ay in 1953 after noticing a similarity between what happened in Salem in 1692 and what was happening in the McCarthy Political Witch-hunt which was climaxing at that time. America had just come out of the great depression and the citizens were not content with the running of their country. The threat of communists became a serious one as the government feared that the people of America would adopt communist ideas and overthrow them. To stop this happening the government arrested citizens which they thought to be communist inclined. These citizens, innocent or not, were threatened with imprisonment unless they named another communist. As he citizens did not want to go to jail, they cleared their own names by naming others, whether they were communist or not. This political situation was very similar to one in Salem where people were clearing their own name at others' expense even if the names given were false. The crucible is therefore an allegory and represents events that were happening in 1953 and how bad things could actually get.
             The play is written using powerful structure ad rhythm. At the beginning of each Act the audience find themselves asking various questions.
             For example, At the beginning of Act 1 the audience are wondering, "why is Betty ill?" and "What were the girls really doing n the woods?" Throughout the act these questions are gradually answered yet are followed by numerous other questions for the beginning of the next one. This keeps the audience on their toes, hooked and wanting to know what else is going to happen. As the acts progress so does this rhythm and more things happen and more questions are asked than previously. E.g. At the beginning of Act one there is only two major questions whilst by the beginning of act 2 we wonder, how the girls are going to carry on protecting themselves? How long will they carryon like this for? Will they be found out? Who is the going to be the next...