The Crucible

What is The Crucible: An Overview

The Crucible was a tragedy written in the 1950s by ==Arthur Miller==, now seen as a modern classic in English literature. Serving as an allegory for the second Red Scare that prevailed with McCarthyism during the time period The Crucible was written, the drama takes place during the famous ^^Salem Witch Trials.^^ While the heavily %%Puritan%% theocratic government was in place, people around the village would be hung because of false accusations of being a witch.

The Crucible: Characters

It is without a doubt that %%Abigail Williams%% is one of the most prominent and interesting characters in The Crucible. As the niece of Salem minister %%Reverend Parris%% and having formerly served in the household of %%John Proctor%%, who she also had an affair with in the past, she serves as the primary accuser during the Salem trials and one of the main characters from the beginning.

Other accusers who appear in the play are listed below:

• %%Betty Parris%%, the young daughter of %%Reverend Parris%% and one of the initial accusers. The beginning of the Witch Trials begins because of her illness, and the first act revolves around her, who remains inert in bed, leading those who visit to believe she has been possessed by the devil, but lashing out and having bursts of fits.
• %%Mercy Lewis%%, a young servant of %%Ann and Thomas Putna%%m and one of the accusers. With Abigail, by Act IV they have fled after the rebellion in Andover.
• %%Mary Warren,%% a submissive, seventeen-year-old servant of %%John and Elizabeth Proctor%%, and one of the accusers. She is fearful of John Proctor and heavily religious but begins to find some power within accusing others once she begins to work for the court during act 2. While she is an accuser, she is also one of the accused.

Why Did People Begin To Accuse Others?

In the 1600s, the Puritans were seen as exiles, and to an extent, they were. They left their homeland, in ^^England^^, in order to have their own government in which they could rule on their own terms and according to the beliefs of their religion. Therefore, Salem, which was still a newer village at the time of the Witch Trials, was a theocracy, following heavily on the beliefs and readings of the bible. The residents of Salem were all deeply religious and within the depths of Christianity, abiding by strict guidelines and norms according to what their religion said was right. Things normal to us in society nowadays, such as dancing, were mainly outlawed in Salem. Women were often seen as child-bearers, servants, and housewives, which could be one of the main reasons that they accused others of witchcraft; it gave them the power they have yearned for but never ultimately had. %%Abigail Williams%%, being the driving force behind the Witch Trials and through her distinctive threats, was controlling towards many of the accusers, which could lead to them accusing others because of their own fears.

As well as those who were the accusers, many were also the accused, some of whom appear in The Crucible. Most of them are executed by the end, but only %%Elizabeth Proctor%% ends up surviving because she was undergoing her pregnancy. In order of execution, below are some of the more prominent characters accused of witchcraft by the main accusers:

• %%Tituba%% serves as the Parris family’s slave and the first character in the play to be accused of witchcraft. She comes from Barbados in the Caribbean, and upon pressure, confesses to committing witchcraft: dancing in the forest, brewing, and feeding blood to the young girls. However, as she does, she further accuses other villagers of also being witches. Like the other residents, Tituba is deeply spiritual and believes to have the ability to speak to the dead.
• %%Giles Corey,%% a more prominent landowner in Salem: was described as an eighty-three-year-old man and “…knotted with muscle, canny, inquisitive, and still powerful.” According to one of the many authorial intrusions that Miller makes throughout the play, he was often blamed for things, and because of his old age, he was starting to lose his hearing.
• %%Rebecca Nurse,%% seventy-two, is known for her virtuous duties and charities around the state.
• %%Sarah Good,%% one of the accused in The Crucible and one of the condemned.
• %%John Proctor%%, a prominent landowner in Salem, who was also a farmer in his middle thirties who had “a sharp, biting way with hypocrites” despite being one himself. Though even-tempered, powerful, with a steady manner, he too, was a fraud and a flawed character and wasn’t any better than anyone else in Salem, yet it doesn’t come out to others in the story quite yet in the first act. He probably has the most interesting relationships with some of the main characters: %%Mary Warren%% is his servant, and though she is fearful of him and submissive, she begins to rebel and find her own power, eventually refuting all her claims to save her life and accusing Proctor of witchcraft. One of the most interesting arcs related to him comes from his affair with %%Abigail Williams,%% which he continues to deny throughout the play. The arc between Proctor and Williams becomes more prominent as the play goes by.

The Crucible: Plot

^^Act I^^ - Setting: The Parris Household

The Crucible begins with a bang already: during the overture, Parris and the family are knelt down around a dormant %%Betty Parris%%, who seems to be completely unconscious. The entire family is concerned, albeit for different reasons. %%Reverend Parris%% is seen praying at the beginning, but it becomes quite obvious that he is more worried for his church and reputation rather than his family as the act progresses. The idea of witchcraft spreads amongst Salem, which too, worries him, as he is well aware of the consequences it will bring to him. %%Abigail Williams%% and %%Mary Warren%% appear worried for Betty, but Warren’s visit is cut short when %%John Proctor%% finds her and threatens her if she does not return home. After suspicion from %%Ann and Thomas Putnam%%, Parris announces, quite reluctantly, that he has brought %%Reverend Hale%% to investigate. However, it is the reasonable, virtuous %%Rebecca Nurse%% who says that %%Betty Parris%%’s fits are one for a doctor to find out, and is not witchcraft. However, the word keeps spreading, and %%Abigail Williams%%, who previously denies witchcraft in the act, accuses %%Tituba%%. When she is confronted, she confesses to the false witchcraft and accuses %%Sarah Good%% and %%Goody Osburn%% of performing witchcraft as well, kickstarting the trials.

^^Act II^^ - Setting: The Proctor Household

The Proctors have learned that 40 people have been accused of witchcraft, and Elizabeth is upset to know that John Proctor has been alone with Abigail, and she tells him this quite coldly. Mary Warren enters, giving Elizabeth a poppet she made while at the court. @@It should be made aware, that Mary Warren is one of 2 dynamic characters in The Crucible, besides Reverend Hale. While she was once fearful and afraid, she begins to find herself within the power and accusing.@@ She reveals this information and shares that Elizabeth Proctor has been accused of witchcraft, though refusing to say who did. Elizabeth reasonably assumes that Abigail Williams accused her, which is true. Her main goals and motive is to marry John Proctor. Reverend Hale comes over to question them, independent from the court, and tells Proctor to name the 10 commandments. He is able to name all of them, except the one he committed: adultery. This leads Hale to be suspicious of him, but he learns from Proctor that the girls have been pretending the entire time, and people are confessing just to live for longer. %%Giles Corey%% and %%Francis Nurse%% enter to reveal that their wives have been accused of witchcraft, and then %%Cheever%% to investigate the house, being unenthused in Mary Warren telling him that she made the poppet and Abigail saw her.

^^Act iII^^ - Setting: The Court

Thirty-seven days later, at the General Court of Salem, a court case begins, led by %%Judge Danforth%% and %%Judge Hawthorne%%. The trial is for %%Martha Corey%%, who has been accused of witchcraft for “reading suspicious books.” Danforth tries to persuade John Proctor away from the case against Elizabeth, as she is pregnant, but John refuses. He shares a deposition signed by 91 people, yet it is illegal for such to be in the court.