sort your acts out!

The Crucible by Arthur Miller Sort your acts out!

© www.teachit.co.uk 2010 13974 of 5

Act 1

Put the following statements into the correct order:

a) Rev Hale arrives and begins to question the villagers. Giles accuses his wife of stopping him from praying.

l) Betty begins to scream at the sound of a psalm from downstairs.

b) Thomas and Ann Putnam arrive and tell Parris that their own daughter is in a similar state to Betty, and blame witchcraft.

m) Ann Putnam admits that she sent her daughter Ruth to Tituba to discover who was to blame for the deaths of her other children.

c) Betty wakes and blames other women. n) The others return to see to Betty, interrupting Proctor and Abigail.

d) Betty tries to jump from the window.

o) John Proctor arrives and scolds Mary for having left his house.

e) Mary and Mercy leave. p) Abigail joins in with the accusations.

f) Abigail tells Proctor the girls are just pretending. She tries to seduce Proctor but is rejected.

q) When alone, Abigail tells Mercy that the adults know they were dancing and conjuring spirits.

g) The adults argue about Parris’s salary and ownership of land in the village.

r) Rebecca Nurse advises that it is all only children’s mischief.

h) Susanna Walcott tells him that the doctor thinks Betty’s state is caused by unnatural causes.

s) Tituba is called for and, when threatened with hanging, confesses to having seen the devil.

i) When questioned by Hale, Abigail blames Tituba.

t) Mary Warren arrives to tell them that the rumour of witchcraft has spread and Betty awakes.

j) Parris prays by his unresponsive daughter Betty’s bed.

u) Tituba claims to have rejected the devil and says she has seen other women of the village working with the devil.

k) Mercy Lewis arrives, apparently to check on Betty’s condition.

v) Abigail denies that when she and her friends danced in the forest they were practising witchcraft.



Act 2 Put the following statements into the correct order:

a) Elizabeth tells Proctor that Abigail’s accusation comes from her desire to replace Elizabeth as his wife.

l) Proctor tells Hale what Abigail told him and Elizabeth says she does not believe in the existence of witches.

b) Cheever discovers a needle in the poppet Mary gave Elizabeth. Mary claims Abigail watched her sew it.

m) Mary tells them about the women who have been condemned to hang for witchcraft.

c) Proctor and Elizabeth eat an awkward evening meal.

n) Cheever arrives with a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. He has to search the house for poppets.

d) Mary says Abigail will kill her for it and accuse Proctor of lechery.

o) Proctor recites the Ten Commandments with difficulty, forgetting adultery.

e) They argue about Proctor’s past relationship with Abigail and Elizabeth’s continuing doubts.

p) Elizabeth suggests to Proctor that he should go and tell them that Abigail told him it was all pretence.

f) Giles Corey and Francis Nurse arrive with the news that their wives have been arrested.

q) Elizabeth is taken and chained.

g) Rev Hale arrives and questions the Proctors about their religious habits. Proctor admits he does not like Parris.

r) Proctor realises that he must tell the truth about his relationship with Abigail in order to save his wife.

h) Elizabeth condemns Abigail, which is seen by Cheever as evidence of her guilt.

s) To avoid being whipped, Mary reveals that she has saved Elizabeth’s life that day.

i) Elizabeth tells Proctor about the court that now sits in Salem.

t) Proctor rejects Hale’s attempts to defend the court.

j) Mary continues to cry that she ‘cannot’.

u) Mary says she is ill and gives Elizabeth a poppet she has made.

k) Mary Warren arrives home and Proctor threatens to whip her for disobeying his orders.

v) Proctor insists that Mary go with him to court to prove Elizabeth’s innocence.




a) Mary runs to Abigail who embraces her.

k) Parris tries to discredit them, and Cheever tells the officials that Proctor ripped up his wife’s warrant.

b) Proctor gives Danforth a petition to confirm Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse’s innocence.

l) Proctor tries to discredit Abigail and so she pretends that Mary is sending a cold wind to afflict her and the other girls.

c) The other girls are brought in and Abigail denies everything Mary says.

m) Nurse and Corey are dragged onstage, followed by the court officials, who refuse to listen to them.

d) In a final effort to defeat Abigail, Proctor reveals his past relationship with her. Everyone is shocked by this.

n) Not knowing that her husband has confessed, Elizabeth lies to protect his reputation.

e) Offstage, Martha Corey denies witchcraft. Her husband and Francis Nurse arrive, shouting that they have new evidence.

o) Warrants are drawn up for the arrest of all those who signed the petition. Francis Nurse is horrified.

f) Hale begins to express his distrust of Abigail when suddenly she ‘sees’ a yellow bird that she claims is Mary.

p) Danforth sends for Elizabeth in order to prove Proctor’s accusation. Proctor asserts that his wife cannot lie.

g) John Proctor and Mary Warren arrive to back-up the men’s evidence that the other girls are frauds.

q) In an attempt to discover Proctor’s motives, Danforth reveals that Elizabeth is pregnant. Proctor cannot drop the charges.

h) Danforth questions Mary further and asks her to pretend to be afflicted again. She is unable to do so.

r) Proctor damns them all, and he and Corey are taken off to jail.

i) Proctor gives Danforth Mary Warren’s deposition and Danforth begins to question her.

s) Giles is charged with contempt as he will not reveal who told him that Putnam was trying to gain land through his daughter’s claims.

j) Hale denounces the court and storms out in protest.

t) Torn between Proctor and Abigail, Mary rejects Proctor and accuses him of working with the devil to overthrow the court.




a) Parris wants the hangings postponed as he thinks the villagers no longer support the court’s work and fears rioting.

l) Proctor admits to working for the devil but is horrified when they ask him to name the other accused women.

b) Proctor is told his confession will be posted on the church door and Rebecca Nurse is brought in to witness what he says.

m) Hale arrives wanting Danforth to pardon those set to hang that day.

c) Alone, she tells him of Giles’s death. He was pressed with heavy stones because he would not answer his indictment.

n) Hale desperately tries to persuade Elizabeth to plead with her husband.

d) Unable to accept losing his name, Proctor tears up the confession.

o) Parris reveals that Abigail and Mercy have stolen his money and run away.

e) Danforth, Hathorne and Cheever arrive and question why Hale has been permitted to visit those condemned to hang.

p) Proctor asks for her forgiveness, and she blames her own faults for his infidelity.

f) Proctor dies offstage, having finally achieved ‘goodness’.

q) Herrick admits that Parris has commanded it, and they discuss Parris’s recent strange behaviour.

g) Parris arrives and explains that Hale has been trying to persuade the condemned – particularly Rebecca Nurse – to confess.

r) Rebecca continues to refuse to lie by confessing.

h) Proctor agrees to confess in order to save his life and Danforth brings in Cheever to write down his confession.

s) Danforth refuses to postpone the hangings as it would cast doubt on his actions and the hangings that have already taken place.

i) Herrick brings in a bearded, filthy John Proctor.

t) Proctor is reluctant to sign his confession and when he does, he tries to prevent Danforth from having the paper.

j) Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are taken out to the gallows.

u) Elizabeth is summoned and asked to try to persuade Proctor to confess. She is suspicious but agrees to speak to him.

k) Herrick clears Sarah Good and Tituba out of the cell.

v) Proctor tries to convince Danforth that it is enough that his signature has been seen.



Answers Act 1 – j, h, v, b, m, k, q, t, d, o, e, f, l, n, r, g, a, I, s, u, p, c Act 2 – c, I, p, e, k, u, m, s, q, g, o, l, f, n, b, h, q, t, v, d, r, j Act 3 – e, m, g, k, q, I, o, s, b, c, h, l, d, p, n, f, t, a, r, j Act 4 – k, e, q, g, o, a, s, m, u, I, c, p, h, b, l, r, t, v, d, j, n, f

sort your acts out!

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