The Crucible
Witch trial play
The Crucible is Arthur Miller's 1953 play about the Salem witch trials of 1692, in which accusations of witchcraft spiral into mass hysteria and executions.
Miller wrote it as an allegory for McCarthyism—the anti-communist investigations then gripping America.
The title refers to a vessel for melting metals at high heat, and by extension, a severe test that reveals character: The experience was a crucible for their marriage.
Persecution of supposed subversives
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
- HUACRed Scare congressional committee
- red scareMass anti-communist hysteria
- subversionUndermining established authority
un-American · loyalty oaths · persecution · fearmongering · innuendo · demagoguery · paranoia · Cold War
Claim someone did wrong
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- spectral evidenceTestimony from supernatural visions
- hangingExecution by noose
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
innocent · condemned · hysteria · devil · possession · afflicted · girls · dancing
Instructive allegorical narrative
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- cautionary taleStory illustrating consequences
- social critiqueExamination of societal problems
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
microcosm · morality play · hypocrisy · universal truth · human condition · didactic · figurative · representation
City or name
- theocracyRule by religious authority
- sinViolation of divine law
- CalvinismPredestinarian Protestant theology
- colonialOf occupied territories
Massachusetts · piety · sermon · covenant · morality · damnation · repentance · confession
witch-hunt
Persecution of supposed subversives
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
- HUACRed Scare congressional committee
- red scareMass anti-communist hysteria
subversion · un-American · loyalty oaths · persecution · fearmongering · innuendo · demagoguery · paranoia · Cold War · anti-communist
accusation
Claim someone did wrong
- trialJudicial examination of claims
- spectral evidenceTestimony from supernatural visions
- hangingExecution by noose
confession · innocent · condemned · hysteria · devil · possession · afflicted · girls · dancing · forest
parable
Instructive allegorical narrative
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- cautionary taleStory illustrating consequences
- social critiqueExamination of societal problems
metaphor · microcosm · morality play · hypocrisy · universal truth · human condition · didactic · figurative · representation · parallel
Salem
City or name
- theocracyRule by religious authority
- sinViolation of divine law
- CalvinismPredestinarian Protestant theology
colonial · Massachusetts · piety · sermon · covenant · morality · damnation · repentance · confession · Providence
Arthur Miller
American dramatist, mid-century
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- BroadwayManhattan theatrical district
- stageRaised performance platform
dialogue · act · monologue · ensemble · dramaturgy · performance · climax · tension · catharsis · protagonist
- PlaysHamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear
- Historical PlaysHenry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Richard II
- Modern DramaHenrik Ibsen, modern theater, modern tragedy, social drama, psychological drama
- School ClassicsTo Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet, The Scarlet Letter
- American LiteratureThe Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Moby Dick
- Modern TheaterIbsen, Chekhov, Beckett, O'Neill, Miller
The CrucibleSpamalot
Musical spoofing Camelot tales
farce · light comedy · comedy · The Importance of Being Earnest · A Midsummer Night's Dream
crucible, crucibles, cruciate, crucial, crucially, crucifix, crucifixion, crucify, crossed