"The Crucible" vs McCarthyism.

Certainly one of the most prominent literary works of the mid-20th century is Arthur Miller's drama "The Crucible". On the outside it is a play in which private disputes erupt into enormous conflicts that affect the entire community. This much is obvious. At the heart and soul of the play, however, lies so much more. Because the characters' conflicts draw such an emotional response from the reader, an important element like the setting might go unnoticed. In reality the setting has much more bearing on the play than one might suppose. The Crucible certainly could not survive without…