are the key events of the plot as they occur in sequence through each of the four acts of the play? ● What is the timescale (timeline) of the actions in the play?
Plot Summary in "A Study Guide for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible", (Gale, C. L., 2015., p. 6)

Level 2

Summary and Analysis in "Arthur Miller’s The Crucible", (Bloom, H., 2010., p. 19)
Provides a detailed analysis of the plot, characters and themes.

Level 1

Themes in "A Study Guide for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible", (Gale, C. L., 2015., p. 12)
The Crucible: Themes (McCarthy, 2011, pp. 51-59)
● What is a theme? ● What are the key themes of The Crucible? ● How do the themes link to one another? ● How are the themes explored through the actions and motives of the characters?

Level 1

The Crucible: Characterisation (McCarthy, 2011, pp. 36-50.)
● Who are the characters? ● How do they relate to one another? ● What does each character want? (What is their motivation for acting as they do in the story?) ● Do they get what they want? ● What stops them getting what they want or opposes their wishes? ● What evidence can we find in the play to help us understand and write about each character?
Characters in "The Crucible", (Digital Theatre Plus, n.d.)
Characters in "Arthur Miller’s The Crucible", (Bloom, H., 2010., p. 16)
Characters in "A Study Guide for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible", (Gale, C. L., 2015., p. 8)

The Crucible | Background reading

The following readings are chapters sourced from Bloom, H. (2010). Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Facts on File. Use the following links to go directly to each article.

Arthur Miller's The Crucible by Harold Bloom (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781604138153
Publication Date: 2010
This series provides comprehensive reading and study guides for some of the world's most important literary masterpieces. Each title features: concise critical excerpts that provide a scholarly overview of each work; 'The Story Behind the Story', detailing the conditions under which the work was written; and, a biographical sketch of the author, a descriptive list of characters, an extensive summary and analysis, and an annotated bibliography.

Karen Bovard looks at competition, sexuality, and power in the lives of puritan women in Bloom (2010, pp. 61-71.)
"Arthur Miller intended The Crucible to critique the witch-hunting mentality of McCarthyism and to expose a disturbing chapter in our colonial history: the Salem witch trials of 1692. It also invites analysis of gender roles, then and now, especially around the dynamics of girls in groups, competition among women for men’s attention and for power, and problematic issues of sexual desire. Although John Proctor is unquestionably the play’s protagonist, a rich array of female characters permits the exploration of women’s behavior under the stresses of a rigid and repressive society."
Steven R. Centola Examines the Possibility for Human Redemption in the Puritan Community in Bloom (2010, pp. 75-77.)
“The Crucible,” writes Miller, “is, internally, Salesman’s blood brother. It is examining the questions I was absorbed with before—the conflict between a man’s raw deeds and his conception of himself, the question of whether conscience is in fact an organic part of the human being, and what happens when it is handed over not merely to the state or the mores of the time but to one’s friend or wife.”
D. Quentin Miller on Good Versus Evil, Black Versus White, and Religion Versus Witchcraft in Bloom (2010, pp. 77-83.)
The history of witchcraft in The Crucible is a struggle between wrong and right; the history of McCarthyism is a struggle between left and right; but the history that is obscured by both of these other histories is the struggle between black and white. Ironically, David Levin quotes Miller as describing the play as “an attack on black-or-white thinking”,17 referring to dualistic thinking while evoking race unconsciously. Christopher Bigsby similarly quotes Miller as describing the “extreme view of the world” held by the 1692 Salemites this way: “Because they are white, opposition is completely black.”

The Crucible | Listen to the play

To listen to this audio production when off campus first login to Digital Theatre Plus using your School mConnect user ID and password. See also the Kerferd Library help files for Digital Theatre Plus.

The Crucible, (Jenkins, 1988)
L.A. Theatre Works 1988 audio theatre production of "The Crucible" directed by Martin Jenkins.

The Crucible | Useful links

The Crucible (Digital Theatre Plus, n.d.)
Includes a production of the play online plus theory and criticism. To access these resources when off campus follow the instructions on the Kerferd Library help page for Digital Theatre Plus at https://library.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au/help/digital-theatre.
The Crucible: A Dramaturgy Notebook. (Wetzel, 2017)
A dramaturgy notebook on The Crucible by Evan Wetzel at Dartmouth College, USA. Includes: Play Summary, Arthur Miller Biography, Historical Context, Critical Analysis: Tituba and Race, Production History, and Conceptual Idea.