The Crucible

• Crucible


  1. A vessel, often ceramic or porcelain, used for melting down and purifying metal
  2. A time or trial of great severity, in which different elements react and something new is formed, often referring to a courtroom trial
• The Salem witch trials end up being a crucible, that is, a time of great testing and purifying, for the townspeople
• The girls were caught dancing in the woods with Tituba, who was apparently performing love charms for them
• The girls did not actually see the Devil or witches
• Tituba's confession


  As a slave, Tituba had no status in Salem. Parris could have legally beaten her to death to try to get her to confess. So she concluded that it was better to give the townspeople what they wanted by confessing to something she did not do. She ended up in jail, but at least she was not beaten to death.
• John's feelings for Abigail


  John's feelings for Abigail are not entirely clear. He spends time with her in the first act, and is kind to her, although he also makes it clear that he is not going to resume their affair. By the end of the play, he believes Elizabeth, and hates Abigail.
• Plenty of people did sign false confessions, in which they were required to name others that they saw with the Devil. But many other people could not bear to falsely accuse their friends, neighbors, and families, especially since the only way those people could clear their names would be by implicating more members of the community.
• In that scene, Abigail and John confront each other again, and John tells her he will ruin her to save his wife
• In the third act, John does indeed tell the court about his affair with Abigail to try to save Elizabeth
• This confession seems to indicate if John ever loved Abigail, he loves Elizabeth much more
• John has already realized he should not have cheated on his wife with Abigail, but he doesn't believe Elizabeth at first when she tells him Abigail wants her dead
• By the end of the play, he believes Elizabeth, and hates Abigail
• Plenty of people did sign false confessions, in which they were required to name others that they saw with the Devil
• Many other people could not bear to falsely accuse their friends, neighbors, and families, especially since the only way those people could clear their names would be by implicating more members of the community
• Like John Proctor, some people in Salem preferred to die rather than sign something that they knew was a lie
• These people may have had strong religious beliefs and felt God would damn them for lying, and they may also have realized that their reputation would be restored after the witch trials were over, even if they had lost their lives
• For some, it was easier to lie and say they were witches so that they could return to their lives and families
• They may have thought that they could confess to falsely confessing and be forgiven at some future point
• Reverend Parris's biggest concern


  Being highly regarded and treated well
• Parris is worried that his career in Salem as the town's minister is in jeopardy because his daughter Betty, his maid Tituba, and his niece Abigail have seemingly practiced witchcraft
• Parris is also concerned with getting paid sufficiently well and complains that he has not been provided with firewood
• John Proctor's past infidelity with Abigail Williams causes continued tension between John and Elizabeth Proctor
• John feels Elizabeth's lingering suspicions and thinks she is not sufficiently forgiving
• Elizabeth wants John to make sure that Abigail understands that there is no hope of John and Abigail being together ever again
• Elizabeth believes that Abigail is holding onto a promise—spoken or unspoken—made between Abigail and John that would make Abigail want to have Elizabeth killed in order to take her place
• Rebecca Nurse is blamed for "the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies"
• A number of Mrs. Putnam's babies have died, and she is looking for an explanation
• She decides that Rebecca Nurse is responsible because Ruth, Mrs. Putnam's daughter, "accused Rebecca's spirit of 'tempting her to iniquity'"
• The Putnam family may also be looking to punish Rebecca Nurse because of a land dispute they have with her husband, Francis
• Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams because Abigail wants to marry Elizabeth's husband, John, with whom she had an affair while serving in the Proctor household
• "She wants me dead," says Elizabeth of Abigail, and indeed, Abigail does intend for Elizabeth to die
• To accomplish this, Abigail makes it look like Elizabeth is practicing witchcraft by claiming that Elizabeth sticks needles in the poppet that Mary Warren gave Elizabeth in order to cause Abigail pain
• Readers know, however, that Abigail sticks herself with needles in order to provide evidence of Elizabeth's "crime"
• Why John Proctor doesn't attend church often


  He doesn't like Reverend Parris, who is too concerned with his own wealth, and he is unhappy with the substance of Parris's sermons
• John also explains to Reverend Hale that he stayed at home on Sundays during the winter because his wife, Elizabeth, was sick
• When Mary Warren tells the court the truth that the girls were just pretending that they were being affected by witchcraft, she is challenged by Parris, Hathorne, and Danforth, and she is intimidated by the other girls
• To combat Mary's revelation, Abigail stirs up the other girls to act as though Mary is trying to bewitch them
• The tension of the scene and hysteria of the girls mount until Mary cracks under the pressure and accuses John Proctor of threatening to murder her if she didn't try to help him overthrow the court
• Abigail Williams tells John Proctor that the witchcraft is not real
• Danforth decides that John Proctor's confession is not true because it isn't substantiated by Elizabeth Proctor