The Crucible
Greetings,
To begin I would like you to watch the movie. Yes I know it's disturbing and sad. Personally I had to watch it in 10-15 minute segments. Then I'd get up and do something else for awhile and come back to it when I had calmed down. I probably spent 4 hours watching the movie.
The movie is useful for several reasons. It allows us to look at the whole burning times issue. It gets to the point of history as it really happened, history as it is portrayed in fiction, and history as we would like it to be. And the behavior of the characters in the play give us ample opportunity to think about ethical decision making.
So here we go. After you watch the movie, proceed through the following:
I hope you enjoyed that!
Plot Summary
- Refer to this plot summary if you need to refresh your memory of the movie.
- This critical review was written not by me but by masterplots. I have broken the article into 6 topics and have inserted questions into each topic section.
- The author, Jenny Gibbons has an M.A. in medieval history and minored in the history of the Great Hunt. This is an amazing article on the history of Witch hunting. Please, PLEASE read this. If you never read anything else on this site read this.
- More topics and questions to think about, this time related to the article by Ms. Gibbons.
- Another wonderful article, this one giving the perspective of what really happened in Salem.
- National Geographic has put together this amazing interactive site about the witch trials. See how you'd fare.
Read Robin Wood's When, Why ... If for more information on ethics for the modern Pagan. You can buy her book off of her website at: http://www.robinwood.com/
Please read Ronald Hutton's "The Triumph of the Moon" for more about the history of Witchcraft in Britain, along with his "The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles" and "The Stations of the Sun".
Blessed Be
Lirala
Last updated: May 7, 2004 
