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Summary: Historical Controvesy: The Crucible
Review: Using the historical and controversial subject of the Salen Witch Trials, Arthur Miller's play The Crucible presents an allegory for events in contemporary America. Miller's play employs these historical events to criticize the moments in humankind's history when reason and fact became clouded by irrational fears and the desire to place blame for society's problems on others. The play deals with the corrupted town of Salem, Massachusettes, in 1692. John proctor, a blunt, out-spoken farmer and the play's central character, gets caught up in a conspiracy not even his own stength can control when his ex-lover, Abigail, throws false accusations in his wife's direction. As Proctor tries to free his wife and prove all others also accused of withcraft innocent, he finds himself being accused as well. This play is a story of vengeance; one man stands in a tug-of-war battle between God and Satan, pride and damnation, and good and evil. It all leads up to a climactic ending in which one lost soul finds peace with himself and realizes the importance of one's integrity.
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Summary: book report
Review: The Crucible, a play written by Author Miller in the 1953. It is a drama about The Salem, Massachusetts witch hunt in the 1692 and people were accused of doing witchcraft without any solid proof because lots of people were being killed. I've noticed that the world has seriously changed from the 1692 till today. In the present days, who would still believe in witchcraft? Almost no one talks about it. But during the 1692, people believed in witchcrafts, they even believe that their relatives are witch. Men, Women, teenagers, child, anyone, any age! If you have any certain strange action, people will assume you are a witch. For example, Abigail and the girls were dancing around the fire. Well, the village people saw it and they started accusing that Abigail and the girls are witches. If more than two people think that you are a witch than that is it, everyone will treat you as if you were a witch. I've never read a play before. And this drama really caught my attention. I was amazed by what one person will do to save his reputation and others lives.
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Summary: Witchin book
Review: The book "The Crucible" is interesting. In the beginning, this book was a little bit boring, but then it got interesting. This book talks about lies and adultery. This book will be good for people who like history because it's a historical book. This book is about 152 pages long and it's intended for the intermediate reader.
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Summary: The Crucible
Review: The Crucible- A play, I enjoyed reading that had an interesting plot and showed how humans act when faced with life or death depending on their testimonies, and how life is a series of tests until death.
The word crucible means a heat-resistant container or a severe test. I believe Arthur Miller, the author, had called it "The Crucible" because his play is about a severe test or tests. The main characters are Reverend Parris, who has a daughter Betty, John Proctor, who is married to Elizabeth, Abigail Williams, is a teenage that lies, has an affair, and is a niece to Reverend Parris, and Reverend Hale, who is a young minister that claims he is an expert on witchcraft.
I liked this play because it is similar to everyday life of facing good and evil. It gives an outlook for knowing the right things to do and putting words into actions. The play illustrates the effect it can have on someone's life when so much evil has caused damage before learning to be honest and doing what is right. Throughout the play there are times when the character must make a choice, lie and live, or tell the truth and die. The test of lying to live is something I would never want to have to face, especially in that time period when the means of execution was hanging.
John Proctor, a farmer, is truly put to the test. He is a good person, but has an affair with Abigail. When Reverend Parris' daughter is said to be bedridden due to an unknown illness, everyone in town is concerned. The truth of what happened is that Abigail and a few girls did a witchcraft dance around a fire at night and drank blood. Because Betty is feeling so guilty, she stares and doesn't talk while she is bedridden. Abigail wants everyone to lie about what happened around the fire. John Proctors comes to visit Betty. When he arrives, Abigail looks at him with alluring eyes. Proctor states, "Ah, you're wicked yet aren't you!" (22) Here is a test for John Proctor. He has done wrong by having an affair and now alone with his former lover, he is tempted by her to try again. Abigail tries to encourage him, but he refuses her. This part I like in the played because it is a test of what is right.
Elizabeth knows her husband is a good person, even though he has sinned by having the affair. John stops going to church because the guilt of his affair and the dislike he has of the sermons of Rev. Parris about material things. John states to Elizabeth, "He sees no light of God in that man"(58) John recognizes this greed, but also his sorrow for his affair and having to be reminded by it, if he did go to church. Here is another test for John, a test of faith.
Abigail has her group of girls having everyone in town believing that the town is filled with witchcraft. Her followers are: Mary Warren, Ruth Putnam, Mercy Lewis and Betty Parris. They tell everyone that they have seen different people with the devil. Of course, Abigail eventually states that Elizabeth is working with the devil and tried to put a needle in her. The town goes into hysteria and people are brought to trial. During the start of the trial John's wife, Elizabeth begs John to testify in court that Abigail is a liar. Here is another test for John. Should he admit his adultery to the town or let Abigail continue to lie at the cost of others' lives? John states, "My wife will not die! I will bring your guts into your mouth, but that goodness will not die for me!" (76 )John's wife forgave him for the affair but now her life is at risk. John once again is faced with a test, to lie and live or not.
Finally, John admits about his affair with Abigail. Abigail's jealousy and lies have caused the deaths of so many. John is placed in jail. Now John has to decide to cleanse his name or lie. John knows Abigail lies about witchcraft and falsely accusing people from her town as following the devil, caused deaths of innocent people.
Elizabeth cries out at the end, "He have his goodness now, God forbid I take it away from him!" (126) John had a choice to lie and save his life, or tell the truth and die. Elizabeth knows John is a man who is right, even though he has not always done the right thing. Should John lie and save his life? This is the final test for John. To find out the ending, read "The Crucible!"This play is a test about life and finding out how important honesty is to you.
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Summary: Witchin book
Review: The book "The Crucible" is interesting. In the beginning, this book was a little bit boring, but then it got interesting. This book talks about lies and adultery. This book will be good for people who like history because it's a historical book. This book is about 152 pages long and it's intended for the intermediate reader.
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Summary: Miller's Best...
Review: This play has always held a special significance for me. It was the first Arthur Miller play I ever saw performed on stage, and it is also a chilling comparison between the past and present.Miller uses the Salem witch trials as the setting of his play, but it is actually play of its time. Written during the McCarthy Era, a witch-hunt of a different kind, Miller uses the Salem witch trials to illustrate what was happening (and is still happening) in the USA. "Guilt by association" is the order of the day, civil rights are violated, and many individuals and families are destroyed. This also hits me personally, as I know of one individual who was a victim of the McCarthy witch hunt. I just recently found out about this, and after reading Miller's play again after many years, it took on a whole new significance for me. I am grateful to all who stood up to those who tried to take away our most precious rights, and to Miller for writing this play.
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Summary: Unable to Read Beyond The First Act....
Review: Yes, I know, I know, it's a major classic by one of America's greatest playwrights. But it was just plain ole BORING. Read Miller's "A View From the Bridge" (my fave of his) or "Death of a Salesman," to understand what all the fuss about Miller is.
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Summary: "The Crucible of Communism" by RexCurry.net
Review: Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" is an unintentional condemnation of socialism/communism. The Crucible (1953) describes the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, an event that Miller wanted to use as a metaphor for 1950's McCarthyism. Most theater-goers did not comprehend Miller's intended anti-capitalist message. Later, the play became a darkly humorous, condemnation of socialism/communism when Miller's naive attempt at propaganda became widely known. In his 1996 article "Why I wrote The Crucible: An Artist's answer to Politics" Miller never mentions that no one was ever killed by McCarthy, though the greatest slaughter that ever occurred (by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the People's Republic of China, the National Socialist German Worker's Party, the Khmer Rouge and by people like Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Pol Pot and their followers) was committed by socialists/communists during McCarthy's life, and would continue to be committed after "The Crucible" was written. Here are some death totals: (1) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 62 million deaths, 1917-'87; (2) People's Republic of China, 35 million deaths, 1949-'87; (3) National Socialist German Worker's Party, 21 million deaths, 1933-'45; Compare that with the Salem Witch Trials (a dozen deaths?) or McCarthy (zero?). McCarthy was no libertarian. As a U.S. Senator, McCarthy did more damage promoting socialism then did Miller. During McCarthy's term, federal socialism grew, and McCarthy made no effort to end the social security scam, to reverse F.D.R.'s massive socialism, to end government schools, or to reduce the federal government. In comparison, Miller wrote famous plays in which socialist/communist propaganda is so vague it is invisible. Miller doesn't fault McCarthy for the growth of federal socialism. Miller faults McCarthy for persecuting fellow travelers and useful idiots (like Miller?) for the world's the socialist trio of atrocities. Miller's play depicts trials wherein children accuse adults of evil abuse in furies of fanaticism and paranoia. Similar scenes are replayed a million-fold in historic documentaries about the cultural revolution under Mao in the People's Republic of China, about the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and about other socialist and communist countries and their modern witch hunts for non-communists. Miller was interested in the tragedy of people who, under social pressure, lose their integrity. The Crucible explores this theme in the context of the Salem witch trials. Many citizens of Salem lost their sense of decency and community when they went along with the crowd to continue persecution of the innocent. The crucible of communism replayed such tragedies millions of times in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the People's Republic of China, and the National Socialist German Worker's Party before and after 1953. Today, Miller's play is used in classrooms to impeach McCarthy, and not to expose the real-life show trials and mass-slaughters of millions by in the U.S.S.R., Communist China, and the National Socialist German Worker's Party by socialists and communists. The play "The Crucible" should be renamed "The Crucible of Communism."
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Summary: "lowering heaven ...
Review: The Crucible is the first Arthur Miller play I've read. The plot summary and reviews I read made it seem appealing, suspenseful if nothing else. But no matter how great something is, it is nearly impossible to convey those feelings in the form of an Amazon review. It's easy for me to admit that after reading the introduction I was turned off by the language, not esoteric enough to be genuine 17th century english and not terse enough to be mid 50's language, the intro exists in a world in between the two describing the key characters in the play and the setting which it is taking place. Having decent knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials and how Miller correlated the tragedy to his experience with McCartheyism during "the red scare." Miller's details are so personal that it almost seems like this is a first hand account of the trials. The play evolves under perfect dynamics the exposition is descriptive but not boring, the main conflict had me at the edge of my seat grimacing in Proctor's pain and burning with hatred at the injustices being executed. Finally the climax brings arrays of the human emotional spectrum into a pleasing and redeeming conclusion. Overall this is the best American Play I have read, although my knowledge of American playwrights is limited I would venture to say that Arthur Miller is a genius and that this play is one of the crowning achievements of American Drama.
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Summary: Miller's Masterpiece?
Review: As much as I love DEATH OF A SALESMAN (my favorite play), A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (a gripping modern Greek tragedy), and ALL MY SONS (a sadly underrated play), I am sometimes convinced that THE CRUCIBLE is Arthur Miller's masterpiece. It is Shakespearean in structure and has a large cast of intriguing characters, the most fascinating of whom is the protagonist, John Proctor. Unlike SALESMAN's Willy Loman, Proctor is a true tragic hero, because his "fall from grace" - his adultery - makes it necessary for him to face a series of trials that test, with ever-increasing severity, his moral character (hence the play's title). In the end, Proctor loses his life but saves his soul - or his "name," as he calls it. I find the final image of Proctor tearing his false confession and following his friends to the gallows extremely moving. Proctor is a hero because, though flawed, he is a basically good man who is tested to his limits and ultimately passes the tests. Proctor does what is right even when it means he must sacrifice his life.
Having read the play four times and seen it twice, I do think that some may find it a bit too "cerebral." This is because Miller has so many IDEAS about the meaning of good and evil and of honor, justice, etc., and his characters spend a lot of time TALKING about them. There is a lack of action in THE CRUCIBLE if one compares it to (say) A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. However, the theatricality of the sequences in which the girls of Salem seem to be possessed by demons more than compensate for static stretches in which the characters talk only (for instance, the scene in which Reverend Hale is questioning the Proctors). Is THE CRUCIBLE Miler's masterpiece, after all? I haven't decided yet. But it is a fascinating drama with a great tragic hero, John Proctor.
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