The Crucible can be read on one level - the actual Salem witch trial. It’s a very good play with wonderful dialogue using the language of people who still knew their King James Bible. I have seen many productions and the McCarthy theme is not very obvious. And the further we get away from that time, the less obvious it is.
And that’s my NY Values opinion.
In 1952, Elia Kazan appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC); unwilling to risk his promising career in Hollywood for the Communist cause that he had come to despise, Kazan named eight members of the Group Theater, including Clifford Odets, Paula Strasberg, Lillian Hellman, J. Edward Bromberg, and John Garfield,[29] who in recent years had been fellow members of the Communist Party.[30]
After speaking with Kazan about his testimony, Miller traveled to Salem, Massachusetts to research the witch trials of 1692.[19] The Crucible, in which Miller likened the situation with the House Un-American Activities Committee to the witch hunt in Salem in 1692.
I was wrong about Marilyn just being nasty.
Other than that after reading the above it seems Miller had an agenda. WIKI
An argument can be made that those who wrote the King James were influenced by the Lollard Bible, there is a thing called the subtle twisting of language to prove a particular point, The Bard gave an example and I can't remember it, damn my mind.