The Crucible - Reading and Study Guide

Vocabulary study set containing key character profiles, symbolic meanings, study guide concepts, and literary devices from The Crucible.

Arthur Miller

The author of the tragedy historical drama The Crucible, written in 1953.

Genre of The Crucible

Tragedy historical drama set during the Salem Witch trials.

"It's winter in here yet"

A remark made by John Proctor in his home symbolizing the coldness, tension, and strained atmosphere in Elizabeth's actions.

Poppets

A gift made by Mary Warren for Elizabeth Proctor, inside of which Ezekiel Cheever uncovers a needle.

Adultery

The specific commandment that John Proctor forgets when reciting the Ten Commandments to Reverend Hale.

Yellow bird

The imaginary creature Abigail Williams and the other girls claim to see in court to torment and mimic Mary Warren when she tries to tell the truth.

Confession (in the Salem Trials)

The legal means by which the accused avoided hanging by confessing to witchcraft and naming someone who allegedly controlled them.

Reverend Parris

The minister of Salem's church who is paranoid, greedy, and power-hungry; symbolizes materialism, religious hypocrisy, and the corruption of spiritual authority.

Betty Parris

Reverend Parris's ten-year-old daughter who falls into a strange stupor after dancing in the forest; symbolizes human fear and the panic caused by dread of authority.

Tituba

Reverend Parris's enslaved person from Barbados who leads rituals in the woods and is the first accused; symbolizes racial prejudice, systemic injustice, and vulnerable scapegoats.

Abigail Williams

Parris's wily, vindictive niece who instigated the trials after being dismissed for an affair with John Proctor; symbolizes sexual repression, unchecked power, and McCarthy-era accusers.

Susanna Walcott

A nervous, hurried girl working for Doctor Griggs who joins the afflicted accusers; symbolizes the complacent follower easily swayed by mass hysteria.

Ann Putnam

Thomas Putnam's grief-stricken, hysterical wife who lost seven babies; symbolizes grief corrupted by obsession, the poison of envy, and scapegoating.

Thomas Putnam

A wealthy, resentful citizen who uses witchcraft accusations to acquire his neighbors' forfeited land; symbolizes greed and exploitation of public tragedy for personal gain.

Mercy Lewis

The Putnams' cruel, sly servant and Abigail's chief enforcer who flees Salem with Abigail; symbolizes sadism, opportunism, and institutionalized cruelty.

Mary Warren

The timid Proctor servant who attempts to confess the hoax but cracks under peer pressure and labels Proctor the "Devil's man"; symbolizes crowd-following weakness.

John Proctor

A stern, strong-willed farmer tormented by his affair with Abigail; symbolizes human frailty, individual conscience, and the struggle for personal redemption.

Rebecca Nurse

An upright, pious woman charged with the supernatural murder of the Putnam babies who refuses to confess to a lie; symbolizes pure goodness and tragic innocence.

Martha Corey

Giles Corey's logical, outspoken wife arrested for bewitching Walcott's pigs after reading strange books; symbolizes rationalism and the targeting of free-thinking individuals.

Reverend John Hale

A minister from Beverly and witchcraft expert who realizes the court's corruption and urges the accused to lie to save themselves; symbolizes moral awakening.

Elizabeth Proctor

John Proctor's supremely virtuous wife whose rare lie in court to protect her husband seals his fate; symbolizes truth and moral integrity.

Francis Nurse

A wealthy, respected Salem citizen who presents a petition signed by 91 citizens to defend the accused; symbolizes the old guard of true moral authority.

Ezekiel Cheever

The upright tailor turned court clerk who uncovers the poppet needle and arrests neighbors; symbolizes totalitarianism and state-given authority over community bonds.

Marshal Herrick

Salem's marshal who drinks heavily to cope with arresting neighbors while showing pity; symbolizes the conflicted, complicit bystander.

Judge Hathorne

An arrogant Salem judge who demands Mary Warren faint on command; symbolizes institutional ignorance and the legal system's refusal to admit error.

Deputy Governor Danforth

The presiding judge who refuses to postpone hangings to avoid appearing weak; symbolizes the dangerous purity of an ideological state.

Sarah Good

A homeless, mentally unstable woman accused early on who confesses to avoid execution; symbolizes vulnerable societal scapegoats.

Hopkins

A silent Salem jail guard appearing in Act 4 to clear prisoners and announce Danforth; symbolizes the normalization of a police state.

Giles Corey

A stubborn, brave farmer pressed to death for refusing to name his informant to protect his sons' land; symbolizes unyielding integrity and legal pushback.

Ethos

The development of trustworthiness in the speaker or group belonging in an argument.

Pathos

The use of emotional appeal in an argument.

Logos

The use of logic, fact, and data to persuade.

Simile

Comparison words using like or as.

Repetition

The repeating of certain phrases or words.

Allusion

Something comparing something that is a reference to something.

Hypocrite

Saying something or believing something is bad, but then doing that thing.

Dialect

A distinct variety of language.

Metaphor

Comparing two unrelated things, without using like or as.

Personification

Making something not alive have person qualities.

Allegory

A narrative, poem, or visual work that uses characters, settings, and plot events as symbols to convey a deeper moral, spiritual, or political meaning beneath the surface story.

Irony

When events or words are the opposite of what is expected, creating a sense of surprise, humor, or deeper meaning in literature, rhetoric, and everyday situations.

Rhetorical question

A question asked to make a point, rather than get an answer.

Understatement

A particular quality of a person, object, emotion, or situation is downplayed or presented as being less than what is true to the situation.

Antithesis

Positions opposite ideas parallel to each other (such as heroes and villains, hot and cold, bitter and sweet).

Local color

A literary technique that focuses on the specific dialects, customs, traditions, and geography unique to a particular region.

Pathetic fallacy

Like personification, it gives non-human things emotions in poetry.

Imagery loaded words

Words that carry strong positive or negative emotional connotations that go beyond their literal dictionary meaning.

Pious

Very religious.

Malice

Desire to cause pain for someone else.