Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible': In what ways does the title of the play add meaning and become reflected in the action, themes, imagery and characters Miller presents us with?

Arthur Miller uses the title of his play "The Crucible" as a metaphor constantly throughout the text. A crucible is a container used to heat metals at a high temperature so the metal can be cast, often using intense pressure to do so. Crucibles are often also used to remove impurities from a substance, so that only the pure matter remains. The relevance of the title is apparent in many of the themes and issues …

…an attempt to separate the good from the evil, the pure from the tainted. Through his text, he shows the frailty and vulnerability of human nature by showing how hypocrisy and hysteria can lead to times of suspicion and instability. He leaves us, his audience, to make our own judgement about similar periods in history and to ask ourselves the question - Is it possible, or even predictable, that this situation will ever occur again?