The CrucibleThe Crucible

By Arthur MillerBy Arthur Miller

Anticipation GuideAnticipation Guide

1.1. Most people have certain Most people have certain fundamental beliefs that they are not fundamental beliefs that they are not willing to compromise.willing to compromise.

2.2. People are willing to accept the People are willing to accept the consequences of their actions.consequences of their actions.

3.3. Withholding the truth is the same Withholding the truth is the same thing as telling a lie.thing as telling a lie.

4.4. Adultery is acceptable in today’s Adultery is acceptable in today’s society.society.

Arthur Miller Background Oct. 17, 1915 – Feb. 10, 2005

Died of heart failure

Wrote: Death of a Salesman (1949) All My Sons (1947) The Crucible (1953) Many others….

Miller Background Cont… Shaped by the Depression Father was a manufacturer Worked in a warehouse in high school University of Michigan (began writing plays) Married Marilyn Monroe

The Crucible’s SETTING Late 1600’s Salem, Massachusetts Salem witch trials were taking place

because of fear and accusations Based on actual historical events

The Crucible’s Relationship to the 1950’s

Fear of Communism spreading in the United States

Red Scare Cold War The biggest threat was Communist

Russia

The Crucible’s Relationship to the 1950’s McCarthy Trials

McCarthyism – termed after Senator Joseph McCarthy McCarthy felt that the people they summoned were anti-

American and that this justified the extreme, even extra-legal measures

Also conducted internal screening programs on federal government employees conducted by the FBI

This was an anti-Communist crusade in the early 1950’s Some of those accused:

Charlie Chaplin Lucille Ball Arthur Miller Walt Disney

The Crucible as an ALLEGORY Written about US events in the 1600’s as

an allegory to the US events of the 1950’s Allegory: The representation of abstract ideas

or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.

In other words: When you tell one story to help represent what is going on with something else

CHARACTERS from The Crucible Reverend Parris

(minister of the church in Salem)

Betty Parris (Rev. Parris’s daughter;

has strange illness)

Reading Lines – Reverend Parris Line 1: “You will confess yourself or I

will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!”

Line 2: “How can it be the Devil? Why would he choose my house to strike? We have all manner of licentious people in the village!”

CHARACTERS from The Crucible Tituba

(Rev. Parris’s black slave from Barbados)

Reading Lines – Tituba Line 1: “Mister Reverend, I do believe

somebody else be witchin’ these children.”

Line 2: “No, no, don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir.”

CHARACTERS from The Crucible John Proctor

(farmer who lives outside of Salem; hates hypocrisy)

Elizabeth Proctor (John Proctor’s wife;

fired Abigail Williams)

CHARACTERS from The Crucible

Abigail Williams (Rev. Parris’s niece;

Proctors’ former servant)

Susanna Walcott (belongs to Abigail’s

group)

CHARACTERS from The Crucible Mary Warren

(Proctors’ new servant)

Mercy Lewis (belongs to Abigail’s

group)

CHARACTERS from The Crucible Thomas Putnam

(wealthy, influential man; has a grudge against Francis Nurse)

Ann Putnam (Thomas Putnam’s wife; has given birth to eight

children and only one has survived)

CHARACTERS from The Crucible Ruth Putnam

(the only surviving Putnam child; has strange illness)

Goody Osborn (midwife to Ann Putnam)

CHARACTERS from The Crucible

Rebecca Nurse (upright, respected

woman)

Francis Nurse (Rebecca Nurse’s

husband; wealthy, influential man)

CHARACTERS from The Crucible

Giles Corey (John Proctor’s friend; concerned about wife’s behavior)

Martha Corey (Giles Corey’s wife)

Reading Lines – Giles Corey Line 1: “A fart on Thomas Putnam,

that is what I say to that!”

Line 2: “I will not give you no name. I mentioned my wife’s name once and I’ll burn in hell long enough for that. I stand mute.”

CHARACTERS from The Crucible

Ezekiel Cheever(clerk of the court)

Reverend Hale(thought to be an expert on witchcraft; sent to help the city of Salem)

Judge Danforth

Judge Hathorne Herrick

(the marshal of Salem)

Reading Lines – Reverend Hale Line 1: “Now let me instruct you. We cannot

look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone.”

Line 2: “You must have no fear to tell us who they are, do you understand? We will protect you. The Devil can never overcome a minister. You know that, do you not?”

Say after Me Goody = Mrs. (ex. Goody Moore) Aye = yes Salem Tituba Barbados Putnam

Quotes to Discuss – Puritan Standards

YOU MAY ONLY READ THE BIBLE! “They had no novelists – and would not

have permitted anyone to read a novel if one were handy.”

Quotes to Discuss – Puritan Standards YOU MUST ATTEND CHURCH AND PAY

ATTENTION! “… a two-man patrol whose duty was to ‘walk forth in

the time of God’s worship to take notice of such as either lye about the meeting house, without attending to word and ordinances, or that lye at home or in the fields without giving good account thereof, and to take the names of such persons, and to present them to the magistrates, whereby they may be accordingly proceeded against.”

Quotes to Discuss – Puritan Standards

YOU MUST STAY WITH US TO BE SAFE! “… for danger was still a possibility, and in

unity still lay the best promise of safety.”

Choose one of these to write a 1 page journal entry for homework. Write about a time…

You thought you might be in trouble and you lied to avoid it.

You found yourself "in over your head" because of a bad choice you made.

You made a bad choice that you wish you could go back and change.

The CrucibleDay 3

Finish Act IThe 2’s before Act IIBegin fill-in review

The CrucibleDay 4

Review Act I What caused the belief that witchcraft

was in Salem? What are some of the rumors going

around about witchcraft? Why does Mrs. Putnam believe there are

witches in Salem? Why is Tituba a necessary character in

this play?

Geometric Character Analysis

∆ Delta (change) Love triangle Trinity Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon

Geometric Character Analysis NOT GOOD:

$ - Thomas Putnam has lots of money.

GOOD: $ - Thomas Putnam is greedy and

wants more land to compete with Francis Nurse.

Abduction Articles Articles are class set. Don’t

write on them.

Journal Entry Relate the Abduction Articles to The

Crucible. Identify at least two key similarities.

The CrucibleDay 5

Journal Entry It has been 7 months since Elizabeth

Proctor has fired Abigail Williams. What do you think the marriage is like between John and Elizabeth? Do you think this is adequate time to move on?

Start Act IIComplete the first page of the

fill-in review.Do the vocab for Acts I and II.If you were absent, read the

Abduction Articles, and do the vocab for HW.