The Crucible

By Arthur Miller

Defining a “crucible” Crucible:

A container for melting something

Testing circumstances: a place or set of

circumstances where people or things are

subjected to forces that test them

Abigail Williams Orphaned niece of Reverend

Parris She is extremely jealous of

Elizabeth Proctor and uses her power in the town to rid herself of people who have insulted her in the past.   

She is the leader of the girls.

John Proctor Husband to Elizabeth  He knows that the girls are

pretending but cannot convince the town

An individual and critical thinker; strong personality

He refuses to admit to witchcraft or to consider Abigail as anything more than a liar.

Elizabeth Proctor Wife of John Proctor She feels responsible for

the withering relationship between her husband and herself.

Described as a cold woman.

Tituba Servant to the Parris

household She is a native of Barbados.  She is enlisted by Ruth

Putnam and Abigail to cast spells and create charms. 

When Abigail turns on her to save herself from punishment, Tituba confesses to all and saves herself.

Reverend Parris Pastor of the church in

Salem He is the father of Betty and

the uncle of Abigail Williams.  He believes that he is being

persecuted and that the townspeople do not respect his position as a man of God.

Needs to prove to the community that he is holy.

Deputy Governor Danforth He seems to feel

particularly strongly that the girls are honest. 

He is sensitive to the presence of the devil and reacts explosively to whatever evidence is presented.

The Girls

Betty Parris- Daughter of the Reverend, cousin to Abigail Williams.  She is a weak girl who goes along with her cousin as soon as she is threatened.

Susanna Walcott- Easily guided by Abigail.

Mercy Lewis- Servant to the Putnam household.  She is a merciless girl who seems to delight in the girls' activities.

Mary Warren-Servant to the Proctor household.  She is not strong enough to fight Abigail.

Reverend Hale An expert on witches;

wants to save the witches, not kill them.

An honest man; intelligent.

Feels sympathy for the accused.

Starts to question the court.

Ethical Scenario

You have been wrongfully accused of cheating on an exam. If you admit to cheating, you will serve a lunch detention, have the chance to take the test again, and have the incident recorded in your permanent school record. If you maintain your innocence, you will receive a zero on the exam and an after-school detention. You will not, however, be labeled a cheater on your school records. What are the plusses and minuses of each choice? Would you rather be labeled a cheater and receive less punishment, or defend your innocence and receive a larger punishment?

Describe the Reverend Paris. What clues do you receive that he will be

one of the villains of the play?

• “villainous path”• persecution complex• no interest in children• easily insulted

Describe the life of the Puritans, according to Arthur Miller.

• they had no novelists• wouldn’t allow books to

be read• no celebrations• focus on prayer• hard work kept people

out of trouble more than religion

What beliefs and ideas did the Puritans have about the woods around them?

• “Devil’s last preserve” • “last place on earth that

was not paying homage to God”

• they couldn’t convert the Natives

• “heathens” took the lives of their family members,

• area of mystery and feelings of persecution

Describe the general revenge that Miller speaks of in reference to the Salem witch

hunts. • hatred of neighbors• land-lust• accusing the neighbor of

witchcraft was pious• “old scores can be settled on a

plane of heavenly combat between Lucifer and the Lord”,

• jealousy of the happiness of others

• Paris expresses concern for his daughter, but his comments to Abigail suggest that he has another motive for wanting to know what happened in the forest. What does his conversation with Abigail suggest about his personality?

• self-interested• concerned about his

reputation in the village

• he may be difficult to get along with since he is on the verge of losing his job

What do we learn about Abigail’s character, specifically in lines 131-147? • “your name in town – it

is entirely white, is it not?”

• proud – will not be a slave to anyone

• refuses work she considers below her

• troublemaker – can’t find a job

• How are Betty Paris and Ruth Putnam behaving? What do the townspeople think about their trance?

• What did Reverend Paris see in the woods?

Describe the Putnams. • Mrs. Putnam is a “twisted

soul”, “death-ridden” and “haunted by dreams”

• Believes in the accusations of witchcraft and blames witches for the deaths of her seven children.

• Putnam is a “man with many grievances”: his brother in law was denied the minister job in Salem.

• Vindictive = had a man jailed for debts he didn’t owe because he got the minister job. Putnam thought the village wronged his family.

• Tried to change his father’s will, by force.

• Many of the accusations in Salem are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam, or he was a key witness. He used his daughter to point fingers at people.

Why do you think Parris tries to change the Putnams’ beliefs about

witchcraft at this point? • Parris wants the

Putnams’ support so that he won’t have to leave Salem

• he knows Putnam is a bitter and vengeful man that wants to ruin his reputation since Parris is in the job that his family wanted

• Putnam continues to talk about witchcraft to ruin the name of Parris and his family.

• Tituba is consulted about the girls’ health because she knows how to talk to the dead

• Mercy Lewis’ name is ironic because Miller describes her as “merciless”

What does Putnam attempt to get Parris to do?

• admit to the gathered village that there are witches in Salem

• before accusations start flying; he wants Parris to admit the influence of a witch in his own home, to make a stand against the Devil

Describe Mary Warren. What does Mary want the girls to do? Why?

• subservient, naïve, lonely

• confess and be whipped for dancing and “the other things”, better than hanging for witchcraft. She only looked.

What new conclusions can you draw about Abigail, given her comments in lines 353-364 and what Betty reveals

about her?• she drank blood, a charm to kill John

Proctor’s wife• she takes charge - a natural leader• dominates the conversation, threatens

the other girls if they do not support her story

• cruel and intimidating - a bully• her family was killed by Indians as she

watched• has feelings for Proctor

On the basis of Miller’s mini-essay, what role do you think John Proctor will play:

hero, villain, major character, minor, foil? Explain.

• did not tolerate hypocrites

• even-tempered• powerful of body• not easily led• made up his own mind

• made fools feel foolish and not much liked• lies were spread in town about him•troubled soul• sinner against his own vision of conduct•thinks of himself as a fraud• respected and feared• quiet confidence and hidden force

Reread the stage directions in lines 391-404. What does Proctor’s facial

expression reveal about his attitude toward Abigail as he first addresses

her?• familiarity, jest, maybe

flirtation• Abigail grows angry with

Proctor because he has refused her need for further physical intimacy

What has caused Abigail to lose her job at the Proctor’s house?Why might Abigail resist Proctor’s decision to end the affair? Do you think she really loves him?

As Proctor responds to Abigail’s insults about Elizabeth in lines 457-463, what do his words and the stage directions

suggest about his view of his marriage?

• wants to protect Elizabeth and his marriage, he scolds Abby, he is angry with himself for the affair

• As Betty listens to her father’s sermon she cannot hear the Lord’s name mentioned

• The Putnams take it as a sign of witchcraft

• Does Miller want the audience/readers to believe that Betty is indeed bewitched or possessed by a demonic force? Make two lists: one stating reasons why the audience is meant to believe the girls are bewitched, and the other giving evidence that contradicts that view.

The relationship between Francis and Rebecca Nurse and Thomas Putnam is

complicated and unfriendly.• LAND: Nurse had a

land war with a Putnam relative in the past; people resent his social status since he rented his land and made enough to buy it.

• MINISTRY: Nurses opposed Putnam’s choice for minister.

• WITCHCRAFT: Rebecca and her husband are well respected in the community, but were accused by Putnam’s wife and daughter.

In what sense do Rebecca Nurse’s words in lines 522-530 set her apart

from the other characters?• she is calm and has a calming

effect on Betty, who quiets down in her presence; the voice of reason, she uses past experience rather than emotion and rumor to think about the girl’s illness

What do the comments from Rebecca and Proctor suggest about the likelihood

of their being caught up in a hysteria over witchcraft?

• Rebecca and John urge Parris not to search for “loose spirits” (535-6), she pushes Proctor to stay calm and suggests that Parris send the Reverend Hale, a witch hunter, away to secure peace in the community.

Discuss Parris’ greed and ego.• he demands free firewood

even though his contract allows him 6 pounds to buy it

• he demanded a deed to his house

• concerned with money and possession – not religion

• feels persecuted,• demands respect and

threatens disobedience with Hell

What does Proctor criticize about Parris’ sermons? (lines 580-4)

• Parris preaches hell and damnation instead of about God.

• Proctor hasn’t been seen at church for a while.

• He doesn’t like the Reverend.

What personal conflicts are revealed between the villagers of Salem?

• Rebecca vs. Mrs. Putnam (over sick children)• Putnam vs. Proctor (regarding Proctor’s

spiritual condition)• Proctor vs. Parris (regarding Parris’s

preaching style)• Giles vs. Parris (regarding Parris’s salary and

benefits)

• John Proctor is accused leading a faction against Parris

• Putnam believes John is taking wood from land that belongs to Putnam

• (Putnam believes he got the land from his grandfather’s will, when in fact the grandfather never owned it to give it away. Proctor bought it off the Nurses).

Describe Giles Corey. What is he known for in town?

• he is famous for bringing charges against his neighbors

• he believes they are always telling lies about him and sues them for defamation of character – usually without proof

What can you infer about Proctor’s personality and attitudes from his

remark in line 646?• not easily led by others –

especially if he disagrees with their morality

• he does not like people who abuse power in an attempt to control others

• he is not afraid to say what he thinks – even if it seems rebellious

What is dangerous about Proctor’s behavior?

• his individualism can get him in trouble, since it is not valued in the community

Describe Mr. Hale.

• eager-eyed intellectual• proud of his errand – witch hunting• considers himself a specialist• happy to use his knowledge publicly• studies the invisible world• believes in the underworld and Lucifer’s minions• not one of his lines has ever made the audience laugh• considers himself superior to the villagers• his goal is light and goodness• is supposed to be impartial

The Devil according to Miller:• Cosmology is divided into the

works of God and the works of the Devil (morality vs. sin)

• Until Christianity, good and evil, positive and negative were part of the same continuum/force. Underworld was never a hostile area, just the death side of life. All gods were useful. Christianity necessitated the idea of man’s worthlessness until redeemed, and created the Devil as a weapon to whip men into surrender.

• Devil used politically; rebels of history were accused of having communed with the Devil

• Political ideas (such as communism and anti-communism) are described as holly or hellish. Political acceptance of communism is an alliance with Red hell, inhumane, diabolically malevolent.

• People’s fear of the Devil was used to force obedience to authority

• “The Devil is a wily one, and, until an hour before he fell, even God thought him beautiful in Heaven” – hard to discover the motivations of people’s actions, can’t always predict what people will do

• Our opposites are always robed in sexual sin

Why does Miller believe that there was Devil worship in Salem?

• women indulged in communities of women

• selected young men to love in the woods

• worshiped the gods of fun and pleasure because they were denied any power

• Hale appears on the scene with heavy books, weighed down with authority.

• They will back up the opinions of Hale in regard to witchcraft

• He recognize Rebecca Nurse because she looks like a good soul should - her works of charity are known in his town

• Hale will not be quick to believe the charges of witchcraft – is called a “sensible man”– he asks for his judgment to be accepted

by the town, even if he rules against witchcraft

– says they should not go by superstition and look to the precise marks of the devil (lines 751-6))

What do you find about the reason Ruth (Mrs. Putnam’s daughter) was

attempting to communicate with her dead sisters?

• she was sent by Mrs. Putnam to instruct Tituba to communicate with the dead so that Mrs. Putnam can find out who murdered her babies – hypocritical: use a witch to look for witchcraft; Mrs. Putnam is willing to use witchcraft to her own benefit

How does Miller describe Giles Corey?

• early 80s• a comic hero• a scapegoat that was

blamed for lots – missing cows and fires

• innocent and brave• didn’t care for public

opinion• only started praying

recently when he married Martha

• he claims that his wife reads strange books and that he cannot say his prayers when she does this

Pay attention to Hale’s questioning of Betty (leading the witness)

• Hale puts in the mind of Betty (and possibly the other bystanders) in regard to being afflicted by witches– tells Betty that the spirit

afflicting her does not have to be a man or woman, it can be animal and invisible to others

– leads the way for the use of spectral evidence during the trials)

Hysteria

• Hale helps to create the hysteria about witches that is starting to sweep through Salem– pressures the girls so they feel

trapped and start looking to shift the attention onto someone else

Abigail’s responses

• The kettle that was present during the dancing in the forest was for soup

• Frog “jumped in, we never put it in”

• Abi turns on Tituba to shift attention, since Tituba is an easy target as a slave and Barbados native - she’s already an outcast in the community and thought of as different and strange

• Abigail says Tituba made her drink blood and laugh in church

Why do you think Abi laughs in church?

Tituba• Parris threatens a lethal

whipping if she doesn’t confess

• Putnam threatens to hang her • she is blessed by the priests

and encouraged to name others - assured safety and help

• Hale says she is God’s instrument and her mission is to help cleanse the village – makes her feel important and appeals to her vanity

A confession was supposed to be a wish to come to Heaven’s side, so those that confessed were spared (but were liars in the eyes of God, and therefore damned to Hell after death).

• Putnam suggests the names of Goody Osborn and Sarah Good.

• Tituba just tells them what they want to hear.• Abigail and Betty take advantage of the

situation to make sure they will not be blamed for dancing in the forest– begin to call out names, Abigail says she signed the

Devils book but wants to go back to Jesus, her previous irreligious behavior is ascribed to witchcraft – not her criticism and lack of faith

• Hale gives them confidence and authority by saying they are doing God’s work

• The more afraid these characters are of being persecuted and punished the more willing they are to implicate others

What are Tituba’s true feelings toward Parris? How do we find them out?

• she claims the Devil wanted her to kill Parris because he is mean, no goodly man, not gentle – she hates him

What do the characters in the play believe about witches?

• exist and are the agents of the Devil

• can control people and charm children

• can take the form of animals