The Crucible | Essays and Criticism

  • The Crucible's Relevance to Modern Society

    In this essay, Joanne Woolway proposes that while Miller's play was aimed at criticizing a specific period in American history—the McCarthy trials of the 1950s—the work has relevance to modern society on a number of levels, particularly the topic of child abuse.

  • The Crucible: A Structural View

    In the following Essay, Phillip G. Hill argues that The Crucible, "however short it may fall of being the great American drama, is nevertheless a thoroughly successful, provocative, and stimulating theater piece."

  • Review of The Crucible

    In the following review which originally appeared in The New York Times on January 23, 1953, Brooks Atkinson outlines the plot of The Crucible, which he calls a "powerful play." Comparing it to Miller's Death of a Salesman, Atkinson argues that The Crucible "stands second . . . as a work of art,'' and maintains: "By the standards of Death of a Salesman, there is too much excitement and not enough emotion in The Crucible.''