The Crucible by Arthur Miller - character notes Deputy Governor Danforth • Is the presiding judge at the Salem trials and the John Proctor highest figure of authority in the play. • Is a farmer, the husband of Elizabeth Proctor, • Has an imposing presence and supreme and the father of three young sons. confidence that induces others to acquiesce • Is sturdily built, plain-spoken. readily to his authority. • Suffers inwardly from guilt caused by an • Is implacably determined to uphold the adulterous affair and counts himself a hypocrite legitimacy of the court, even at the expense of for maintaining an undeserved “good name.” truth and justice. • Is contrite and solicitous in his wife’s presence and yearns to regain her respect. Mary Warren • Is a common man who behaves heroically under • Is a lonely, impressionable girl who is servant to uncommon circumstances. the Proctors. • Redeems his honor by asserting his conscience • Is timorous and easily manipulated because of before an unjust authority. her desire for acceptance. • Embraces her mission to root out witches Elizabeth Proctor because it has transformed her dreary existence • Is John’s wife and the mother of his sons. into a momentous drama of great consequence. • Has a clear conscience, common sense, and • Lacks the fortitude and sense of identity to stand lucid intelligence. alone against the crowd. • Is sometimes reticent and does not readily express her warmth. Reverend Samuel Parris • Is decisive in crisis and stoic in the face of • Is a widower in his forties who has been minister calamity. at Salem for three years. • Is unfailingly loyal to her husband despite his • Is obsessed with securing his social position and infidelity. material prerogatives. • Is an opportunist who acts solely from self- Abigail Williams interest. • Is a beautiful and willful seventeen-year-old • Hypocritically adjusts his stands to orphan in the care of her uncle, Reverend Parris. accommodate shifts in the wind and the wishes • Has been strongly affected by her illicit of his patrons. relationship with John Proctor and refuses to • Fawns on superiors and treats underlings with believe him when he vows it is over. contempt. • Seeks to revenge herself against Elizabeth Proctor and pursues this goal relentlessly. Giles Corey • Is an audacious, cunning, and facile liar. • Is, at 83, a sturdy, mettlesome, and fiercely independent landowner. • Bullies the younger and weaker girls and cleverly manipulates those in authority. • Can be unenlightened and pig-headed, but is also warm-hearted and undaunted. Reverend John Hale • Has made an avocation of asserting his rights in • Is the church authority on demonology who is court by filing 33 separate suits against his summoned to Salem. neighbors. • Is proud of his scholarly expertise. • Reveals himself in the end to be a man of awesome courage and will. • Is too self-involved at first to assess accurately either the integrity or the duplicity of others. Thomas Putnam • Is the character who undergoes the greatest transformation in the play, his painful • Is a prominent landowner. metamorphosis begins as he awakens to the • Believes he is entitled to wield great influence consequences of his actions. and harbors deep grudge against those who do not defer to him. • Ultimately breaks with the court and denounces the trials. • Is arrogant and greedy. • Is the only figure of authority to experience • Exploits the witch-hunt hysteria to steal land remorse or exhibit moral courage. from his neighbors.
Ann Putman Sarah Good • Is Thomas Putman’s wife. • Is a poor, half-crazed, homeless woman. • Has had seven of her eight children die in • Is among those arrested for witchcraft. infancy. • Is consumed by the need to find a scapegoat for Hopkins this tragedy. • Is a guard at the Salem jail.
Francis Nurse • Is a prosperous landowner and a member of the faction that opposes Reverend Samuel Parris. • Is highly respected and has served as unofficial arbitrator of local disputes.
Rebecca Nurse • Is 72 and is the wife of Francis. • Is widely revered for her charitable works. • Displays a gentleness and dignity that are immediately apparent to all.
Ezekiel Cheever • Is a tailor who has been appointed an officer of the court. • Is superstitious and credulous. • Uses his new-found status to lord it over others.
Marshal Herrick • Lacks Cheever’s malice but unquestioningly carries out his orders. • Automatically yields his conscience to authority.
Tituba • Is a black slave in her forties whom Parris has brought with him from Barbados. • Confesses under Hale’s badgering to being in league with the Devil. • Loses her grip on reality as a result of her imprisonment and persecution.
Betty Parris • Is the daughter of Samuel Parris. • Suffers at the beginning of the play from an unexplained illness.
Susanna Walcott • Is one of the girls who join Abigail in the “crying out.”
Mercy Lewis • Is another of the girls who join Abigail.
Judge Hathorne • Is Danforth’s cruel, vengeful deputy. • Fawns on Danforth, even as he is ruthlessly contemptuous of the townspeople.