The Crucible

In Arthur Millers classic play The Crucible, we see the destruction of a community through the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem. Based on real events and historical figures, the play is a searing portrait of a town engulfed by hysteria. When a girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of practicing witchcraft, church leaders and townspeople insist she be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbors to testify against their neighbors brilliantly illuminates how socially sanctioned violence can destroy even the most basic bonds among individuals.