Crucible Review
Act One 1. "So now they and their church found it necessary to deny any other sect its freedom, lest their
New Jerusalem be defiled and corrupted by wrong and deceitful ideas." What is the irony in that statement?
The Puritans came to this country for religious freedom; however, when they got here they persecuted others as they had been persecuted. They turned their colony into a place almost as bad as the place they had left.
2. Explain how the witch-hunt years were a time of "general revenge." Being under such strict laws and commandments, the Puritans had to repress a lot of their anger and spirit of revenge towards their neighbors. When the witch hunts started, it was an excellent opportunity for them to "let their hair down" and get revenge on their neighbors for whatever petty squabbles they had been having.
3. Identify Tituba, Abigail, Betty Tituba was Parris' slave woman from Barbados. She went with the girls into the forest and was accused of conjuring spirits, accused of being a witch. Later, she confessed to being a witch to save her life.
Abigail was Parris' niece. She lived with Parris because her own parents had been killed by Indians. Abigail was the main instigator of the witch hunt; she enjoyed the attention and tried to get revenge on several people in the village, particularly Elizabeth Proctor. She wanted to take Elizabeth's place as John Proctor's wife.
Betty was Parris' daughter. In the opening scene, she has had some sort of a fit, and the only explanation the people of Salem can find for her condition is the presence of witchcraft in their village.
4. Why does Mrs. Putnam believe there are witches in Salem? She has lost many babies in their first few days of life, and the child of her only successful childbirth (Ruth) is acting peculiar. Witchcraft is her answer to these strange events.
5. Why is Thomas Putnam bitter? His candidate for minister was rejected, and his attempt to break his father's will had failed. He considered himself to be the intellectual superior to most of the people of Salem, and yet he often did not get his own way. He was a greedy, frustrated, bitter man.
176. Parris says, "Oh, Abigail, what proper payment for my charity! Now I am undone!" What does that mean?
Parris was having troubles of his own before the story began. His controversial appointment had left his parish divided and argumentative. He was trying to keep everything together. Now, his niece's flirting with witchcraft would bring further doubts upon his ministry and give his enemies more ammunition against him. After he has taken her in and provided her with a home, she has done something which could likely cause his ruin.
7. What is Mary's argument to Abby? She wants Abby to tell the truth about the happenings in the woods. The worst that can happen to them would be that they would be spanked and reprimanded. She suspects that if the lies go on, things could get out of hand and the punishment would be far worse (jail or hanging).
8. Describe Proctor. Proctor is a strong, fit man in his thirties. He is a farmer. Basically he is an even-tempered man, soft-spoken, but full of authority and confidence.
9. What happened between Abigail and John Proctor prior to the opening of the play? They apparently had an affair.
10. What was the "sign" that Betty was bewitched? She could not stand to hear the Lord's name.
11. Identify Francis and Rebecca Nurse. Francis was a levelheaded man, greatly respected by many of the village people. He was known for his calm nature and abilities as an arbitrator. Rebecca, his wife, was a truly good woman, kind and gentle in her manner. Rebecca helped to deliver some of the Putnam's babies.
12. Explain the political relationship between the Putnam and Nurse families. The Nurses were not liked by the Putnams because of some land disputes, and this conflict was somewhat revenged by the Putnams when Ann Putnam accused Rebecca of bewitching her newborn babies (implying she was responsible for their deaths).
13. What did Rebecca do to Betty? She stood over Betty and quieted her.
14. What is Rebecca's explanation of the girls' behavior? She thinks the girls have made up their story to get some attention and that in a few days when the sport wears off, the whole thing should be forgotten. Not much attention should be paid to the girls.
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15. "There are wheels within wheels in this village and fires within fires." Explain. There were many political and personal grudges held among the people of Salem, all mixed up with their social and religious beliefs. The whole affair was rather tangled and deep-rooted.
16. What is Proctor's reason for his not regularly attending church? He doesn't like Parris. He thinks there is too little mention of God in church and too much mention of fire and brimstone. He also doesn't think Parris is a very good minister because he seems too concerned with material wealth.
17. What does Parris want? Parris wanted the deed to his house, and firewood in addition to his salary.
18. Giles says, "Think on it now, it's a deep thing, and dark as a pit." To what is he referring literally and symbolically?
Literally, he is talking about the fact that people are not getting along and are suing each other at an alarming rate. Symbolically, he is talking about the deeper-rooted problem that their system of theocracy seems to be failing.
19. What do Putnam and Proctor argue about? What does this show? They argue about lumber and the ownership of a piece of land on which the lumber grows. We are shown Putnam as a land-grabbing man who will use devious means to get what he wants.
20. Who is Rev. John Hale, and why does he come to Salem? Rev. John Hale is an expert in witchcraft. He comes to Salem to do what he can to help the town rid itself of witchcraft.
21. Hale says, "They [the books] must be [heavy]; they are weighted with authority." What is the significance of this remark?
Symbolically, the books usually stand for education, learning, the educated. In this case, these books are filled with information about the devil and witchcraft (and how to get rid of it). It has not-very scientific and not-well-proven information, information which, we believe, is by its very nature, not substantial. Yet, the people of Salem and John Hale put their faith in it. In much the same way, they later place their faith in the girls and the girls become weighted with authority although they (the girls) have information that is not substantiated.
Another possible symbolic interpretation would be an analogy between their faith in these books and their faith in the Bible. The books they believed in were, in effect, their law; they were from where the justification for the Puritan society originated. Because of this, they were weighted with authority.
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22. To what did Tituba confess? Why? Tituba confessed that she conjured spirits and met with the devil and signed his book. Parris was leading her to give those answers. If she had not "confessed," she would have hanged.
23. What do the girls do at the end of Act One? They admit that they were bewitched, and they started naming the names of people they had seen with the devil.
Act Two 1. Where does Elizabeth want John to go, and what does she want him to do there?
Elizabeth wants John to go into Salem to tell the authorities that the girls are not telling the truth.
2. What is John's response to her prodding? He is reluctant to go. He understands that he probably should go, but he does not want to get personally involved with the activity.
3. What gift did Mary give Elizabeth? Mary gave Elizabeth a "poppet" (doll) she had made while sitting in court.
4. What was the "evidence" against Sarah Good? She confessed to witchcraft. The girls said she nearly choked them to death (and they acted so) in court. She mumbled when after begging for cider and bread, she had been turned away. She could not recite the commandments in court.
5. Why doesn't Proctor want Mary to go back to court? If she goes back, that makes him further involved. Also, he believes that the accusations are false and the girls are frauds. It isn't a just court in Proctor's eyes.
6. Why does Elizabeth think Abigail wants to kill her? Elizabeth knows of John's affair with Abby. She believes that Abby wants to take her place as John's wife.
7. Why did Hale come to Proctor's house? Hale came out to question all accused persons for himself, so that he would have some knowledge of the people before they appeared in court or jail. He came to Proctor's house to question them to see if either of them had any suspicious activities which would relate to witchcraft.
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8. What things are "suspicious" about Proctor and his family? Proctor does not go to church regularly. His youngest son has not been baptized. He does not have total faith in Parris, the minister. It takes both Parris and Elizabeth to remember all of the commandments. (He significantly forgot adultery.)
9. Hale asks Elizabeth if she believes in witches. What is her reply? If she is accused of being a witch, she cannot believe in witches. However, if the Bible says that witches exist, she cannot dispute the Bible.
10. On what charge(s) was Rebecca Nurse arrested? She was arrested for the "marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies."
11. Why does Cheever come to the Proctor house? Cheever comes to arrest Elizabeth.
12. Explain the significance of the needle in the "poppet." Abigail had accused Elizabeth of sticking a needle in her (Abby's) stomach through the use of a "poppet" (doll). Cheever asked to see the doll that was in Elizabeth's house (the one that Mary had given her). When he looked under the dress, there was a needle stuck in the abdomen of the doll. On the basis of this evidence, Cheever determined that witchcraft was possible and did, in fact, take Elizabeth to prison.
13. What will happen to Proctor if he tries to discredit Abby? She will tell that they had an affair; she will discredit his name by calling him a lecher.
14. Why doesn't Mary want to testify about the doll? She doesn't want to testify because she is afraid of Abigail. She knows Abigail will "get her" if she goes against her.
Act Three 1. Why do Giles and Francis want to talk to Danforth?
They go to try to persuade the judge that their wives are good women, not witches.
2. What is Parris' argument against Proctor? Parris says that Proctor is trying to overthrow the court.
3. What does Mary tell Danforth? "It were pretense, sir." The girls have been lying.
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4. When Danforth hears that Elizabeth is pregnant, what does he allow? He allows her time to see if her "natural signs" appear. If they do not, and she is truly pregnant, he will allow her one year before she is hanged, to have her baby. The point is that if Proctor is just trying to save Elizabeth, he need not continue with his arguments; she is saved for another year.
5. What paper did ninety-one people sign? They signed that Rebecca, Elizabeth and Martha were all good, upstanding, God-loving citizens.
6. ". . . a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between." Explain the importance of Danforth's statement.
Danforth (and the Puritan doctrine) left no room for in-between cases. Either people were witches or they weren't. There was no room for "appearances." If one opposed the court, one would be in contempt. There was no room for error on the part of the court and no room for question or correction of the court. It could, then, go on forever in its incorrect path.
7. What quote did Proctor use to help Mary remain brave? "Do that which is good, and no harm will come to thee." It is ironic in a layman's point of view that Proctor later does that which he believes to be good and yet he is hanged. From a religious standpoint, though, one could interpret the quote as being correct, if in fact Proctor's soul was saved.
8. Of what does Giles accuse Putnam? He accuses him of killing his neighbors for their land. (If a person were hanged as a witch, his or her land would go up for auction. Putnam was the only man with enough money to buy up all the land.)
9. What is Hale's problem as Proctor and his friends present evidence to Danforth? Hale begins to realize that Proctor and his friends have a valid point and that the people who had been accused and sentenced so far could very well have been innocent.
10. Hawthorne thinks of a test for Mary. What is it? Can she do it? Why or why not? He asks Mary to faint, as she fainted in the courtroom. No, she can't do it in front of Hawthorne on demand. She says that she was able to in the courtroom because the mood was set and she got caught up in the mood with the other girls, which enabled her to do it there.
11. Proctor calls Abigail a whore, and he confesses his lechery. Danforth tests Proctor's statement by calling for Elizabeth and asking her why Abigail was dismissed. What does Elizabeth say?
She lies to protect John.
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12. What do the girls do to Mary? What is her response? They pretend that her spirit is coming to get them, that she is herself doing some bewitching. Mary tells them to stop it, but when they don't, she ends up breaking down and joining them (for her own protection).
13. What happens to Proctor? He is jailed for his contempt of the court and his suspicious activities.
14. What does Hale do? He quits the court.
Act Four 1. What explanation does Cheever give for Parris' "mad look"?
He thinks it is caused by the cows. In other words, the cows are left wandering since their masters are in jail, and there is much contention in the town about ownership and the whole political scene.
2. What did Abigail do? Abigail stole money from Parris and disappeared, reportedly left on a ship.
3. Parris says, "You cannot hang this sort. There is danger for me." What "sort" does he mean, and what is the danger to him?
Because Proctor, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Martha and others were upstanding citizens, generally respected in the community (as opposed to Sarah Good who was a beggar woman), people were truly doubtful of their connections with the devil. Since Parris was so involved with the prosecution of these individuals, he was beginning to get threats on his life.
4. Explain Danforth's reason that a pardon would not be just. If he would pardon the remaining accused, the people who had been hanged would have died in vain, unjustly. Rather than admit that the court could have been wrong and therefore admit the others may have been hanged unjustly, he thought it better to continue hanging people so all accused would get the same treatment from the court. His logic was peculiar to say the least.
5. Why has Hale come back to Salem? Hale has come back to Salem to encourage the accused to confess and save their lives (whether they are guilty or not).
6. What does Hale want Elizabeth to do? Hale wants Elizabeth to convince Proctor to confess.
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7. What happened to Giles? Giles was pressed to death during questioning.
8. Proctor says, "My honesty is broke, Elizabeth, I am no good man." Explain. At this point, he has decided to confess even though he is not guilty. He is telling a lie to save his own life. That in itself takes away his goodness, his honesty. Besides the fact that lying is a sin, he has broken the code of a man's life. Even non-religious people recognize the importance of honesty to one's character. He has broken this code; he is a sinner, he is a failure as a man.
9. What "confession" did Elizabeth make to John? She tells him that after much thought, she feels she is also responsible for his affair with Abigail. She thinks if she had been a better, warmer wife, he would not have been inclined to place his affections elsewhere.
10. What did Proctor do after he signed the confession? Why? He held the confession and would not give it up to be publicly posted. He knew he was not guilty and did not want to have his lie used to make other innocent people give up their goodness.
11. "I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" Explain. By confessing, Proctor has ruined himself, given up his goodness. His hopes for eternal salvation have been destroyed. Since he shall remain alive on the earth for some time to come, he at least wants to have his good name so his life here will still be good. If he has to suffer eternally, the least they can do is to let his remaining years on earth be bearable.
12. "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" What does Elizabeth mean? Since Proctor refused to make his confession public, the authorities have decided it will not be accepted. He will hang as if he had not confessed. Proctor regains his goodness by accepting his death by hanging rather than becoming an accomplice to the misguided authorities and by holding to the truth that he was not in partnership with the devil. If she were to convince Proctor to give a public confession (and thereby save his life), Elizabeth would put him back in the situation where his goodness would be lost. Then, the loss of his soul would be at least partly her fault. Besides not wanting that responsibility, she recognized the importance of Proctor's eternal well-being and wished that for him over her own desires.
