The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Anticipation Questions

• Is confessing to a crime you didn‘t commit in order to avoid punishment wise?

• Is it better to die for what you believe in rather than to lie to save your life?

•  Is it more difficult to forgive yourself if the person you have hurt doesn‘t forgive you?

• Is a person truly innocent until proven guilty?• Does courage mean you do something even

though it can be difficult and fearsome?

TIMELINE – Salem, MA

• 1689- June 18 - Samuel Parris is officially hired as the Salem Village minister.

• 1692 –– January 20 - Samuel Parris' nine year old

daughter, Betty, falls ill. - More young girls in Salem Village also fall ill.

– February - The Salem Village physician, Dr. William Griggs, concludes the girls are bewitched.

Timeline – Salem, MA

• 1692 - February 29 - Thomas and Edward Putnam, Joseph Hutchinson and Thomas Preston swear complaints against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. They are later arrested for suspicion of witchcraft.

• March 1 - Salem Town Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examine Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Tituba confesses to witchcraft.

Themes of The Crucible

• 1) People who stand by their beliefs, no matter the cost, ultimately triumph.

• 2) The effects of fear on a society can lead to its destruction.

• 3) Repression, fear, and lies can lead to mass hysteria.

• 4) A man’s reputation is worth dying for• 5) When good men do nothing, evil will triumph

6) Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Facts

• 140 – number of people who were accused of witchcraft in 1692

• 4 – the age of the youngest person accused of witchcraft• 19 – number of people who were hanged; 1 was pressed to

death• 43 – the number of people who were “afflicted” by

witchcraft• 81 – the age of the oldest person accused and killed• 2 – the number of dogs executed for witchcraft association

Other interesting facts…

• Failure to recite “The Lord’s Prayer” was considered evidence of witchcraft

• Accused witches were thought to have signed “the devil’s book”

• Moles were examined as a place where the devil “sucked” at one’s soul

Vocabulary

• theocracy: governed by religion• providence: God’s will; God’s intervention in human

affairs• Puritanical: strict in morality and religion; this term has

come about since the reign of the Puritans• theology: the study of a religious doctrine; what a

particular sect believes• vestry: the room in the church where robes are kept• apparition: ghost• trafficked: have dealings with• blink: tolerate

Language of Arthur Miller

• Using old-fashioned, archaic words: “bid” (told), “Aye” (Yes), “Nay” (No), “Hearty” (Well)

• Incorporating expressions from the time period: “Goody” (Mrs.) “Be open with me” (tell the truth)

• Changing the use of the verb “to be”: “it were” (it was), “There be” (there was)

• Adding double negatives: “he cannot discover no medicine” and “I don’t compact with no devil”

• Changing the normal order of words: “I like not to search a house.”

• Adds a rustic, colloquial fee to the language by dropping the “g” from the ends of some words: dreamin’, carrin’, nothin’

The story begins with THE GIRLS

• Sick girls:– Betty (Parris’ Daughter) – Ruth (Putnam’s daughter)

• Girls who danced:– Abigail Williams– Mercy Lewis– Mary Warren (works for the Proctors)– Susanna Walcott

Reverend Samuel Parris

• The minister of Salem• Betty’s father• Abigail’s uncle. • Parris delivers harsh fire and

brimstone sermons that sometimes turn off his parishioners.

Paris in History:

As a father and master, he’s inattentive and quick to anger. Parris’s insecurity and obsessive concern with his reputation result from his near paranoid belief that someone is plotting to persecute him, steal his position, ruin his good name, or harm him in some other way.

“My ministry’s at stake; my ministry and perhaps your cousin’s life.”

Betty Parris

• Parris’ DAUGHTER who was caught dancing in the woods. She immediately went into a comatose state.

• She is 10 years old

Tituba

• Parris’ Barbados slave.• The girls asked her to go into the

woods to conjure spirits• 40 years old

Abigail Williams• Abigail Williams – The 17-year-

old niece of Reverend Parris. • Native Americans killed Abigail’s

parents when Abigail was young. • While a servant in John Proctor’s

household, Abigail was fired.• Abigail is beautiful, intelligent,

crafty, and vindictive. She’s also a skillful liar. She is the leader of the girls and is willing to do anything to protect herself.

“And mark this—let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and[…] I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!”

The story begins with THE GIRLS

• Sick girls:– Betty (Parris’ Daughter) 10– Ruth (Putnam’s daughter) 10

• Girls who danced:– Abigail Williams 17– Mercy Lewis 18– Mary Warren (works for the Proctors)17– Susanna Walcott 16

Ann Putnam

• Ann Putnam – The wife of Thomas Putnam.

• Mrs. Putnam is bitter• 8 children – only ONE

lived

“Mr. Hale, is it a natural work to lose seven children before they live a day?”

Thomas Putnam

• Thomas Putnam – The husband of Ann Putnam,

• one of the richest farmers and landowners in all of Salem.

• Putnam is a bitter man who feels that the citizens of Salem have not given him the respect that he and his family deserve.

• He seeks to gain respect and revenge by increasing his wealth, landholdings, and influence however he can.

“This man is killing his neighbors for their land!”

-Corey

John Proctor

• John Proctor – A farmer, and the husband of Elizabeth.

• Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams while she worked as a servant in his house.

• A powerful man in both build and character, Proctor refuses to follow people he considers hypocrites, including Reverend Parris.

• Feared and resented by the many people in Salem he has made feel foolish

• Proctor has a powerful sense of personal integrity. For this reason, his affair with Abigail makes him see himself as a hypocrite.

“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!”

Rebecca Nurse

• Respected• Loved• Charitable• Pious

Rev. John HaleReverend Hale – A minister in the nearby Massachusetts town of Beverly, and an expert in identifying witchcraft. An intelligent man, Hale sees himself as a scientist and philosopher, a kind of physician of the soul..

Elisabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor – The wife of John Proctor. She fires Abigail Williams as her servant when she discovers that the girl is having an affair with Proctor. Elizabeth is a good woman known for never telling a lie. She loves her husband deeply, but seems to have the sense that she doesn’t deserve him.

“In her life, sir, She have never lied. There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep—my wife cannot lie.” – John

Proctor

Deputy Governor DanforthA Deputy governor of Massachusetts who comes to Salem to preside over the witch trials. Though he’s more open-minded and intelligent than Judge Hathorne, Danforth believes completely in his ability to distinguish truth from fiction. He views those who disagree with him as suspect. In fact, he suspects that anyone who disagrees with him might be working “against God.”