The Crucible
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"The Crucible" is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of "contempt of Congress" for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended. It was first performed at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway on January 22, 1953. Miller felt that this production was too stylized and cold and the reviews for it were largely hostile (although The New York Times noted "a powerful play in a driving performance"). Nonetheless, the production won the 1953 "Best Play" Tony Award. A year later a new production succeeded and the play became a classic. It is a central work in the canon of American drama. Fuji Books' edition of "The Crucible" contains supplementary texts: * "Tragedy And The Common Man", an essay by Arthur Miller. * Excerpts from Nathaniel Hawthorne's magnus opus "The Scarlet Letter", a narrative of the Salem Witch trials. * A few selected quotes of Arthur Miller.
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My first reading of any Miller, I had some vague notions of the plot but nothing more. I enjoy reading plays, particularly when there is so much background and stage direction. I felt that Miller brought the reader into the text and onto the stage with the characters in a way that most playwrights fail to do.
I found the plot itself simple and engaging. While you are encouraged to sympathise with the Proctors there is room for understanding everyone's motivations.
Yes, females are sidelined as shadows of their menfolk but this is written by a man when women's liberation was in it's infancy and based on transcripts written by men from when women were nothing more than another possession. A reimagining written now, from a more feminist angle, would be a very interesting and illustrating play. Miller's dismissal of Abigail in the afterword, rumour and hearsay - did he not learn from his own text? - is particularly unpleasant, she is a character who deserves exploration and explanation.
However, these misgivings aside. Miller used this play to reflect the effects of McCarthyism in the US at the time, this is woven into the very text. The warnings remains as relevant today, in a world of mass hysteria - conspiracy theories etc. - as it did in 1953 and indeed in 1692.
