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The Crucible Arthur Miller

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Title: The Crucible Arthur Miller


1
The CrucibleArthur Miller
Exam Questions
Language
Quotes
Summaries
  • Quiz

Background
Themes
This is an interactive study site click on the
items that interest you.
2
Click on the symbol to go to an on-line quiz
Menu
  • Act1
  • Act 2
  • Act 3
  • Act 4

3
Plot Summaries
Menu
  • Act One
  • Act Two
  • Act Three
  • Act Four

4
Act One
  • One night in 1692, Reverend Parris, the minister
    of Salem village, finds his daughter Betty and
    his niece Abigail dancing with friends in the
    woods. His slave Tituba is there, casting spells
    over a fire. Some of the girls are naked. Not
    surprisingly in these god-fearing times, Reverend
    Parris is horrified.
  •  
  • The play opens a few hours later with Betty
    lying on her bed, seemingly unable to wake.
    Rumours of witchcraft are already spreading
    through the village. Mr Parris is terrified for
    the effect on his reputation. The entry of
    various villagers reveals a community split by
    guilty secrets, personal disputes and quarrels
    over land rights. The first villagers to enter
    are the Putnams and with them, the witch hunting
    hysteria enters the play. They demand to know
    how high Betty flew and reveal that their own
    daughter Ruth is unconscious. Mrs Putnam also
    reveals that she had sent Ruth to Tituba to find
    out who had killed her seven dead babies because,
    Tituba knows how to speak to the dead.

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next
5
Act One cont
back
  • When the Putnams and Parris leave. Abigail and
    Betty are left with Mercy Lewis, the Putnams
    servant and Mary Warren, the Proctors servant.
    It is soon obvious that Betty is only pretending
    to be ill because she is so scared. You drank
    blood, Abby, she cries. You drank a charm to
    Kill John Proctors wife. It is also soon
    obvious that Abigail is very much in control of
    the other girls. She tells them that unless they
    do as she says she will come to them in the night
    and bring them a pointy reckoning. Abigail
    tells them that she saw her own parents heads
    smashed in by Indians and that she can make them
    wish they, never saw the sun go down.
  •  
  • John Proctor, who has had an affair with Abigail
    but now wants to shake her off, enters and sends
    the servant girls away. Abigail tells John that
    the girls were only playing. She speaks
    seductively to John who will have nothing to do
    with her. She then calls his wife, who sacked
    Abigail from service in the Proctors home seven
    months earlier, a cold snivelling woman. John
    Proctor turns on her angrily, Do you look for
    whippin? he says.

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6
Act One cont
back
  • As the congregation downstairs sing a psalm
    Betty wakes up again and wails loudly. Reverend
    Parris rushes back with the Putnams, Rebecca
    Nurse and Giles Corey. Rebecca Nurse and Giles
    Corey are two of the oldest people in the
    village. Rebecca is greatly respected as a
    saint-like woman. Giles while clearly a good
    man, is quite deaf and a bit eccentric.
  • It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Rebecca,
    Giles and John Proctor do not get on well with
    the Putnams, and that John and Giles dont think
    much of Rev. Parris either. Parris keeps
    complaining that there is a party in the town
    that wants to remove him from his pulpit. Why,
    then I must find it and join it, says John
    Proctor, showing his dislike of both Parriss
    money grabbing nature and his enthusiasm for
    preaching hellfire.

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7
Act One cont
back
  • Soon the Rev. John Hale, a specialist in witch
    hunting arrives and examines Betty who has
    fainted again. He then questions Abigail and
    Tituba. Tituba, afraid of being hung as a witch,
    professes faith in God and, after much prompting
    from the Putnams and Reverand Parris, confesses
    that two townswomen, Goody Good and Goody Osburn,
    came to her with the Devil. Abigail and then
    Betty claim they have been bewitched but now turn
    to God. The act closes as all the girls
    ecstatically chant the names of the townspeople
    whom they accuse of consorting with the Devil.

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8
Act Two
Menu
  • Act Two opens in John Proctor's house eight days
    later. Deputy Governor Danforth has arrived in
    Salem to supervise the court proceedings against
    the townspeople accused as witches. Fourteen
    people are imprisoned, and there is talk of
    hanging.
  •  
  • John Proctor's wife Elizabeth encourages him to
    go into town to testify against Abby and the
    girls. There is tension between the Proctors
    because Elizabeth has not forgiven John for his
    affair with Abigail.

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9
Act Two cont
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  • The Proctor's servant Mary Warren arrives, and
    although forbidden to go to town, she has been
    attending the trial and is "crying out" with the
    other girls against the accused witches. Just as
    John is about to whip her, she shocks the
    Proctors by saying that she defended Elizabeth
    when Abigail accused her. She gives Elizabeth a
    doll she has made while at the trial. As John
    and Elizabeth are arguing about what to do, the
    Reverend Hale arrives to ask questions and to
    test the "Christian character" of the house. He
    finds that John can recite all of the
    commandments except, ironically, the one
    forbidding adultery.

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10
Act Two cont
back
  • Next, two townsmen, Giles Corey and Francis
    Nurse, arrive to seek John Proctor's help because
    their wives have just been arrested for
    witchcraft. As the men discuss the events, the
    marshal arrives with a warrant for Elizabeth's
    arrest. She has been accused by Abigail of
    sending her spirit through the doll to stab
    Abigail in the stomach with a needle. Over John
    Proctor's violent protest, Elizabeth is hauled
    off in chains.

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11
Act Three
Menu
  • Act three takes place in the Salem meeting house
    that serves as the general court. In this act,
    we see the helplessness of the innocent in the
    face of unjust legal authority. Francis Nurse,
    Giles Corey, and John Proctor present their cases
    to Deputy Governor Danforth and Judge Hathorne.
    When Proctor presents a petition signed by
    ninety-one people attesting to the good character
    of the men's wives, Danforth issues warrants for
    the questioning of those who signed. Corey
    charges Putnam with inciting his daughter to
    accuse a townsman of witchcraft in order to get
    the townsman's land. Corey has a witness to
    support the charge but, fearing that the witness
    will be arrested, refuses to name him. Corey is,
    therefore, arrested for contempt of court.

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12
Act Three cont
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  • Proctor presents his case and a deposition by
    Mary Warren that she never saw Satan or any
    spirits and that the other girls are lying to
    Danforth. However, when Abigail and the other
    girls are brought before the court, Abigail
    denies the charges against her with indignation
    and leads the girls in a frenzied act of being
    bewitched by Mary. Proctor interrupts the
    charade by grabbing Abigail and accusing her of
    being his whore. To test the truth of this
    charge, Danforth brings in Elizabeth and
    questions her about her husband's fidelity.
    Elizabeth lies to save her husband's reputation,
    but in so doing undermines the charge against
    Abigail. The girls renew their act of being
    possessed by the spirit of Mary Warren. Overcome
    by their hysterical display, Mary gives in and
    accuses Proctor of being a witch. Danforth
    accepts the charge, and Proctor laughs in his
    face, blaming Danforth and himself for being
    afraid to reveal the truth. Danforth acts to
    preserve the reputation of his court more than to
    seek justice. The Rev. Hale, now convinced of
    the evil of the court, denounces the proceedings
    and walks out as Danforth calls to him.

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13
Act Four
Menu
  • The final act opens in a Salem jail cell where
    Sarah Good and Tituba await hanging. They are
    happily deluded by the belief that they will be
    taken to Barbados by the devil.
  •  
  • The Salem trial is ending. Rumors of a
    rebellion against witchcraft trials in a nearby
    town ignite fear that the people of Salem will
    riot if upstanding citizens are hung.
  •  
  • Hale, disillusioned and humbled, pleads with the
    prisoners to save their lives by making false
    confessions. He asks Danforth to pardon the
    accused, but Danforth refuses saying twelve have
    already hung for the same crime. When Hale asks
    Elizabeth to counsel Proctor to lie and save
    himself, she balks but agrees to see him. Alone
    with Proctor, Elizabeth forgives him for being
    unfaithful and blames herself for not being able
    to love him enough. She cannot counsel him to
    lie and instead tells him to make his own
    decision and to be his own judge.

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14
Act Four cont
back
  • Proctor, refusing to be a martyr, confesses to
    being a witch, but stops at indicting others by
    claiming that he has seen them with the Devil.
    When Proctor tears up his confession, Elizabeth
    rushes to him and they embrace. As Proctor and
    Rebecca Nurse are led to be hung, Hale begs
    Elizabeth to plead with Proctor to save himself,
    but Elizabeth cries, "He have his goodness now.
    God forbid I take it from him!" The curtain
    falls as the sunlight illuminates Elizabeth's
    face and the drums "rattle like bones."

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15
(No Transcript)
16
Language
Menu
  • This is a modern play, written in the twentieth
    century, however, Miller has skilfully created
    believable dialogue for his seventeenth-century
    Puritans. It is convincingly old fashioned,
    without being hard to understand. It is a
    language that carries echoes of the King James
    Bible but word by word, apart from a few archaic
    terms - such as 'harlot' and 'poppet' the
    vocabulary is essentially modern. Miller
    achieves his effects by linking words in an
    unusual way, using double negatives, changing
    verb tenses, and other devices of the same kind.
    Here are some examples
  •  
  • He cannot discover no medicine for it in his
    books
  • I know you have not opened with me
  • Seeing I do live so closely with you, they
    dismissed it
  • I am thirty-three time in court in my life
  • He give me nine pound damages
  • You wonder yet if rebellion's spoke?

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17
Language cont
back
  • Within this shared language, Miller varies the
    way his characters speak to suit their background
    and personality. Ministers and judges naturally
    use more elaborate phrases than the villagers
    Giles Corey is blunt and even coarse A fart on
    Thomas Putnam, that is what I say to that! John
    Proctor, on the other hand, utters some of the
    most poetic lines in the play, whether describing
    his delight in the Massachusetts' countryside at
    the start of Act 2, or crying out in despair at
    the end of Act 3.
  •  
  • Most characters use simile and metaphor.
  • There be no blush about my name, Abigail
    reassures her uncle. Judge Danforth tells the
    children, A very augur bit (a corkscrew-like
    tool) will now be turned into your souls until
    your honesty is proved.
  • Parris bewails the fact that,My daughter and my
    niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the
    forest.
  • Abigail tauntingly says to, Proctor I know how
    you ... sweated like a stallion whenever I come
    near!

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18
Handy Quotations
Menu
  • Act One
  • Act Two
  • Act Three
  • Act Four

19
Act One - Quotes
Menu
Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of
a word and I will come to you in the black of
some terrible night and I will bring a pointy
reckoning that will shudder you. (Abigail p.26)
I look for John Proctor that took me form my
sleep and put knowledge in my heart You loved
me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you
love me yet! (Abigail p.30)
Do you look for whippin? (Proctor p. 30)
We cannot look to superstition in this. (Hale
p.41)
20
Act Two - Quotes
Menu
"If it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt,
would you falter now? I think not. (Elizabeth
p.55)
"Oh, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!"

(John p.55)
"Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent or
Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? (John
p.72)
"Remember, until an hour before the Devil fell,
God thought him beautiful in Heaven." (Hale, p.
68)
I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear
nothing, Elizabeth. (John p.72)
My wife will never die for me! I will bring
your guts into your mouth but that goodness will
not die for me. (John p.74)
21
Act Three - Quotes
Menu
"Do you know, Mr Proctor, that the entire
contention of the state in these trials is that
the voice of Heaven is speaking through the
children?" (Danforth p. 81)
We a burn a hot fire here. It burns down all
concealment. (Danforth p. 81)
"I have made a bell of my honour! I have rung the
doom of my good name."

(Proctor p. 98)
I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy
face! And it is my face, and yours Danforth.
(John p.105)
You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a
whore!
(John p.105)
I denounce these proceedings. (Hale p.105)
22
Act Four - Quotes
Menu
  • When I speak Gods law, I will not crack its
    voice with whimpering.
  • ( Danforth p. 113)

I have given you my soul leave me my
name! (Proctor P. 124)
Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for
these, weeps for corruption! ( Danforth p. 125)
He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it
from him! (Elizabeth p. 126)
23
Background
  • Arthur Miller

The Cold War
Salem
Link to Salem Witch trial website
Main Menu
24
Arthur Miller
  • Arthur Miller was raised in a prosperous Jewish
    family in New York City. During the Depression,
    the family faced financial ruin and Miller worked
    in various manual labor jobs. He graduated from
    the University of Michigan in 1938 where he began
    to distinguish himself as a playwright.
  •  
  • Due to an old football injury, Miller was
    ineligible for military service during World War
    II. He toured army camps and gathered material
    for a screenplay, The Story of GI Joe which was
    based on a book by the famous war correspondent,
    Ernie Pyle. In 1944, The Man Who Had All the
    Luck, his first Broadway production, was not a
    commercial success, but suggested a theme that
    would occupy Miller in his more important works
    the fate of the individual in society. Death of a
    Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 and
    established Miller's reputation as a great
    American dramatist. It portrays the tragedy of
    the common man who loses his integrity due to
    social and economic pressures. The Crucible in
    1953 explored this theme in the context of the
    1692 Salem witch trials. Miller wrote this play
    during the McCarthy period when many of his
    friends were being attacked for their
    pro-Communist beliefs.

25
Arthur Miller cont
  • It is ironic that Miller himself was called
    before the House Un-American Activities Committee
    in 1956, and like his protagonist in The Crucible
    refused to implicate others involved in
    activities condemned at the time by society.
  • In 1956 Miller married Marilyn Monroe. They
    divorced in 1961 after filming The Misfits, which
    he wrote for her. The character of Maggie in
    Miller's After the Fall in 1964 in part reflects
    the emotional troubles Marilyn faced during their
    marriage. This play also examines the theme of
    the individual's loss of integrity in the face of
    social hysteria and hypocrisy.
  •  
  • In addition to writing plays with strong social
    commentary, Miller has been politically active.
    In 1965 he was elected president of PEN (Poets,
    Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists),
    an international literary organization that he
    guided toward a platform of world peace and
    understanding, providing artists and writers a
    forum for expressing their views and fighting
    governmental repression worldwide.

26
Arthur Miller cont
  • Miller has continued to write powerful and
    successful plays during the last three decades.
    His focus on the individual in society has
    evolved to an understanding of social
    institutions as reflections of the good and evil
    residing in human nature. His autobiography
    Timebends (1987) gives insight into Miller's
    personal life and the experiences which have
    shaped his work.
  •  
  • Miller's major plays have been produced
    internationally and adapted for radio,
    television, and motion pictures. In 1993 he
    received the National Medal of the Arts from
    President Clinton.
  • Miller died in February 2005 and is sadly missed
    around the world.

Link to on-line obituary
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27
The Cold War and Senator McCarthy
back
  • After the end of World War II, America became
    locked in political rivalry with Communist Russia
    (the USSR). This was the so-called Cold War. The
    threat of nuclear weapons hung over the two
    superpowers' struggle for dominance. In June
    1950, when Russia's ally, Communist China, began
    to expand into South-East Asia, America embarked
    on the Korean War. This conflict had an enormous
    effect on the political climate at home. Fear
    that Communists were infiltrating Government led
    to the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the most
    prominent figure in a committee that scrutinized
    possible suspects. His investigations were aimed
    particularly at university teachers, trade
    unionists, and artists of all kinds- anyone
    suspected of left-wing sympathies. Those called
    before the Un-American Activities Committee were
    asked to prove their innocence by naming others.
    Some witnesses caved in others lost their jobs.
    There were many suicides.

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28
The Cold War and Senator McCarthy cont
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  • It was against this background that Miller wrote
    The Crucible. The Salem witch trials had
    fascinated him long before he saw their
    possibility as an allegory for McCarthyism. The
    play opened in January 1953, and won two
    prestigious awards, but the critics were
    distracted by the obvious parallel with
    contemporary events.
  • In 1956 Miller found himself in the same dilemma
    as his hero, John Proctor. He was refused a
    passport to visit Brussels for a production of
    his play. The Committee called on him to testify.
    When Miller refused to mention names, he was
    fined and given a suspended prison sentence. The
    Supreme Court acquitted him a year and a half
    later. By then the McCarthy hysteria had died
    away, and Senator McCarthy himself was dead.

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29
Salem
Menu
  • Under Development

30
The CrucibleArthur Miller
Main Menu
The individual v. authority
Fear

Integrity
Themes
The corruption of justice
Mass hysteria
Click on the theme you wish to explore
31
Theme
  • A theme is an idea developed or explored
    throughout a text.

32
The individual v. authority
Menu
  • In The Crucible, John and Rebecca are not
    standing up for individual rights in the modern
    sense. The Salem villagers all believe in witches
    and the infallibility of the Bible. What the
    victims oppose is the abuse of power. This is
    relevant to any age or culture.  
  • Until the eighteenth century, religion played a
    large part in the running of most European states
    or colonies. In particular, those affected by the
    Protestant Reformation conformed to some form of
    theocratic ('god-ruled') system. Laws were based
    on the authority of the Bible, and the Church
    used them to control every aspect of people's
    lives. The modern idea that religious belief is a
    matter of private conscience would have been
    considered blasphemous. Nevertheless, even in
    seventeenth century New England, a more tolerant
    and diversified society was emerging. This
    movement towards change stirred up great social
    tensions.

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The individual v. authority cont
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The Reformation had made people more responsible
for their own salvation. It substituted public
disapproval for the penances of the Catholic
Church. Yet the wealthier frequently escaped
punishment. Why? In The Crucible, Mrs Putnam is
never disciplined for using witchcraft to find
out who 'killed' her babies.   In Act 1 (pp.
33-5, I have trouble enough ... He says there's
a party), John Proctor shows his resentment when
Parris criticizes his infrequent church
attendance. He is absent for practical reasons -
Elizabeth's illness, his own work, and no doubt
the ten-mile walk. He feels Parris does not
deserve respect. Rebecca, more obedient, knows
that Parris is unworthy, but is still shocked by
John's remarks (p. 35). Reverend Hale later
reprimands him for daring to question Parris's
God-given authority (p. 63).  
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34
The individual v. authority cont
back
  • Act 2 demonstrates the helplessness of people
    who try to stand up for their rights in a
    theocratic state. Once the witch hunt has
    started, the potential for conflict escalates.
    Anyone who doubts the so-called evidence is
    questioning God's will. The judges' handling of
    the trial relates more to corruption of justice.
    They cling so inflexibly to their point of view
    that law-abiding characters like Rebecca and
    Francis Nurse are pushed into defiance. Even
    Hale, an establishment figure, finds he is unable
    to ignore his conscience. He finally denounces
    the court. Those whose honesty is stronger than
    their fear of death inevitably destroy
    themselves. Rebecca refuses to damn her soul with
    a lie Giles values his land more than his life,
    and willingly accepts a horrible death.

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35
Fear
Fear is a dominant emotion in The Crucible. Mr
Parris is afraid that his rebellious parishioners
will use Betty's strange illness to oust him from
his position Abigail fears that Reverend Hale
will find out what she did in the forest so she
embarks on an elaborate hoax that almost destroys
the village. Ashamed to confess his affair with
Abigail, John Proctor speaks up too late. This is
only to say that the villagers of Salem are like
people everywhere - they have secrets to hide and
worry about their reputations.   The unique
feature that drew Miller to Salem was the fear
that erupted there in 1692. Puritans believed
that the Devil was constantly working to tempt
human beings away from God. At the end of the
play, Tituba is waiting for Satan to transport
her to the singin'and dancinin Barbados (p. 108).
All other references to witchcraft are connected
with fear, suspicion, and the collapse of normal
social values. The stricken community can no
longer defend itself or protect vulnerable
individuals.
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36
Fear cont
back
  • There are two types of accusation in the play.
    The first comes from characters seeking revenge
    or exploiting the panic for personal gain. Others
    pass on the blame for their misfortunes, but they
    are not necessarily malicious. Irrational fear
    deludes them into believing whatever they are
    told. (No one ever stops to ask why Rebecca
    should want to harm Mrs Putnam's babies.) Think
    of examples of these types of behaviour.
  •  
  • In both the McCarthy trials and the Salem
    witch-hunt, victims could escape punishment if
    they denounced others.
  • Tituba is the first to be interrogated. Mr
    Putnam's threat of hanging produces the desired
    answer, and thereafter the demoralized slave
    repeats any names suggested to her. Miller builds
    a prolonged scene around this minor character to
    show exactly how the prosecutors went about their
    business. Tituba represents all that were
    terrified into naming the 'witches'.

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37
Fear cont
back
The pressures of irrational fear are most vividly
illustrated in their effects on Mary Warren. Mary
is terrified from the moment she steps inside the
court, but she bears up well under
cross-examination. Encouraged by Proctor, she
refuses to withdraw her claim that the girls are
fraudulent, even when bullied by Judge Hathorne.
Yet she begins to crumple as soon as Abigail sets
the girls loose on her. Within minutes, Mary is
caught up in their hysteria and she
disintegrates. In her final moments on stage, she
rushes for protection to the very person
responsible for her ordeal.
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38
The Corruption of Justice
Menu
  • A fair trial in Salem is made impossible by the
    close links between church and State. Those who
    interpret God's laws do not imagine themselves
    capable of human error. As a clergyman in a
    theocratic society (one where the church writes
    the laws), Mr Hale is allowed to speak on behalf
    of the state, although he has no legal training.
  • Reverend Hale discovers the first Witch - Tituba
    - without any judicial enquiry at all. It is
    through him that Abigail and her followers become
    linked to the court as official witch-finders.
    The entire contention of the state ... is that
    the voice of Heaven is speaking through the
    children, Danforth tells Proctor. Yet the
    haphazard nature of the accusations leaves them
    wide open to abuse by people like Thomas Putnam.

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39
Corruption of Justice cont..
back
  • During the trials, Danforth manipulates both
    defendants and legal procedure to suit his
    purpose. He never attempts to look at
    probabilities, or weigh the defendants' motives.
    He allows Hathorne to score points based on sheer
    verbal trickery How do you know, then, that
    you are not a witch? Danforth does the same
    himself when he entraps Elizabeth into lying to
    save her husband's reputation. He also uses
    leading questions to get the answers that suit
    him (though not always successfully). 
  • The greatest injustice in the whole conduct of
    the witch trials is that the inquisitors offer a
    reprieve to those that confess, provided they
    name other suspects. Proctor points out the
    obvious consequences to Hale, but the minister
    refuses to face the truth. So the witch-hunt
    swells to an enormous size and infects other
    parts of the province. The nightmare only ends
    when the whole community is on the brink of
    revolt.

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40
Mass Hysteria
Menu
  • Mass hysteria does not have to involve
    hysterical behaviour in the ordinary sense. The
    phrase describes what happens when the same
    strong emotion grips a large group of people.
    Most of us have experienced it in milder forms.
    When we cheer on our favourite team, or go
    'clubbing', feeling part of the crowd intensifies
    our emotion.
  •  
  • There is another side to the phenomenon. When
    fear and prejudice spread through a community,
    they become self reinforcing and their effect on
    individuals is enormously magnified. In The
    Crucible, the behaviour of both adolescents and
    adults is a powerful demonstration of this
    reality. Everything happens against a background
    of ongoing quarrels that have never been settled.
    In Act 1, several random circumstances combine to
    provoke the disaster. The girls' reaction when
    their expedition to the forest is found out leads
    to the suspicion of witchcraft Mr Hale is eager
    to try out his skills Mrs Putnam has never
    stopped grieving for her dead babies, and uses
    the crisis to find a scapegoat.

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41
Mass Hysteria cont
back
  • The people of Salem are possessed, not by demons
    but by Mass Hysteria. By the end of Act 1, the
    adults have succumbed to their fear that the
    Devil and his witches are trying to destroy
    Salem. The only two strong enough to resist -
    Rebecca and John Proctor have left the stage.
    This is the first of the play's biting ironies
    the people who are possessed are not the innocent
    victims, but the accusers (and later, the
    judges), who all fall prey to the hysteria
    created by Abigail.
  •  
  • Once the hysteria is established, it triggers
    almost every incident in the play. We know that
    common sense has lost when we hear about the
    arrest of so widely respected a person as Rebecca
    Nurse.

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42
Mass Hysteria cont
back
  • The girls' unpredictable behaviour is both a
    symbol of the hysteria infecting society and a
    dramatization of that hysteria in action. So,
    too, is the gullibility of the adults who swallow
    the girls' accusations. Notice how skilfully
    Miller leads up to his two scenes of
    'possession', the first engineered by Abigail to
    save her own skin, and the second a full-blown
    demonstration of mass hysteria in action.
  •  
  • At the end of Act 1, we see Abigail whipping
    Betty Parris into a state of hysteria as she
    begins a campaign to save her own skin and,
    later, to destroy Elizabeth Proctor. In Act 2 we
    hear about the girls' increasing power, but only
    through description. Wherever Abigail walks, the
    crowd will part like the sea for Israel and if
    her followers scream and howl and fall to the
    floor - the person's clapped in the jail for
    bewitchin' them. At some point - Miller does not
    say when - the girls' fraud takes them over and
    they can no longer help their behaviour. The
    playwright skilfully holds back the second scene
    of possession until the moment of maximum impact
    the terrifying climax to Act 3.

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Mass Hysteria cont
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  • In Act 3 Mary tells Danforth It were only sport
    in the beginning, sir.  It is clear that after a
    while she was carried along by mass hysteria and
    no longer fully in contyrol of herself.
  • Miller leaves open the question of how many
    girls were similarly affected and when this
    happened. Abigail alone knows exactly what she is
    doing she controls the court officials as
    tightly as she controls her followers. She is
    confident enough to threaten Judge Danforth.
    Think you to be so mighty that the power of hell
    may not turn your wits.
  • Danforth thunders at Mary, You will confess
    yourself or you will hang, but Abigail
    instinctively moves on to something far more
    sinister. Mary ceases to exist in human form
    when Abigail 'sees' her in the yellow bird
    perched on a roof beam. She avoids all rational
    questioning by whipping the girls into a frenzy
    of fear and hysteria.

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44
Integrity
  • John Proctor's progress to self-awareness
    represents a major theme running throughout
    Miller's work. In Miller's thinking, moral
    honesty cannot be separated from a commitment to
    society.
  •  
  • In Act 4, the hero cries out, 'God in Heaven,
    what is John Proctor?'(p. 120) He finds his
    answer during his final moments on earth. As in
    several other Miller plays, the central figure
    must come to terms with the consequences of past
    actions. In The Crucible's opening scenes,
    Proctor takes little interest in the outbreak of
    hysteria at Salem. He is a busy farmer living
    five miles from the meeting house, and his
    irritation with Parris has kept him away from
    church services. Perhaps we should also give him
    credit for trying to keep away from Abigail, even
    if his efforts are not successful.

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Integrity cont
We see him next in his domestic surroundings,
ashamed of his adultery but also resentful that
his wife will not accept his sincere repentance.
His refusal to meddle in village affairs follows
from a very natural reluctance to publicize his
adultery. (It later turns out that at least one
of Abigail's friends knows about it.) At this
stage, John's practical reasons for standing
aloof also give him a pretext for evading social
responsibility.   When the witch-hunters invade
his home and arrest his wife, he is forced to
become involved. In the court scenes, John rises
above his own fears and resentment to argue as
well as he can for common sense and reason. We
see his growing social involvement when he turns
down the chance to save Elizabeth by abandoning
his friends and their wives. Yet his plan of
action still depends on making someone else take
responsibility - Mary Warren. Only when this hope
collapses does he tell the full truth, regardless
of consequences.
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46
Integrity cont
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  • Act 4 concentrates almost wholly on this theme.
    John faces a final temptation to retreat into
    dishonesty and save his life. His new found
    closeness with Elizabeth increases his agony. At
    first he uses his own guilt to escape the
    gallows, but under Danforth's relentless pressure
    he arrives at a clear view of what his choice
    must be. He manages to accept and forgive his own
    imperfections. Discovering his 'core' and
    identity, John can at last take charge of his
    life, neither rejecting social involvement nor
    handing over his conscience to someone else.
  •  
  • Irony is often used in The Crucible to emphasize
    the irrationality of the witch-hunt. That John
    Proctor's life-affirming choice should lead to
    death is the greatest irony of the play.

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Integrity cont
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Two other characters, Reverend Hale and
Elizabeth, take a similar path to self-awareness.
Elizabeth perceives that her own physical
coldness was partly responsible for the affair
between Abigail and her husband. However, this is
a dramatic device to allow John Proctor to come
to terms with himself. We have no clue as to how
Elizabeth will deal with her knowledge after
John's death.   In the final Act, Hale is full of
remorse for supporting the witch-hunt. Preaching
a doctrine that is the exact opposite of his
former beliefs, he urges the prisoners to lie in
order to save themselves. This desperate attempt
to appease his conscience brings him no comfort.
He is a man broken by guilt there is no
indication that he will ever recover.
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48
Exam Questions
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  • Essay Choices for The Crucible
  • 2001
  • Choose a play in which a character makes a brave
    decision.
  • Briefly explain the circumstances which led up
    to the decision and then discuss how it affects
    your views of the character.
  • Choose from a play a scene in which one
    character makes an accusation against another
    character.
  • Explain the dramatic importance of the scene and
    discuss how it affects your sympathy for either
    or both of the characters.
  • Choose from a play a scene in which you felt
    totally involved.
  • Show how the skill of the dramatist caused you
    to be so involved.

2002
49
Exam Questions
Menu
2001
  • Essay Choices for The Crucible
  • 2002
  • Choose a play in which a character struggles
    with his conscience.
  • Outline briefly the reasons for the characters
    dilemma and go on to discuss how successfully the
    dramatist engages your sympathy for her or him.
  • Choose from a play a scene in which the conflict
    between two characters is at its most intense.
  • Outline briefly the reasons for the conflict and
    then by examining the scene in detail, show how
    it gave you a deeper appreciation of the play as
    a whole.
  • Choose a play in which the main character is at
    odds with one or more than one of the people
    around him or her.
  • Show how the dramatist makes you aware of the
    characters situation and discuss to what extent
    this led to a greater understanding of the
    concerns of the play.

2003
50
Exam Questions
Menu
2002
  • Essay Choices for The Crucible
  • 2003
  • Choose a play in which there is a scene which
    provides a clear turning point in the drama.
  • Explain why it is a turning point and go on to
    discuss the importance of the scene to your
    appreciation of the play as a whole.
  • Choose a play in which there is a breakdown in
    family relationship(s).
  • Explain the reason for the breakdown and discuss
    the extent to which it is important to the play
    as a whole.

Example
2004
51
Exam Questions
Menu
2003
  • Essay Choices for The Crucible
  • 2004
  • Choose a play in which the dramatist explores
    the idea of rebellion against authority.
  • Explain briefly the circumstances which give
    rise to the rebellion and discuss how
    successfully you think the dramatist explores the
    idea.
  • Choose a play in which there is a scene
    involving intense emotion.
  • Show how the dramatist makes you aware of the
    intensity of the emotion in the scene and discuss
    the importance of the scene to the drama as a
    whole.

2005
52
Exam Questions
Menu
2004
  • Essay Choices for The Crucible
  • 2005
  • Choose a play in which a character is seeking
    the truth, avoiding the truth or hiding the
    truth.
  • Explain to what extent the character achieves
    this aim and discuss how the dramatist uses the
    situation to reveal important aspects of the
    characters role in the play as a whole.
  • Choose a play which features one of the
    following themes appearance versus reality
    good versus evil dreams versus reality youth
    versus age.
  • Choose a play in which the mood is mainly dark
    or pessimistic.
  • Show how the dramatist creates this mood and
    discuss how appropriate it is to the main idea(s)
    of the play.

53
Example Essay Plan
Menu
Back
Choose a play in which there is a scene which
provides a clear turning point in the
drama. Explain why it is a turning point and go
on to discuss the importance of the scene to your
appreciation of the play as a whole. In your
answer you must refer closely to the text and to
at least two of structure, theme, dialogue,
conflict, or any other appropriate feature.
Introduction Introduce the text and author and
where it is set. Briefly tell the story.
Explain that the story hinges on the crucial
court scene where Elizabeth and Johns honesty
are put to the test, that your appreciation
(enjoyment understanding) of the play as a
whole is influenced by this scene and that this
is best illustrated by an examination of Millers
use of characterisation, structure, and theme.
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Example Essay Plan
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Section 1 Characterisation Explain that the
pivotal scene depends on what we already know of
the central characters. Establish the characters
of John Elizabeth and Abigail. Explain how we
know of John and Elizabeths strength, goodness
and honesty, and how we know of Abigails
wickedness give examples of each. Explain the
conflict between John and Elizabeth. Show how
this involves us with the characters / increases
their complexity. (Do not discuss the central
scene itself).
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Example Essay Plan
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Section 2 Structure Explain that the structure
of the play has brought us from the private
settings of Parriss and the Proctors homes in
Act One and Two where the rumours and accusations
began and spread, to the public setting of the
Courtroom where John intends to end them. Explain
how Miller uses Danforth (and his instructions to
the rest of the cast) to intensify the Dramatic
Irony created in this scene and how this
increases your enjoyment / involvement. Explain
how Elizabeths answer changes hope to despair
and sets in motion the subsequent ruination of
everyones plans in the final Act.
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Example Essay Plan
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Section 3 Theme Corruption of Justice Point
out that one of the strongest themes in this
scene and the play as a whole comes from Millers
experience of McCarthyism in the 1950s (do not
go into detail but In focusing on the
corruption of justice Miller is clearly
satirising the injustice of the McCarthy
hearings). Explain how unjust the courts
handling of suspects is leading questions,
verbally trickery etc. - focusing in particular
on Danforths handling of the central
scene. Explain how Miller uses Johns bravery in
the final scene to show that the corruption of
justice should always be opposed.
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Example Essay Plan
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Conclusion Sum up (dont just state!) how Miller
has used convincing characters in a carefully
structured plot to create a moment of extreme
tension (Elizabeths unfair trial) which affects
all subsequent action and makes us consider our
own attitudes towards the central theme of the
corruption of justice. Try to end on a final
thought.
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