In the tight-knit, Puritan town of Salem, a group of girls are discovered dancing in the woods and then immediately fall ill. When no earthly cause can be identified, fear and suspicion begin to percolate in the small, isolated community, that something larger, more fearsome, and other worldly may be to blame. Buried secrets and resentments are brought to light and attempts to root out evil lead to finger-pointing, treachery, and betrayal. When everyone is a suspect, sometimes the most dangerous threat to the community may be the community itself.

The author chose the title The Crucible very carefully. There is something about the heat, the intensity, the rigidity of a crucible, separating, combining, and destroying whatever is placed within it.  A “crucible” can also be a test or severe trial, which our central character (John Proctor) is put through long before he’s ever accused of witchcraft.

The community cannot handle the raw femininity of children dancing as they explore the first hints of adulthood, so they latch onto the idea of witchcraft, a patriarchal attempt to keep women in their place.