MovieChat Forums > Salem Witch Trials (2003) Discussion > The Crucible

The Crucible

posted 18 years ago by Tayliepo101
7 replies | jump to latest

This is the Crucible. Same characters, same plot. We did this as our school play and I was Ann Putnam but their daughter wasn't Annie she was Ruth.

What channel was this on??

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] lilsammi23 18 years ago

Actually The Crucible is only partially fiction. It's based on the real events surrounding the witch trials but retold to call to mind McCarthyism and the Red Scare that had taken hold of America when Arthur Miller wrote it in the 50s. The whole history repeating itself thing you know...

[–] richard.fuller1 11 years ago

I have always been intrigued by the Salem Witch Trials thanks to a Spiderman comic book from '75, but in studying up on the events, all I can deduce is saying The Crucible is 'based on' the Salem witch trials is like saying Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho were 'based on' the same true story, which they were, but neither one is the Ed Gein story.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on Gein with the leather mask, the cannibalism and the disarrayed house, but there was no chainsaw, there was no massacre and it wasn't in Texas. There was nobody in a wheelchair. I didn't realize til years later that 'the true story' was Gein's.

Psycho likewise was based on a short story based on Gein, with his obsession with his mother.

Neither is Gein's story.

I would say The Crucible is wholly fictionalized and based on actual persons, but the reasons for why things happened, those are totally made up.

I guess this is why everytime I have looked up the Salem witch trials, The Crucible always seems to be a very minor footnote.

[–] Shelly-30 18 years ago

This aired as a miniseries (2 x 120) on CBS back in 2003 (it was filmed in Ontario during the summer of 2001).

And, as mentioned before, of course the names of most--if not all--of the characters are going to be the same as in The Crucible, because they're both based on an actual historical event (the Salem witch trials).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] fiona_applegate 15 years ago

Well the Crucible is based on the historical event of the Salem Witch Trials (and McCarthyism)So yes they would have a similair plot and characters becasue this was an actual historical event.

And Ann Putnam's daughter was named Ann Putnam jr. However when Arther Miller wrote The Crucible he took a bit of artistic license with much of the plot and named her daughter Ruth to eliminate confusion. And as Ruth/Anne Putnam never appears on stage it was okay. However Anne Putnam jr. was a key player in the actual event of the Witch Trials.

[–] richard.fuller1 11 years ago

Tayliepo101: This is the Crucible. Same characters, same plot. We did this as our school play and I was Ann Putnam but their daughter wasn't Annie she was Ruth."
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You remind me of when I first started reading on the Titanic, I felt Molly Brown should have been a headstrong female staying on the ship much longer, instead of entering one of the first lifeboats to leave, then I had to think, no, the Titanic wasn't a written piece of literature, it was an actual event.

So was the Salem witch trials. They weren't characters and a plot.

As it is, everytime I have looked into the Salem witch trials, The Crucible has always been brought up to a virtual minimum.

From what all I have read plotwise of The Crucible, it is a complete work of fiction as 'based on actual events' as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho were supposed to be 'based on a true story' that being the story of Ed Gein, who was not in Texas, did not use a chainsaw, committed no massacre and stabbed no one in a shower.

The Crucible, from what I am gathering, seems to be something that is a favorite of high school theatre groups.