It is based on the classic and award winning play and film about one of the darkest time in American history that transpired during the witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts. The Crucible is a classic and award winning tale that perfectly tells the tale of two similar times in American history. It shows a chilling portrait of man’s cruelty to others and how paranoia, mistrust, envy and hate can lead to the suffering of the many. Arthur Miller mirrored The Crucible towards the anti-communist hysteria that plagued the country during the 1950’s.

The association of extreme heat with extremely challenging experiences can be found in many other expressions, such as trial by fire.The Crucible is based upon the tragic and unfair trials that led to the death of several townsfolk in Salem, Massachusetts. Crucible is usually applied to a situation that tests a person’s character and perhaps changes them forever. However, crucible has been used to mean “a severe test” since the 1600s. The figurative use of crucible is closely associated with Miller’s play, which uses the Salem Witch Trials of the late 1690s as a metaphor for the persecution of supposed Communist sympathizers in the United States (known as McCarthyism) that was happening around the time the play was written. During the American gold rush, makeshift crucibles were used to process gold. In the Middle Ages, when the practice of alchemy was turning into chemistry, early scientists used different forms of crucibles to perform experiments with metals.

The first part of the word may be based on the root cruci-, meaning “cross-shaped” (as in crucifix), but it’s not known for sure.Ĭrucibles have been used for at least hundreds of years. It comes from the Medieval Latin crucibulum, which meant “pot used for melting metals” or “night lamp,” but its ultimate origin is uncertain. Crucible is first recorded in English in the 1400s.

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