Crucible Acts 1 and 2

John Proctor

A local farmer who lives just outside town; Elizabeth Proctor’s husband. A stern, harsh-tongued man, hates hypocrisy. Nevertheless, he has a hidden sin—his affair with Abigail Williams—that proves his downfall. When the hysteria begins, he hesitates to expose Abigail as a fraud because he worries that his secret will be revealed and his good name ruined.

Abbigal Williams

\n Reverend Parris’s niece. Once the servant for the Proctor household, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her after she discovered that she was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. She is smart, wily, a good liar, and vindictive when crossed.

Reverend John Hale

A young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Called in to Salem to examine Parris’s daughter Betty. He is a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft. His critical mind and intelligence save him from falling into blind fervor. His arrival sets the hysteria in motion.

Elizabeth Proctor

John Proctor’s wife. Fired Abigail when she discovered that her husband was having an affair with Abigail. She is supremely virtuous, but often cold. John says she can not lie.

Reverend Samuel Parris

The minister of Salem’s church. He’s a paranoid, power-hungry, yet oddly self-pitying figure. Many of the townsfolk, especially John Proctor, dislike him. He is very concerned with building his position in the community. Concerned with money and possessions (former merchant). No interest in children and is bad with them.

Rebecca Nurse

Francis Nurse’s wife. She is a wise, sensible, and upright woman, held in tremendous regard by most of the Salem community. However, she falls victim to hysteria when the Putnams accuse her of witchcraft.

Francsis Nurse

A wealthy (Self-made), influential man in Salem. He is well respected by most people in Salem, but he is an enemy of Thomas Putnam and his wife.

Giles Corey

An elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his tendency to file lawsuits. Doesn’t always think before he speaks. Still learning his prayers.

Thomas Putnam

A wealthy, influential citizen of Salem, holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam’s brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister. He uses the witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land.

Ann Putnam

Thomas Putnam’s wife. Has given birth to eight children, but only Ruth Putnam survived. The other seven died before they were a day old, and she is convinced that they were murdered by supernatural means. Obsessed with death

Ruth Putnam

The Putnams’ lone surviving child out of eight. Like Betty Parris, she falls into a strange stupor after Reverend Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods at night.

James Bayley

Brother-in-law of Thomas Putnam who was prevented from becoming minister of Salem by “a faction” (including Francis Nurse & family).

George Burroughs

Former minister that Thomas Putnam had arrested for bankruptcy.

Tituba

Reverend Parris’s black slave from Barbados. She agrees to perform voodoo at Abigail’s request.

Marry Warren

The servant in the Proctor household and a member of Abigail’s group of girls. She is a timid girl, easily influenced by those around her.

Betty Parris

Reverend Parris’s ten-year-old daughter. She falls into a strange stupor after Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth Putnam fuel the first rumors of witchcraft. She porves later in the first act that she wasn’t actually unconscious.

Martha Corey

Giles Corey’s third wife. Her reading habits lead to her arrest and conviction for witchcraft along with a problem about a pig.

Sarah Good

one of the accused who confesses. A homeless beggar who sleeps in ditches. Marry Warren has a problem with her.

Sarah Osborne

Accused and denied being a witch. Can’t say her commandments.

Ezekiel Cheever

A tailor from Salem who acts as clerk of the court during the witch trials. He is upright and determined to do his duty for justice. Weasel.

Mercy Lewis

She is a servant in the Putnam home, and she is found dancing naked in the woods. During the Salem Witch Trials, she falsely confesses to having seen spirits. Aggresive, Abbigal’s henchwoman.

What does Abigail have an endless capacity for?

dissembling, can’t show true feelings

Why do the Putnams not like the Nurses?

Francis Nurse is self made and social mobility was looked down upon in puritan society. The nurses also have 11 children and 26 grandchildren and the Putnams only have Ruth.

Why won’t Proctor tell people Abigail told him that they were just dancing?

Because he doesn’t want people to question why they were alone

What is the main evidence in the accusation against Elizabeth?

The poppet Marry Warren gave her. Marry Warren left a needle in it and the Abigail stabbed herself in the same place. Abigail claimed that Elizabeth sent her spirit upon her.

Why and why did the Puritans immigrate to America?

They immigrated to North America around the 1620s and 1630s  because they believed that the Church of England is could not be reformed

How did the puritans view themselves?

They view themselves as God’s chosen people and were arrogant in their religious faith and intolerant of different views.

Dramatic Exposition

The portion of a story/ play that introduces important background information to the audience such as setting, events occuring before the main plot, characters' back stories, etc

Tragic Hero

a character with a high status who has a tragic flaw, which leads to their demise. Arthur Miller redefines a tragic hero, stating that a modern tragic hero, is but a common man, a wounded hero, with an unwillingness to settle for less.

Hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

first covenant

Adam and Eve broke God’s promise; therefore they saw God as wrathful

Mcarythism

Popularized by senator John McCarthy, false accusations of workin/being in. the soviet union

Calvinism

Puritan belief that people were predestined for Heaven or Hell

What could be seen as evidence of witchcraft

spectral evidence, maleficium, witches teat (devils mark), swimming a witch, torture

Why did Arthur Miller publish a play about the Salem Witch Trials (1692) during the era of McCarthyism

During the tense era of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller was inspired to write a drama reflecting the mass cultural and political hysteria produced when the U.S. government sought to suppress Communism and radical leftist activity in America.