Rating: 
Summary: Powerful
Review: An obvious metaphorical look at the McCarthyist 1950s, this play is stark and no fun. I think this is one of the best retellings of what happened in Salem. Students should read this, but need a good history lesson before hand.
Rating: 
Summary: When Courage Defies Hysteria
Review: The Crucible describes the anguish of a sinner (John Proctor) as he wrestles with his conscience. Around him the Puritan world is succumbing to the whims of clever young girls who manipulate the superstitions of their elders by pretending to be oppressed by "witches" in their New England community. Proctor, a married farmer, resists the hysteria, but reluctantly as he is guilty of an affair with the ringleader of the girls and feels he is unworthy to stand for what is right. When finally he makes a dramatic stand, it is too late to stave off the bloody tidal wave that we know of today as the Salem Witch Trials, but it is not too late for him to realize the significance of his own integrity. Arthur Miller was compelled to speak before a McCarthy hearing in the 1950's and expected to incriminate associates of his as Communist spies. His encounter with the "red scare" is the inspiration of this play and he is highly successful in exposing an extremely dark potential that lurks within the gullible and uncritical human society. The Crucible is unrivaled in drama and punch.
Rating: 
Summary: The Crucible
Review: This novel takes place in 1600's Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail Williams, along with several other women from the village, have been accused of witchcraft. If they do not admit to these accusations, they will be hanged. I believe the theme Miller is trying to convey throughout this novel is hysteria. People are accusing these women of crimes for which they have no proof of their guilt. The major conflict in the book is that society is too accusatory. Everyone is guilty by association in their eyes. Miller uses metaphors throughout the novel to allow you to visualize objects better in your mind. I did not like this novel because it's characters are too suspicious and unreasonable. They threaten people with death if they do not admit to crimes they didn't commit. It's crazy! The novel itself was just depressing to me. I would not recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Burn it at the stake
Review: Another 'classic' about the Salem Witch Trials. Like most classics, it sucks. The crazy Puritans accuse and argue each other. Then they go to court to argue and accuse different people. Then everyone gets hung. The end.
Rating:
Summary: Tragedy and the common man
Review: Arthur Miller's The Crucible comes very close to being the perfect model for the so-called 'tragedy of the common man', an idea which Miller himself propounded in an article in The New York Times, in the same week that his other great work, Death of a Salesman, was premiered. Miller's idea of drama was to put the common man, or the working man, at the centre of a situation that would require him to act in an uncommon way. This is exectly what we find in The Crucible. Although not written with this idea of the tragedy of the common man explicitly in mind, The Crucible conforms to the definition more closely than does Death of a Salesman. Motivated, of course, by the witch-hunt-like MacArthur hearings in Washington D.C., The Crucible focuses on a man under attack, a man who is flawed but who is good. A common man in uncommon circumstances. Possibly this is Miller's greatest work, as it combines the timeless quality of tragedy with contemporarily relevent themes in a way that is neither ambiguous or overly intrusive. This is a play which should continue to be read in schools and studied with care, particularly for its historical value.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting story, although...
Review: "The Crucible" as we all know is a great classic. It's very intriguing, has very well developed characters, and it's message about fear, jealousy, and the troubles of theocracy is easy to grasp. However, I should note that it's hard to understand it when you just simply read it. This Miller play is meant to be seen and observed, not just simply read. I would really have to recommend watching the play or watching the movie as opposed to reading the play. The story is mostly historically accurate, though the real story did have to be altered for the sake of dramatization.(Otherwise, people would have been too shocked to see 11 year old Abigail in love with 60 year old John Procter!) Sometimes the story may be hard to understand, in which case you may want to do some research on the actual event to understand it better. I was a little bothered by how sometimes the characters say things that people didn't really say back then. Of course, it does intend to place the personalities of the red scare 1950's into the witch hunting 17th century. It works well, it makes you think, and it's enjoyable too. It's very good.
Rating:
Summary: I hated it!
Review: THE CRUCIBLE is a book about the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials are an interesting topic, but this book disturbs the events. This book bored me and it kept on talking about Satan. Why did it have to keep on talking about Satan? It would've been fine if the author would have just explained the hysteria that occured at the time, and not waste the reader's time by reading about Satan and Satan's power.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to Understand...too confusing!!
Review: This book didn't help me in the least bit. I tried and triedto see if I could understand this book but it just wasn't enough. Theplot is basically the same throughout the story with people justaccusing each other of witches which I thought was pretty lame. I didhowever like the ending but the ending won't make my rating go up to 2stars. This book is harder to understand than a Shakespeare novelwhich to me is extremely hard. I wouldn't recommend this book toanybody.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read for high school students and adults
Review: When I was in high school, I remember reading this excellent book. The scenes of the play are easy to follow, and the characters are well defined. This is an excellent read for anyone who loves historical fiction and enjoyable books.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: The story shows an hysterical witch hunt in the United States of 1692. I think it's a very fascinating play which is also able to show the witch hunt very well. It shows that people searched somebody who had to be the reason (the scapegoat) for everything they couldn't explain with their knowledge. Another very paradoxical thing for me is that being afflicted was a reason that another one was a witch. It is also very strange that children could say anybody is a witch and then the one was a also a witch even when children hadn't much to say in this time. I would recommend to read the play to anybody who is a little bit interested in history, it's a very good experience.
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