The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller that was first produced in 1953, is based on
the true story of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Miller wrote the play to parallel the
situations in the mid-twentieth century of Alger Hiss, Owen Latimore, Julius and Ethel
Rosenburg, and Senator McCarthy, if only suggestively. (Warshow 116) Some
characters in the play have specific agendas carried out by their accusations, and the fact
that the play is based on historical truth makes it even more intriguing.
The characters in this play are simple, common people. …
