The Crucible | Historical Context

The Crucible Historical Context

Miller warns in the preface to The Crucible that "this play is not history," but it is certainly dependent on historical events for its story. It will be necessary in this section to deal with two periods of history: first the time of the Salem Witch trials and second the time of McCarthyism in the 1950s when Miller was writing.

Marion Starkey's 1949 book, The Witch Trials in Massachusetts first generated interest in the events that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century Those accused of witchcraft were hounded by representatives of their community (and the larger pressure of majority opinion) until they admitted their involvement, naming others involved in suspicious practices—although the majority of those accused and named were guilty of nothing more than behavior that did not conform to the societal norms of the time.

Despite what might be obvious to contemporary...
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