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The Crucible Study Guide

by Arthur Miller

The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller. The Crucible study guide contains a biography of Arthur Miller, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

The Crucible, a historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, takes place in a small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692. The witchcraft trials, as Miller explains in a prose prologue to the play, grew out of the particular moral system of the Puritans, which promoted interference in others' affairs as well as a repressive code of conduct that frowned on any diversion from norms of behavior.

The play begins in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter, Betty, lays ill. Parris lives with his daughter and his seventeen-year old niece, Abigail Williams, an orphan who witnessed her parents' murder by the Indians. Parris has sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, believing his daughter's illness stems…

Read the full The Crucible Summary

• The Crucible Summary
• About The Crucible
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Summary and Analysis of Act One
• Summary and Analysis of Act Two
• Summary and Analysis of Act Three
• Summary and Analysis of Act Four
• Historical Dystopia
• Related Links on The Crucible
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• The Crucible: Major Themes
• The Crucible: Essays
• The Crucible: Questions
• The Crucible: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Arthur Miller: Biography