The purpose of my article is to compare and contrast Arthur Miller's The Crucible with the real witch trials that took place in Salem in the 17th century. Although many of the characters and events in the play were not fictional, many details were changed by the playwright to add intrigue to the story. While there is no specific cause or event that led to the Salem witch trials, it was a combination of events and factors that contributed to the birth and growth of the trials. Some of these events included: a small smallpox epidemic that was occurring at the time, Charles II's revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's charter, and the constant fear of native attacks. These helped create anxiety among the early Puritans who were being punished by God Himself. Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915 to Isidore and Augusta Barnett Miller. He was born into a family where his mother was a teacher and his father a prosperous manufacturer. He was not an exceptional student (having failed Algebra three times), but during his teenage years he was more interested in athletics. After losing the entire family fortune in the stock market crash of 1929, after high school, Arthur went to work in a warehouse dealing in automobile parts. It was there that he picked up a copy of The Brothers Karamazov which influenced him to become a writer. A few years later, he was accepted to the University of Michigan where he majored in journalism. During his time in college, Miller wrote many plays for which he, in turn, won awards. His first play “The Man Who Had All the Luck” debuted on Broadway in 1944 but, unfortunately, was short-lived. Then, in 1953, The Crucible opened on Broadway. While the show focused on the W...... in the center of the card...... and to explain the girls' "witch" biologically. Analyzing the trials they developed three fundamental psychological approaches: sexual repression in the Puritan communities of New England, the low status of women (they actually had no say in the matter and men were considered much more intelligent) and the lack of opportunities for any type of entertainment. Other scholars believe that “the diet of Salem villagers at that time may have led to a deficiency of calcium, which is known to cause spasms and “hysterical” states”1 and that claims that they were visited or suffocated by witches accused could be linked to a condition known as sleep paralysis. But all these theories also lead to the question: is it possible that all the girls in this group suffered from sleep paralysis? Or it's possible that some of them were faking it?