The Crucible Act One

The Crucible Act One: includes characters and vocabulary (note also includes plot as well as Act 1 Questions)

In his introduction to the play, how does Miller explain what really motivated the people of Salem to accuse their neighbors, friends, and relatives of witchcraft? 

Miller explains that personal grievances and greed motivated the people of Salem to accuse their neighbors, friends, and relatives of witchcraft.                                      

What were Abigail and the girls doing in the forest when Rev. Parris saw them?

Abigail and the girls were dancing in the forest without clothes while Tituba sang. 

Why is Parris so worried about evidence of witchcraft being discovered in his own house?

Parris is worried about evidence of witchcraft being discovered in his own house because he was worried about his reputation. 

What does Rebecca Nurse think is wrong with the girls?                          

Rebecca Nurse thinks the girls are faking witchcraft for attention. 

Why is Mrs. Putnam so eager to prove there is witchcraft in the village?    

Mrs. Putnam is eager to prove there is witchcraft in the village because she has lost all but one of her children shortly after they were born and wants someone to blame. 

What is the source of conflict between Rev. Parris and John Proctor?

The source of conflict between Rev. Parris and Proctor is that Proctor questions Parris’s beliefs and morals. John Proctor sees that Parris is more concerned with keeping his position as minister than practicing his true religion and devotion to God. 

What is the relationship between Abigail Williams and John Proctor? 

John cheated on his wife, Elizabeth, with Abigail once. She is now obsessed with him, and wants him to be with her, but John refuses, feeling guilty.

How does Abigail feel about John’s wife, Elizabeth?                                                                                                    

Abigail is jealous of Elizabeth and despises her because of it. 

What is unusual about Giles Corey?                                                                     

Giles never attended church before marrying his wife, Martha. He tells Hale that his wife reads books he doesn’t know about and files lawsuits regularly. 

Why is Thomas Putnam such a bitter man?   

Thomas Putnam is a bitter man because he wants more land and power. 

Who is Reverend Hale, and what does he accomplish? 

Hale is a reverend summoned to Salem to help identify witches.  

Why does Tituba confess so readily? What does her confession initiate? 

Tituba confessed so readily because she fears being hung. Her confession causes Abigail and Betty to accuse other women as witches as well. 

Reverend Samuel Parris

The minister of Salem, Tituba is his slave, as a father and master he is inattentive and quick to anger, his 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 way.

Betty Parris

In many ways she seems like a typical teenager rebelling against her overly protective father, as a follower she quickly falls in line with Abigail’s plot

Abigail Williams

17, marauding Native Americans killed her parents when she was young, while she was a servant in John Proctor’s household, she had a brief affair with him before his wife found out and fired her. Beautiful, intelligent, crafty, and vindictive, skillful liar, leader of a group of girls and is willing to do anything to protect herself

Tituba

Slave of Parris, originally from Barbados, terrified of Parris who generally blames her for everything that goes wrong in the house, as black female slave she represents the lowest rung of Salem society. Confesses because she feared being hung, blames Sarah Good and Osborne of being witches working for the devil because Putnam had said their names earlier

Thomas Putnam

One of the richest farmers and landowners in all of Salem, a bitter man who feels the citizens of Salem have not given him and his family the respect they deserve. Seeks to gain respect and revenge by increasing his wealth, landholdings, and influence however he can. One of nine sons

Ann Putnam

As bitter as her husband but for different reasons: 7 of her 8 children did not live past infancy; sent her only surviving child into the forest with the other girls to conjure up her dead siblings’ spirits to find out why they didn’t survive infancy; quick to believe Tituba’s claim as they were her midwives to her dead children

Ruth Putnam

Daughter of Thomas & Ann Putnam

Mercy Lewis

Teenage girl and servant in the Putnam household; Abigail’s closest friend and confidant; the second in command of the group of girls behind the trials. 18, fat, sly, merciless

Mary Warren

Teenage girl and servant in the Proctor household who replaces Abigail Williams; is a generally good and quiet girl; fears wrongdoing but fears Abigail even more. 17, naive, lonely, subservient

John Proctor

A farmer; had an affair with Abigail while she worked as a servant in his house; a powerful man in both build in character, refuses to follow people he considers hypocrites, including Reverend Parris. Feared and resented by the many people in Salem he has made feel foolish; has a powerful sense of personal integrity, for this reason, his affair with Abigail makes him see himself as a hypocrite. Middle 30s

Elizabeth Proctor

Fires Abigail as her servant when she discovers the affair. A good woman known for never telling a lie; loves her husband deeply but has the sense she doesn’t deserve him, and therefore often responds coldly to him; his affair had shaken the trust she had in him and convinced her that she was right in the assumption that she didn’t deserve him.

Francis Nurse

Wealthy farmowner and landowner in Salem; generally considered by the Salem community to be a good man, but many people resent his recent rise to wealth; had argument over land with Putnam that had risen to the level of physical fights; families related to Francis Nurse were involved in refusing to allow Putnam’s wife’s brother-in-law to become the minister of Salem, a slight that Putnam has not forgotten.

Rebecca Nurse

A much beloved and admired figure in Salem for her religiousness and good sense; has also served as the midwife of many births. 72, white haired, 11 kids, 26 grandkids, disliked by Ann Putnam because she is jealous than only one of her children survived childbirth.

Giles Corey

A farmer; owns a farm near Salem; an old man and somewhat of a rascal, but also very brave and moral at heart. He’s been involved in numerous court cases and lawsuits, and therefore knows the law inside and out. Married to Martha Corey. 83, canny, inquisitive, powerful, making his wife sound like she is a witch.

Reverend John Hale

A minister in the nearby Massachusetts town of Beverely, and an expert in identifying witchcraft; an intelligent man, sees himself as a scientist and philosopher, a kind physician of the soul; at the beginning he’s something of an innocent, taking for granted that the world is black and white and that he, with his expertise, can tell the difference between the two; by the end his outlook has changed, unlike other priests his insistence on uncovering facts makes it impossible for him to overlook the evidence indicating that those condemned of witchcraft in Salem were innocent. Nearing 40, tight-skinned, eager eyed intellectual, summoned to Salem to identify witches: later realizes there is no witchcraft in Salem, only corruption, leaves and returns later.

Heathen

an irreligious or uncivilized person

Conjure

to practice magic

Faction

a group within a larger group

Abomination

a vile action, condition, or habit

Gibberish

meaningless talk; nonsense

Deference

respectful yielding to another

Naught

nothing

Dwindling

to shrink or diminish

Abyss

a vast chasm; Hell

Intimation

a hint; suggestion

Formidable

strong; powerful; causing fear

Trepidation

tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation

Titillate

to excite agreeably

Notorious

widely and unfavorable known

Prodigious

extraordinary; arousing admiration

Fathom

comprehend; understand

Defamation

the injuring of one’s reputation

Anarchy

confusion; chaos; disorder

Avidly

enthusiastically, eagerly

Licentious

sexually unrestrained; immoral

Blanched

to become pale

Evade

to escape or avoid

Pallor

extreme paleness

Ameliorate

to improve; to make better

Indignant

offended; insulted