The Crucible: Act I & Act II Vocabulary and Concepts

Vocabulary and key term flashcards based on The Crucible Act I & Act II study guide.

Reverend Parris

Salem’s minister who is driven primarily by paranoia and self-preservation, fearing that rumors of witchcraft in his house will ruin his reputation and lose him his ministry.

Abigail Williams

Parris’s 17-year-old niece who is highly manipulative and uses fear and threats of violence to control the other girls, aiming to protect herself and eliminate Elizabeth Proctor.

John Proctor

An honest farmer carrying intense guilt over his affair with Abigail, who rejects her romantic advances and tries to stay out of court affairs until his wife is targeted.

Elizabeth Proctor

John Proctor's moral and distant wife, targeted by Abigail Williams out of vengeance and jealousy.

Tituba

Reverend Parris’s enslaved woman from Barbados who becomes the initial scapegoat for the hysteria and confesses only under threat of immediate execution.

Reverend John Hale

An expert in demonology called from Beverly to examine Betty Parris and assess Salem for demonic influence.

Mary Warren

The Proctors' easily swayed and weak-willed servant whose gift of a handmade doll unintentionally leads to Elizabeth’s arrest.

Betty Parris

Reverend Parris's ten-year-old daughter who lies unconscious at the start of Act I, prompting fears of unnatural causes.

Doctor Griggs

The doctor who sends word that he cannot find a medical cure for Betty Parris and suggests looking for unnatural causes.

"Pointy reckoning"

Abigail Williams's threat of violence in the dark of night against the other girls to keep them silent about what happened in the forest.

Goody Osborn

A community member convicted of witchcraft after failing to recite the Ten Commandments in court.

Rebecca Nurse

A pillar of the community accused of the supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s unbaptized babies.

Martha Corey

A community member accused by her neighbor, Walcott, of bewitching his pigs with her books so they die within four weeks.

Ezekiel Cheever

An official who searches the Proctor house and finds a needle pushed into the belly of Mary Warren’s poppet, leading directly to Elizabeth's arrest.

The Poppet

Originally an innocent gesture from Mary Warren, it is transformed into "evidence" of witchcraft through Abigail's manipulation.

The Forest

Seen by the Puritans as the Devil's domain—a place outside the rigid law and order of the Salem settlement.

Needles / Pins

Used as visual tokens of spectral attack and physical manipulation throughout the court proceedings.

Reputation vs. Integrity

A core theme in The Crucible contrasting Parris's sole concern with public appearance against John Proctor's struggle between protecting his public name and preserving his personal moral integrity.

Hysteria & Mass Paranoia

A core theme illustrating how small rumors and individual self-preservation quickly snowball into a town-wide witch hunt that overrides logic and evidence.