The Crucible

Arthur Miller

Setting: The play takes place in a small town in seventeenth century Massachusetts, during the Salem Witch Trials

Background Information:

The play occurs during the seventeenth and eighteenth century Salem Witch trials and involves the Puritan beliefs and religion. They were very religious. They felt that people could form compacts with the devil. The devil would do actions for them in this life and then when they died he would have their souls. They believed in witches and felt that they could cast spells on people. The Puritans believed that there were certain signs of a witch.

There is a feud between the Putnam and the Nurse families. They are both wealthy land owners and the Nurses are very respected in town. These families each supported a different minister. The Nurses supported Reverend Parris.

The Proctors preferred to worship in their own house. They felt that the church under Reverend Parris was becoming too materialistic and drifted away from the purpose of the church. Rebecca Nurse was the midwife to the Putnams, she aided the delivery of the babies. Mrs Putnam had eight children, seven of which died, and the Putnams felt that Mrs Nurse had put a curse on the children when they died.

Major Characters:

• Francis Nurse: He was the head of the Nurse family and was a respected man in town. He tried to stop the trials by aiding John Proctor.
• Rebecca Nurse:She is a very kind women who is the midwife to the Putnam's. They feel she is a witch because seven out of eight of their children died at birth.
• Reverend Parris: He is the local Minister. He discovers the girls dancing. He is mainly responsible for the witch trials. He is a materialistic man, places gold candlesticks in the church.
• Betty Parris: She is Reverend Parris' daughter, is caught dancing and pretends to see spirits.
• Tituba: She is Parris' Negro slave who teaches the girls about spirits.
• Abigail Williams: She is the niece of Parris and a very emotionally strong person. She scares people into doing what she wants them to do. She leads the girls in the accusations. She accuses Elizabeth Proctor because she( Abigail) had an affair with John Proctor and feels he still has feelings for her. Without Elizabeth in the picture she feels they can have a relationship together.
• The Putnams: Attributed the death of seven of their children to Rebecca Nurse . They are wealthy land owners, holds many grudges in the town.
• Mary Warren: She works for the Proctor's. She gives the poppet to Mrs. Proctor, which leads to her accusation of being a witch. She was going to testify against the girls but then in the end she accuses John of being a witch.
• John Proctor: He opposes the expenditures of Reverend Parris in the church. He is well-known and respected in the town. He had an affair with Abigail, but after Elizabeth is accused by her, he no longer has feelings for her and realizes how many feelings he has for her.
• Elizabeth Proctor: She discovers that John is having an affair, but forgives him. She is incapable of lying.
• Reverend John Hale: He is the minister who is called in to investigate the witch trials. At first he believes them, but later he returns to the town to try and stop the trials.
• Deputy Governor Danforth: He is the judge at the witch trials. He is dedicated to removing all witches. He rules by the law and will not allow exceptions or anyone to try to undermine his court.

Plot summary: Abigail and the girls are dancing in the woods They conjure up spirits while dancing naked and they are discovered by Reverend Parris. This leads to the accusations of the girls as witches. Then to escape punishment they accuse other women of the town of being witches. This leads to trials of these women with the girls as the jury.

John Proctor is having an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth Proctor knows of the affair. Abigail then accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch. A doll is found in the Proctor's house and this is overwhelming evidence that she is a witch.

Deputy Governor Danforth is the judge. He believes the girls are telling the truth. Meanwhile they are accusing the women whom they do not like. Reverend Hale is called in as an expert witness. He at first believes they are witches, but then he denies it and tries to help the accused.

Proctor gets Mary Warren to testify against the girls. When Mary Warren enters the court room, Abigail and the other girls start to scream that she is sending her spirit upon them. Mary then afraid, accuses John Proctor of sending his spirit out upon her.

John is now accused of being in league with the devil. He discusses the possibility of lying in order to save his life. Danforth wants him to sign a confession. This way it will show the townspeople that the witch trials are valid. John does not want to sign the confession because he doesn't want to incriminate his friends. He is then put to death, but retains his good name and pride.

Themes:

Pride - John does not want to sign the confession because he would loose his pride and good name.

• Revenge - The girls and the accusers were naming people whom they did not like and wanted to harm them.
• Fear - Fear of the devil allowed the witch trials to go on.
• Conflict of authority - Danforth felt the law should be followed exactly, and that anyone who opposed the trials was trying to undermine him and his authority and the church.
• Puritan Ethics - They believed lying and adultery were horrible sins.
• Self interest - They were looking out for their own lives and took whatever actions necessary to save themselves.
• Honesty- Elizabeth was "not able to tell a lie".

Key issues:

Fear, self interest: Shows what happens when emotions control your logic and thinking. Hysteria will occur. Shows how people will accuse others in order to save themselves. This leads to a wild finger pointing. Also when you were accused of being a witch, in order to save yourself you could accuse other women. People in the town allowed their fear of witches and the devil to interfere with their rational thinking.

Puritan Ethics: The church was very important in their daily life. The Puritans were very religious. They were scared of modern things destroying the old church. They believed in the devil and that you could make pacts with him. It was a horrible sin to lie.

Integrity: John had to deal with the fact that he had an affair with Abigail and broke the trust between Elizabeth and him. He sinned, and the people of the town would have condemned him, if they knew.

Lessons/morals/applications:

Honesty: Elizabeth cannot tell a lie says John Proctor, but she will lie to protect John. In some cases you have to lie. Hale agrees with this. He says "God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride."

Applications: The McCarthy trials. This story relates to these trials. During the 1950's Senator Joseph Mc Carthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This lead to many unfounded accusations that people were communists. Some people believed him because they were fearful of communism and he played on their fears. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting "witch hunts". If you opposed the Salem Witch trials you were accused of being a witch. If you opposed the Mc Carthy investigations you were accused of being a communist.

“The Crucible.”  Bellmore-Merrick Central High School.  8 Nov. 2007 <http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/crucible.html>.