Review  Guide  for The Crucible

Katie  Le1er2an

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About the eBook AuthorKatie Letterman grew up in Jasper, In and graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Secondary English Education.

How to Use This e-BookThis eBook is meant for test and quiz review

only and is not a replacement for reading the play. Go through each section of the

eBook and use the activities, quiz, and dis-cussion questions at the end of each section

to guide your thinking and evaluate your knowledge of the play.

Table of Contents

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Section 1: About Arthur Miller

Section 2: Historical Context of The Crucible

Section 3: Characters

Section 4: Act Summaries

About Arthur Miller

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Arthur Miller, a famous American playwright, was born in Harlem, New York. He attended the University of Michigan, and after

graduating moved back to New York to start his playwriting career. His first big hit was Death of a Salesman which debuted on Broad-way in 1949. Arthur Miller was well known for being against McCarthy and his crusade to find communists within the United States. In fact, because of his play The Crucible, was the main reason for the government calling his loy-alty to America into question. Arthur Miller died at the age of 89 in 2005.

Section 1

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This short video briefly de-scribes the historical context of The Crucible

The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachu-setts in the year 1692. During this time in his-tory a few girls in Salem came down with an unusual sickness and started having hallucina-tions and acting very strange. In Puritan 15th century Salem anything out of the ordinary was typically considered to be the act of the

devil or demonic possession, so this strange illness ignited fears about com-munity members practicing witchcraft. It wasn’t long before feuds, jealous-ies, and grievances were dredged up in the form of accusations. When the witch hunt was all said and done 19 people were tried and convicted of witchcraft and were consequently hanged.

Flash forward to the 1950’s when Senator Joseph McCarthy sparked an anti-Communist frenzy in the United states and once again peo-ple in America were accusing one another of be-ing Communist. Those who were found to be Communist, whether realistically or factually, were not hanged as in Salem, but their careers

and reputations suffered as a result of being blacklisted.

Section 2

HistoricalContext

CharactersAbigail Williams is a vindictive, self-centered, ex-tremely manipulative, and extremely deceitful teen-aged girl, making her of course, the villain and antago-nist of our story. Formerly the servant in the Proctor household, but she was dismissed by Mrs. Proctor af-ter she found out Abigail was having an affair with Mrs. Proctor’s husband. She now has it out for Mrs. Elizabeth Proctor, and will certainly have her revenge. Abigail is also the niece of one of the church officials in town, Reverend Parris.

John Proctor is the father and husband in an ideal Puritan family, and has a virtually perfect life…that is, until Abigail comes into his life, and turns every-thing upside down. John Proctor had always been an honorable man and a hater of hypocrisy, but now that he has committed adultery with this young girl, he has become everything he’s always hated. He is forced to keep Abigail’s secrets, otherwise he would

be exposed as an adulterer and lech. See a pattern here? Abigail is John’s tragic downfall, making John Proctor our story’s protagonist.

Elizabeth Proctor is an honest and extremely virtu-ous woman, but those things can also translate into her being a cold person. After catching her husband John in the act of having an affair with their housekeeper she is struggling very hard to forgive him

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Section 3

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Reverend Parris is the head minister of the church, de-spite preaching about selflessness and holiness in church, he is a greedy, power-seeking man. Inciden-

tally, he is also Abigail’s uncle. Lies and deceit must run in the family.

Mary Warren is a shy and easy manipu-lated friend of Abi-gail’s. She is a partici-pant in the accusa-tions, but is not as ma-

levolent as her friend, and does feel guilty for the things she’s doing.

Reverend John Hale is a young, am-bitious minister who is highly trained to sniff out witchcraft

and put a stop to it. He starts with good in-tentions, but his actions ultimately wreak havoc upon Salem.

Tituba is Reverend Parris’s slave from Barbados who is con-vinced by Abigail to perform Black Magic.

Giles and Martha Corey are an older couple in Salem. Martha is accused of

witchcraft, par-tially because of Giles’s mistake. They are brave people with noble ends.

Betty Parris is Abigail’s cousin and her fabri-cated sick-

ness after being caught participating in the Black Magic ritual is what sparks this witchhunt.

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Judge Danforth is the judge oversee-ing the Salem witch trials and genuinely thinks that what he’s doing is right and strong believes

in his idea of justice and that no any person would be afraid of the court.

Judge Hathorne is a judge presiding over the witch trials with Judge Danforth.

Thomas and Ann Putnam are an afflu-ent and prominent

couple in Sa-lem. The Putnam’s are enemies with the Nurse family, and do some questionable deeds in pursuit of wealth and more land.

Ruth Putnam is the only surviving Put-nam child, who also falls strangely ill after being caught in the witchcraft ritual.

Francis and Rebecca Nurse are an elderly and prominent Salem couple, who stand up for justice even if it leads to fatal consequences

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Crucible Characters Word Search

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SummarySection 4

Summary Video by Shmoop

*Note that this section of the eBook is a brief summary and not to be used in place of reading the actual text

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Act 1 begins with Reverend Parris looking over his daughter Betty

who is apparently sick. It becomes apparent that she fell ill after Reverend Parris found his daughter, niece, Abigail, and numerous other Salem girls dancing naked in the woods with his slave Tituba.It is made apparent that there are rumors floating around Salem that Betty is sick due to involve-

ment with witch-craft. Soon after, the Putnams enter and announce that their daughter has also fallen sick with the same sickness as Betty. At first, Abi-gail at this point de-nies that what the girls were doing had anything to do with

witchcraft. We find out at this point that Abigail lives with her uncle be-cause her parents are deceased and she had just been fired from her servant job in the Proctor house for an unknown reason. A crowd of concerned community members forms so Parris agrees to lead them in a prayer. As Par-ris and the Putnams leave the room Abigail concocts a plan to only confess to dancing in the woods with Tituba, but not to participating in any witch-craft rituals, and threatens to use violence against the other girls if they say anything to the contrary.

John Proctor arrives at Parris’s home to see what has happened to Betty. John and Abigail end up talking alone and at this point it becomes apparent that they had had an affair. Abigail confesses to the whole ordeal being pretended, and when John spurns her advances she tells him his wife

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Act 2 begins with John and Elizabeth Proctor discussing the chaotic

witchhunt and how it’s unfortunate that their new housekeeper Mary War-ren is caught up in it. Elizabeth is afraid that because Abigail is the one head-

ing this frenzy that her own name will come up, and urges John to tell the court that Abigail con-fessed that the ordeal is a big hoax, and when John is reluctant, fearing that Abigail will out John as an adulterer, he and Eliza-beth briefly fight.

Enter Mary Warren who talks to the Proctors about her day in court and gives Elizabeth a poppet doll she had made that day. She confesses that Elizabeth’s name had come up in court, and after Mary goes to bed Elizabeth once again urges John to tell the court of Abigail. At this unfortunate time Reverend Hale and a few court officers show up at the Proctors door to inves-tigate Elizabeth and when they find the poppet Mary Warren had made, they take Elizabeth to jail.

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Act 3 begins in a courtroom where John Proctor, Giles Corey, and

Francis Nurse are trying to stop the trials from proceeding, all three hav-ing had their wives arrested on accusations of witchcraft. The men have a

document signed by numerous community members confirming the good characters of their wives. John has also brought Mary and

ordered her to confess that Abigail and the other girls are making all of this up. When Abigail and the others are brought out they turn on Mary Warren and accuse her of witchcraft. Utter chaos breaks out and John Proctor, trying to put a stop to it all confesses to his affair with Abigail, and states that because of this she is a girl that can’t be trusted. The judge brings Elizabeth out to see if she will corroborate her husband’s story, but not wanting to ruin his character she lies and denies that the affair oc-curred. Reverend Hale tells Judge Danforth that Abigail doesn’t seem trustworthy to him and that he believes John Proctor. Suddenly Abigail cries out and feigns hallucination, claiming she’s seeing a bird threatening her with witchcraft. The other girls follow Abigail in this strange pseudo-hallucination. A distress and pressured Mary claims that Proctor made her sign the Devils book, and he is consequently taken to jail. Reverend Hale, outraged, condemns the court and flees town.

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Act 4 begins in John Proctor’s jail cell on the day that he is to be

hanged. Reverend Hale has returned to town to try to save John Proctors life. He wants John to confess, even though he would be lying, to save his

life. Abigail has since left town with all of Rever-end Parris’s money. The town is in complete dis-array.

Judes Dan-forth and Hathorn convince Elizabeth to talk to John to

try and get him to confess so his life will be spared. In their conversation Elizabeth tells John that she will not judge John in whatever decision he makes, whether he confesses or not, but she tells him that she can’t confess herself because she doesn’t want to lie. John asks his wife for forgiveness, and surprisingly she tells him that he only needs to forgive himself and goes on to say that because she was a cold wife to him that might have prompted him to sleep with Abigail. She then asks him for forgiveness and confesses she has never known a better man and John.

This last interaction prompts John to verbally confess, but that is not enough for the court, he must sign a document to be posted for the whole town to see. Not wanting his sons or community members to see that he would confess to witchcraft, he tears the document up, and ultimately chooses death for himself. The play ends just before John is hanged.

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Discussion Questions-Why do you think all of the characters at the beginning of the play continually believe Abi-

gail even though her story is inconsistent?

-Why do you think the other girls played along in Abigail’s bird hallucination?

-What do you make of John and Elizabeth’s last interaction?

-What do you think is the meaning of this story as a whole?

-Who is the character you most identify with and why?

-Do you believe something like this could hap-pen at this time in America?

Themes and SymbolsThemes

•Reputation- Reputation is extremely impor-tant in this play-- a bad reputation could kill you, quite literally.

•Intolerance- In the extremely strict religious environment in which the play is set, anyone who deviates from the norm is thought to be in cohorts with the devil, and is consequently hanged. Toler-ance is not the norm in Salem.

•Deceit- Lies and deceit are essential to the plot of this play. Everybody lies at some point, but in the end it is the truth that frees John Proctor.

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Section 5

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Symbols•Poppet- The poppet is a doll traditionally associated, as

most dolls are, with youth and innocence, but the particular poppet that is given to Elizabeth Proctor is a symbol for how people who are innocent can be tainted so quickly by the words or actions of another.

•Witch Trials and McCarthyism- These

witch trials are made to be a symbol for McCarthyism and a time in American history that was chaotic with people point-ing fingers and ruining reputations.

Discussion•Can you think of any other aspects that could work as themes or symbols?

•Do you have any other ideas or think differently about these themes or symbols?

Works Citedhttp://www.scaryforkids.com/pics/hangma

ns-noose.jpg

Cover Picture- Noose in the rain Image

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/305/8/4/the_crucible_by_no_parachutes_here-d31yvlx.jpg

Table of Contents picture Image

http://www.biography.com/people/arthur-miller-9408335

Biography of Arthur Miller

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/context.html

Historical context of the Crucible and the time it was written

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbX2CfwXe5s

Video explaining historical context of the play

http://shmoop.com/video/the-crucible-summary/

Video giving brief summary of the play

http://www.shmoop.com/crucible/characters.html

Character List and discriptions

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/themes.html

Themes and symbols identification and de-scription

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/section1.rhtml

Act 1 partial description

http://www.shmoop.com/crucible/act-1-summary.html

Act 1 partial description

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/section4.rhtml

Act 2 description

http://www.shmoop.com/crucible/act-3-summary.html

Act 3 description

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/section6.rhtml

Act 4 description and Epiologue

http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/M/Arthur-Miller-9408335-1-402.jpg

Picture of Arthur Miller Image

http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/pattygopez/default/abigail-williams-crucible--large-msg-1319839711.jpg

Picture of Abigail (Winona Ryder) Image

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Witchcraft_at_Salem_Village.jpg

Picture of witch trials Image

https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/38456/photo-main.jpg?1308369084

Picture of red scare Image

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http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cf067b.medialib.glogster.com/media/b7/b79e9faddc69564be9af47e20d4deb087bb70f782d8a2f82408a48d95bc8c16a/john-proctor.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.glogster.com/animexshell/john-proctor/g-6mqkh52tm2kpv0tah70c5a0&h=225&w=225&tbnid=bhPVQ-_i_ZyoLM:&zoom=1&tbnh=186&tbnw=186&usg=__u-bJe_l6jmn8sMkRyeEMFuRBOFU=&docid=Y58T14mylCVs3M&itg=1&client=firefox-a&sa=X&ei=HHM_U4qyPOaxsQTm34C4Ag&ved=0CKwBEPwdMAo

Picture of John Proctor Image

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fperiod1-4.wikispaces.com%2FElizabeth%2BProctor&h=0&w=0&tbnid=wuTzDMS5CSj9eM&zoom=1&tbnh=261&tbnw=193&docid=1MVY3StgFoaw_M&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&ei=l3M_U8SsFaunsATwpoGoDw&ved=0CAUQsCUoAQ

Picture of Elizabeth Proctor Image

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quotefully_production/photos/character/a50137b5995611e090d012313b10052d_small

Picture of Reverend Parris Image

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qbJArdSxqC4/Tynz7QX1GAI/AAAAAAAAACA/F0ZiSW-buKI/s1600/MaryWarren.jpg

Picture of Mary Warren Image

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQjBW66Z1aPFoi5B8VXgCLQ1RHfQW-8-Rcdxw5umDQ3HYSpM7kwWvJ1Ezn2

Picture of Rev Hale Image

http://c85c7a.medialib.glogster.com/media/65/65f4333c345e8927a8a9cc66afd865753b38118b5abd32c29a660f4a346f0022/tituba-crying.gif

Picture of Tituba Image

http://thewallmachine.com/files/1349927041.jpg

Picture of Giles Corey Image

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fteachers.bergencatholic.org%2Ffaculty%2Fhornerj%2Fliterature%2525202%2Fcrucible%252520screen%252520shots%2Fbetty.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fteachers.bergencatholic.org%2Ffaculty%2Fhornerj%2Fliterature%25202%2Fcrucible%2520screen%2520shots%2Fscreenshotscrucible.htm&h=165&w=306&tbnid=fu8f_BGta48aMM%3A&zoom=1&docid=63T2a9cyIO_rwM&ei=L4g_U6LDNJKE2gW8noGgBA&tbm=isch&ved=0CMEBEIQcMBs&iact=rc&dur=2382&page=2&start=23&ndsp=29

Picture of Betty Parris Image

http://cruciblewithsomethingaddedtoit.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/20121125-195131.jpg?w=625

Picture of Judge Danforth Image

http://berkshireonstage.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/crucible_bsc10kspra_784.jpg

Picture of Judge Hathorne Image

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=Pyf1-Z8X1YKBSM&tbnid=xUX3

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VDn2F1MdtM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Flumenmiller.weebly.com%2Fcharacter-list1.html&ei=ro0_U5N4yeGwBL-CgPAC&psig=AFQjCNEzdd21rWJxfvA4DXt-ppMUc1clwQ&ust=1396760304049619

Picture of Putnam couple Image

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=4Pnvx_SLc16J6M&tbnid=MbqY-30GHWDIJM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthewallmachine.com%2Fembed%2Fz5qVGM.html&ei=5o4_U6HlAdbLsATQ74KACQ&psig=AFQjCNHhLCBWe814Fu6xeDVrOUGAxfoOwg&ust=1396760659695889

Picture Ruth Putnam Image

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Flumenmiller.weebly.com%2Fuploads%2F8%2F2%2F9%2F1%2F8291848%2F516395241.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Flumenmiller.weebly.com%2Fcharacter-list1.html&h=131&w=250&tbnid=sWJKGxIOVSK9VM%3A&zoom=1&docid=Pyf1-Z8X1YKBSM&ei=KY8_U8aZM6GU2gXssIDYCg&tbm=isch&ved=0CGIQhBwwBQ&iact=rc&dur=293&page=1&start=0&ndsp=30

Picture of the Nurses Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqlhcIkhEk

Shmoop summary video

http://www.movpins.com/big/MV5BNTQ1MjYyMTU4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODM2ODgwMw/still-of-winona-ryder-in-the-crucible-large-picture.jpg

Picture of Tituba and girls in the woods Image

http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/crucible-files/publicity.jpg

Picture of John and Elizabeth Proctor Image

http://missryansgcseenglish.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/marywarren.jpg

Picture of Abigail, girls, and Judge Danforth Image

http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/hdwyer/files/2013/01/CrucibleHanging.jpg

Picture of Elizabeth, John, and Mar-tha Corey Image

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