In every literary work there are themes. A theme is a broad idea, moral, or message of a book or story. One individual may interpret the themes of a book or story differently than another, but that is the pure beauty of the themes. A great literary work is The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. In short, the play is about the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. Throughout the story, townspeople accuse their neighbors of being witches and practicing witchcraft. On the surface, this historical drama has some universal and enduring themes. The themes are universal because no matter where you are in the world, the ideas still affect everyone and are understood. The themes are enduring because the ideas are found in ancient times and today in modern society. In view of the fact that The Crucible was published in 1953 and is still read and analyzed throughout the world, the themes of reputation, empowerment and hysteria present in the work are universal and enduring. One of the themes explored in The Crucible is reputation. Throughout the show, many characters focus on maintaining public reputations and good names. They also believe that their names and reputations will be compromised because of the sins of their friends. A good example of how the theme of reputation is shown is through Revered Parris. In one scene, Reverend Parris talks to Abigail Williams about the incident with her daughter Betty in the forest. He tells Abigail, “There is a faction that has sworn to drive me from my pulpit.” He believes that this supernatural incident with his daughter Betty will ruin his reputation with the people of Salem and eventually lead to him resigning from the pulpit. Reputation is universal and central profiling. Today, people accept stereotypes about Mexicans, blacks, Asians, and whites as truth. With the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, people in Europe and America now have a prejudiced opinion towards Muslims. Arthur Miller's work reminds audiences that this hysteria towards different races and peoples may never end. Reputation, empowerment and hysteria are universal and enduring themes present in The Crucible. These ideas are universal and enduring because they are present in every part of the world and will continue with humanity. Today, people all over the world try to maintain a good reputation. People gain power even when they never had any. People today are hysterical about social issues related to racism. The Crucible is a great literary work that teaches readers lasting ideas found throughout the world.