Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Schultz
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Powerful play about Salem witch trials a riveting read.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In Salem, MA, in 1692, in an atmosphere of rigid Puritanical Christianity, a teen girl named Abigail Williams has an illicit affair with a married man, John Proctor, and engages in other forbidden activities, including dancing. Abigail deflects responsibility for her behavior by accusing others of performing witchcraft, and her friends join in, using the ensuing mass hysteria to punish anyone who may have slighted them. Soon the entire community is ruled by fear as the accusations fly, and innocent citizens are imprisoned and executed.
Is It Any Good?
Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning play is profoundly powerful in its message, as a stage play, and as a piece of literature. Though THE CRUCIBLE was meant to be staged, reading the work offers Miller's lengthy, analytical stage directions and explanations of the time period, characters, and context of the events. Reading The Crucible is a thought-provoking and affecting experience, and the story itself is riveting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the Salem witch trials could occur. Why were the citizens of Salem willing to believe Abigail and the other girls? Why did even those who doubted Abigail go along with the witch-hunt?
Do you think the witch-hunt could have been prevented? If so, how?
The term "witch-hunt" has also been used to describe McCarthyism in the U.S. in the 1950s. What do you know about McCarthyism and how were these events similar?
Why do you think this play is often required reading in middle school or high school?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Historical Fiction
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Penguin Plays
- Publication date : October 28, 1976
- Number of pages : 160
- Last updated : July 15, 2015
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