LibGuides: English: The Crucible

Useful Links

SparkNotes: The Crucible : themes, motifs and symbols
This webpage from the study guide publishers Spark Notes, provides a brief overview of the themes in the play.
CliffNotes: The Crucible
Overview of the themes and motifs of The Crucible

Video SparkNotes: Arthur Miller's The Crucible summary

Film: The Crucible (1996)

The Crucible is set in Massachusetts in 1692. In the small Puritan town, where one's life is dedicated to the service of God, several teenage girls are discovered in the woods and are accused of engaging in "the Devil's" work. As time goes by the village becomes consumed by cries of witchcraft. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, screenplay by Arthur Miller. Stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder.

Production Year: 1996

Duration: 1:58:15

Salem witch trials
This University of Virginia website documents primary sources from the trials (letters, court records, diaries) for educational use.
Salem witch trials: Washington State University
A brief history of the Salem witch trials
By the Smithsonian institute, this is a good introduction to the trials.
People accused of Witchcraft 1692
A list of accused witches in the Salem area, including testimonies and court reports.

Christian-Jewish relations: the inquisition
Hidden History: National Geographic
Scroll down to the heading 'Fleeing the Spanish Inquisition' to read about how Jews hid their religion to stay alive.
Roman Catholic inquisition: Encyclopedia Britannica
To access this article from home, login to LowtherNet and search for the article in the Encyclopedia Britannica search bar under 'announcements'.

New England colonies: Cliff Notes
Pilgrims and puritans: background
Scroll down to 'Salem witch trials'.
Puritanism in colonial America
Read this article all the way to the end to get a context of Puritans and the Salem witch trials.

Video: Salem Witch Trials

An examination of the causes and repercussions of the persecution of young women accused of being witches in the 1600s in America.

McCarthyism / Anti-communism in America

Anti-communism in Australia

The communist party dissolution act
A fantastic history of how Prime Minister Menzies tried to dissolve the Communist Party in Australia.
When Australia said no!
An obvious bias here, as it is written by the Australian Marxist Review, however it is a clear chronology of events leading up to the High Court's decision that the Communist Party dissolution act was not acceptable within the Australian Constitution.

Books available in the LRC

The crucible : a play in four acts by Arthur Miller
ISBN: 9780141182551

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.
The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts (ebook) by Arthur Miller
ISBN: 9780141904191
The crucible by Arthur Miller; Susan C W Abbotson
ISBN: 9781408108390

Methuen drama student editions
The Crucible (audiobook) by Arthur Miller
ISBN: 9781580814355

Richard Dreyfuss and Stacy Keach star in this full-cast performance of Arthur Miller's classic The Crucible, a central work in the canon of American drama. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In a searing portrait of a community engulfed by panic - with ruthless prosecutors, and neighbors eager to testify against neighbor - The Crucible famously mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria that held the United States in its grip in the 1950's. A Tony Award Winner for Best Play.
The Crucible by Sue Tweg
ISBN: 9781921088827

Insight text guide.
The Crucible: Shmoop Literature Guide (ebook) by Shmoop Staff
ISBN: 9781610622943

Take your understanding of The Crucible by Arthur Miller to a whole new level, anywhere you go: on a plane, on a mountain, in a canoe, under a tree. Or grab a flashlight and read Shmoop under the covers.
The Crucible by Frances Russell-Matthews
ISBN: 9781875695980

Phoenix senior English guides.
Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach
ISBN: 9780306822346

By examining the lives of six specific women, Marilynne Roach shows readers what it was like to be present throughout this horrific time and how it was impossible to live through it unchanged.
A Delusion of Satan by Frances Hill
ISBN: 9781618031150

This acclaimed history illuminates the horrifying episode of Salem with visceral clarity, from those who fanned the crisis to satisfy personal vendettas to the four-year-old "witch" chained to a dank prison wall in darkness till she went mad. Antonia Fraser called it "a grisly read and an engrossing one."

Theocracies

The Puritans purify: theocracy in Massachesetts
Theocracy: encyclopedia.com
This is a well-referenced article explaining what theocracy has meant throughout history.
Theocracy and it's discontents
This article by Fareed Zakaria talks about the protests around the election in the Islamic theocracy in Iran. To access at home, you will need to login to Libguides via Lowthernet.

English: The Crucible