Salem Witch Trials
Very Loosely Based on a True Story
Written in 1953 by playwright Arthur Miller, The Crucible is a heavily fictionalized dramatic depiction of the events of the trials.
Miller made several changes to serve the artistic needs of the story he was writing and also made several possibly unintentional errors. His primary goal in writing the play was for it to serve as an allegory for the anti-Communist crusade of Senator Joseph McCarthy, which was itself called a witch-hunt.
The play became a success and an enduring part of the canon of American drama, and has gone through many adaptations in the past few decades including film, television, theater, and opera.
In 2022 a play written by Kimberly Bellflower titled John Proctor is the Villain premiered in Washington, D.C. The play is about a group of high school students putting on a production of The Crucible who start questioning the perspective of the original play. It transferred to Broadway in 2025 and was nominated for seven Tony Awards.
- The Crucible, or How Arthur Miller Got the Salem Witch Trials WrongFrom the New England Historical Society
- Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Fact & Fiction (or Picky, Picky, Picky...)By Margo Burns, Associate Editor and Project Manager of Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (and descendant of Rebecca Nurse)
- Is The Crucible Based on a True Story?From the Massachusetts History Blog
- Recasting the ‘Villain’: Emory playwright’s play is Broadway boundFrom Emory University
Resources at the BPL
The Crucible by ISBN: 9780140481389Publication Date: 1976-10-28A haunting examination of groupthink and mass hysteria in a rural community. The place is Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, an enclave of rigid piety huddled on the edge of a wilderness. Its inhabitants believe unquestioningly in their own sanctity. But in Arthur Miller's edgy masterpiece, that very belief will have poisonous consequences when a vengeful teenager accuses a rival of witchcraft—and then when those accusations multiply to consume the entire village. First produced in 1953, at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witch-hunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil. It is a play that is not only relentlessly suspenseful and vastly moving but that compels readers to fathom their hearts and consciences in ways that only the greatest theater ever can. "A drama of emotional power and impact" —New York Post
- Print editions of The Crucible held by the BPLSome editions include analysis and critical essays.
The Crucible by Call Number: DVD FEATURE CRUCIBLEPublication Date: 20041996 theatrical movie version starring Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor.
The Crucible by Publication Date: 20201967 television movie production starring George C. Scott as John Proctor, Colleen Dewhurst as Elizabeth Proctor, and Tuesday Weld as Abigail Williams.