^^^^^^^^^THE CRUCIBLE: SETTINGThe Crucible is set in the small settlement of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The first three acts take place in the spring, and the fourth act in the fall.Actually there were two Salems--Salem Town and its tiny suburb, Salem Village. Reverend Parris' house was in Salem Village, and it was here that his slave Tituba, his daughter Betty, and his niece Abigail Williams first "came down with" witchcraft. The trials, however, were held for the most part in the large meeting house in Salem Town.Each act is set within a fairly small room: Act I is in a bedroom in Reverend Parris' house; Act II in the Proctors' "living room"; Act III in an anteroom to the main hall of the "meeting house," or church; and Act IV in a cell in the Salem jail. These settings give an impression of containment, almost of claustrophobia, as if we're boxed in, caught in a trap. As the pressure builds in each act, a sense of panic is bound to set in. Of course, this is exactly what the victims of the witch-hunt must be feeling. Arthur Miller's settings help us identify with the characters, by putting us, in a sense, in the same room with them.^^^^^^^^^^THE CRUCIBLE: THEMESA number of thematic threads run through The Crucible. Some of them contradict others, some of them overlap. And no one of them completely explains the play. You'll find that some of them ring more true to you than others, but you can find evidence to support all of them in the play. These themes are:1. SOCIAL DRAMAArthur Miller is dramatizing a bizarre but not uncommon social phenomenon. The explanation for the witch madness can be found in the makeup of the society itself. The play was written at a time when American society was threatened by a similar madness, over communism instead of witchcraft. The author is telling us that it might happen again, and we'd better do something about it.2. A PERSONAL TRAGEDYThe Crucible is really about one man's struggle with his consci...
