Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts by Arthur Miller

4 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Because it's a classic, there's not much more I can add to the conversation. It kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering how the trials and the issues between the Proctors and Abigail were going to turn out. I must say, maybe it's because people told me I would be surprised, but I wasn't very surprised by the ending. I enjoyed the morally gray status of most of the characters against obviously corrupt, fear-mongering religious and law leaders. It brought to mind something I've been thinking about recently - that it's difficult to make "the correct" decision once someone else has made a poor one. Lastly, the misogyny was a bit difficult to ignore, especially since Abigail was considered a "child" in many ways yet also the seductress, and the end paints her as a harlot, while John Proctor isn't apparently. But this wasn't an uncommon viewpoint, even for the '50s.

I don't factor performance into overall story rating, but I would give this cast 5/5⭐.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

noragoudie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Reading this was a loaded experience, and gives me a new perspective on the character that I am portraying in JPITV this fall. The prose is so beautiful; I am a huge Arthur Miller fan in this respect. However, I take issue with his portrayal of women so deeply in this play. I know it is marked by the time in which it was written, but I see why it is so easily criticized and tend to agree with the criticisms.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, and Mental illness

leehillier's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Racism, Slavery, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

orchidlilly's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I actually liked a book school made me read? Wild, I know. But despite the sexism and the raging historical inaccuracies, it was fun to read. Maybe it was made more enjoyable by the fact that I got to watch my classmates read it out loud in horror and shame. The best thing you can do is make a bunch of high schoolers read out the lines of a horned up 17th-century character lol.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Blood, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and Classism