Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissbaum. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974.

This study discusses the major players in the historical Salem witch trials and the trials’ lasting effects on Puritanism, land, religion, and capitalism in the United States. It also presents the trials as just one example of a phenomenon beginning in the 1660s.

Carson, Neil. Arthur Miller. New York: Grove Press, 1982.

Originally published in 1982, this study was revised in 2005 to cover Miller’s entire writing career by discussing each of Miller’s works and how they reflect on his career as a whole.

Ferres, John, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Crucible. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972.

This anthology is a part of a series on contemporary interpretations of canonical literature. Featuring articles by renowned critics, this edition’s collection of essays about The Crucible is an exhaustive resource for literary criticism.

Hayes, Richard. “Hysteria and Ideology in The Crucible.” Commonwealth 57 (February 1953), p. 498.

This short article examines how hysteria works through The Crucible to drum up excitement despite no basis in reason or evidence. Hayes discusses how Miller uses themes of morality and ideology to adapt the concerns surrounding the trials for a modern audience.

Martine, James J. The Crucible: Politics, Property, and Pretense. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.

This study covers how Miller adapted The Crucible to the McCarthy era. Martine focuses on the text as dramatic literature and analyzes historical context and genre as well as staging, audience, and performance. He also discusses later adaptations, such as Robert Ward’s 1961 opera.

Martin, Robert A., ed. Arthur Miller: New Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982.

This anthology of literary criticism about Arthur Miller is split into two sections to discuss individual plays as well as the relationships between them to analyze Miller’s career as a whole.