The CrucibleArthur Miller

MillerQuotes Themes

Summaries

QuotesFrom Play

Overview

Biography &Background

ExamQuestions

OVERVIEW

The Crucible is a terrifying depiction of how the accusations of a group of children stirred up such fear in their small community that it led to persecution and hangings. Yet, what makes the story so touching – and relevant -is that it deals with universal themes.

Why is the play gripping drama? 

 

Growing hysteria Exciting courtroom scene Focusing on Proctor’s plight Asking universal questions

about human integrity

Puritanism

beliefs—absolute sovereignty of god, total depravity of humans, unconditional election, God’s intentions are present in the world, Satan’s presence in the world.

The play is set in the spring of 1692. The small town of Salem “had been established hardly forty years before”. (1)The society [at the start]was “an autocracy by consent” (4) Initially, there strict faith helped them to survive.“… for good purposes… the people of Salem developed a theocracy… whose function was to keep the community together.” (4)

Background/Central Concerns

However, the people of Salem in 1692 were “not quite the dedicated folk that arrived on the Mayflower” (4). No longer was everyone willing to adhere to the strict lifestyle that had been set down by their forefathers.

LanguageThis 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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Language cont…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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Why did the accusations of

witchcraft begin?Girls caught dancing in the woods.

(can be seen as an act of rebellion against the strict theocracy)

Faced serious punishment.Once caught, looked for a

scapegoat ~ Tituba ~ others.Adults accepted this and fuelled it.

Plot Summaries

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

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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.  

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 fears for 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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Act One cont…When the Putnams and Parris leave. Abigail and Betty are left with Mercy Lewis, the Putnam’s servant and Mary Warren, the Proctor’s 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 Proctor’s 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 head’s 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 is ashamed of his behaviour. 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 Proctor’s home seven months earlier, “a cold snivelling woman.” John Proctor turns on her angrily, “Do you look for whippin?” . next

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Act One cont…

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 is quite deaf and a bit eccentric, but a good man.

It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Rebecca, Giles and John Proctor do not get on well with the Putnams, and that John and Giles have little respect for Rev. Parris either. Parris complains 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 Parris’s money grabbing nature and his enthusiasm for preaching hellfire.

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Act One cont…

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 hanged 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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Act Two

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 Abigail and the girls. There is tension between the Proctors because Elizabeth has not forgiven John for his affair with Abigail.

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Act Two cont…

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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Act Two cont…

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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Act ThreeMenu

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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Act Three cont…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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Act FourThe 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. Rumours of a rebellion against witchcraft trials in a nearby town ignite fear that the people of Salem will riot if upstanding citizens are hanged.

 

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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Act Four cont…

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 their deaths, 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!“.

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Handy Quotations

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

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Act One - QuotesMenu

“He had a sharp and biting way with hypocrites” (stage directions on Proctor)

“Long-held hatred of neighbours could now be openly expressed, and vengeance taken. (intro)

“But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft. Betty’s not witched. (Abigail)

“He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct” (stage directions on Proctor)

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There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit. (Parris)

“Proctor, respected and even feared in Salem, has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud.” (as above)

Act One - QuotesMenu

“Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut

off my hand before I’ll reach for you again. (Proctor)

“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)

“I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart … You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” (Abigail)

“ I have trouble enough without I come to five mile hear him speak hellfire and damnation. (Proctor on Parris)

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Act One - QuotesMenu

“Mr Parris you are the first minister ever did demand the deed to this house” (Proctor)

“I am your third preacher in seven years” (Parris)

“ He was a crank and a nuisance, but withal a deeply innocent and brave man.” (stage directions on Giles)

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Mr Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. (stage directions on Hale)

“You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (Parris)

Act Two - Quotes"It’s winter in here yet.” (Proctor to Elizabeth)

“It is a proper court they have there now… there be fourteen people in jail now" (Elizabeth)

“Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel” (Elizabeth)

“You must go to Salem, John. You must tell them it is a fraud" (Elizabeth)

“I’ll think on it”” (Proctor’s reply to above quote)

“You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin” (Proctor)

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Act Two - Quotes"Oh, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!" (Proctor )

"Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? (Proctor )

"Remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thoughthim beautiful in Heaven." (Hale)

“I will fall like an ocean on that court! Fear nothing, Elizabeth.” (Proctor)

“My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me.” (Proctor)

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“She wants me dead, John, you know it! (Elizabeth on Abigail)

Act Three - Quotes

“I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours Danforth.” (Proctor)

“You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!” (Proctor)

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"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)

"I have made a bell of my honour! I have rung the doom of my good name." (Proctor)

“I denounce these proceedings.” (Hale)

“We a burn a hot fire here. It burns down all concealment.”(Danforth)

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Act Four - Quotes

“When I speak God’s law, I will not crack it’s voice with whimpering.” ( Danforth)

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“I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint” (Proctor)

“He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”(Elizabeth)

“I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(Proctor)

“I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten before” (Proctor)

“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies. (Proctor)

Background

Arthur Miller

The Cold War

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Arthur MillerArthur 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.

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.

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.

                                       

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The Cold War and Senator

McCarthy 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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The Cold War and Senator McCarthy

cont…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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The CrucibleArthur Miller

Themes

The individual

v. authority

Fear

Integrity

Mass hysteria

The corruptio

n of justice

Click on the theme you wish to explore

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The individual v. authority

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…

The Reformation had made people more responsible for their own salvation.  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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The individual v. authority cont…

Act Two 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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FearFear 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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Fear cont…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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Fear cont…

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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The Corruption of Justice

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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Corruption of Justice cont..

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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Mass HysteriaMass 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, 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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Mass Hysteria cont…

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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Mass Hysteria cont…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…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 control 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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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 publicise his adultery. 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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Integrity cont…

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 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…

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.

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Arthur Miller Quotes

The quotes on the following pages could be used in your essay. If you learn one or two, you might be able to use one of them at the beginning or end of your essay.

Themes in Miller’s Work

Many of Miller’s plays concern what he called “the most valid and fertile subject for…drama [which is] the attempt to show man struggling to be at one with society.” His works do show that “men do need the respect of their neighbours.”

Individual v Society

“The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom.”

Arthur Miller

Exam Questions

Essay Choices for The Crucible

2001Choose 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.

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2002

Exam QuestionsEssay Choices for The Crucible

2002

Choose a play in which a character struggles with his conscience.Outline briefly the reasons for the character’s 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 character’s situation and discuss to what extent this led to a greater understanding of the concerns of the play.

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2003

2001

Exam Questions

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.

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2004

2002

Example

Exam Questions

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.

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2005

2003

Exam Questions

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 character’s 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.

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