The Crucible (Penguin Plays)

The Crucible (Penguin Plays)

A haunting examination of groupthink and mass hysteria in a rural community?he 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 PostReviewWinner of the National Book Award Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American LettersAbout the AuthorArthur Miller was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays includeAll My Sons (1947),Death of a Salesman (1949),The Crucible (1953),A View from the Bridge andA Memory of Two Mondays (1955),After the Fall (1963),Incident at Vichy (1964),The Price (1968),The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972) andThe American Clock. He has also written two novels,Focus (1945), andThe Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text forIn Russia (1969),Chinese Encounters (1979), andIn the Country (1977), three books of photographs by his wife, Inge Morath. More recent works include a memoir,Timebends (1987), and the playsThe Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991),The Last Yankee (1993),Broken Glass (1993), which won the Olivier Award for Best Play of the London Season, andMr. Peter's Connections (1998). His latest book isOn Politics and the Art of Acting. Miller was granted with the 2001 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.Excerpt. ?Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.THE CRUCIBLEARTHUR MILLER was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. His plays include All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays (1955), After the Fall (1964), Incident at Vichy (1965), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), and The American Clock (1980). He has also written two novels, Focus (1945) and The Misfits, which was filmed in 1960, and the text for In Russia (1969), In the Country (1977), and Chinese Encounters (1979), three books of photographs by Inge Morath. His most recent works include a memoir, Timebends (1987), the plays The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), The Last Yankee (1993), Broken Glass (1994), and Mr. Peters? Connections (1999), Echoes Down the Corridor: Collected Essays, 1944-2000, and On Politics and the Art of Acting (2001). He has twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and in 1949 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.?HRISTOPHER BIGSBY has published more than twenty books on British and American culture. His works include studies of African-American writing, American theater, English drama, and popular culture. He is the author of two novels, Hester and Pearl, and he has written plays for radio and television. He is also a regular broadcaster for the BBC. He is currently professor of American Studies at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England.BY ARTHUR MILLERDRAMA The Golden Years The Man Who Had All the Luck All My Sons Death of a Salesman An Enemy of the People (adaptation of a play by Ibsen) The Crucible A View from the Bridge After the Fall Incident at Vichy The Price The American Clock The Creation of the World and Other Busin