Shmoop Study Guide for

The Crucible

By: Arthur Miller

English III

Mrs. Oualline

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In A Nutshell:

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a dramatic re-enactment of the in Massachusetts in the late 1600’s. Although the play centers on real events, it is not actual “history” – Miller changed the ages of characters and consolidated several historical figures so that there are fewer actors on stage. It was first produced on stage in January 1953. Arthur Miller intended to use the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory about the anti-communist Red Scare and the congressional hearings of Sen. Joseph McCarthy going on in the United States at the time.

Why Should I Care?

There is something about the cocktail of fear, anxiety, passion, and jealousy in The Crucible that we find disturbingly familiar. As wild as The Crucible’s plot is, we’ve seen this episode in history over and over again. The Crucible drives home how often history repeats itself.

As we mention in “In a Nutshell,” The Crucible is a parable that tells the tale of a similar "witch hunt" that went down in author Arthur Miller’s time. Fearing the spread of communism and seeing it as a threat to government and individual freedoms, the American government, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, sought out every single communist in the U.S. They put suspects on trial and forced them to “name names” and rat out their friends and compatriots. Soon the whole country was whipped into a moral frenzy.

Arthur Miller, playwright extraordinaire, realized that the lingo being thrown around by McCarthy sounded very similar to the language used in the Salem Witch Trials (some 300 years before), a historical period he researched heavily while in college. In comparing the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era, we see a similar cocktail of fear, anxiety, passion, and jealousy pervade the country.

Where would you stand if history were to repeat itself once more and you found yourself in the middle of a “witch hunt?” Would you agree to say something that wasn’t true in order to save your family? What would you do if you became the scapegoat, the person on whom all blame is placed? Arthur Miller helps us try to think about how we would handle ourselves if we were to find ourselves in this situation, and he also makes us think about how emotional humans can get when justice is on the line.

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Historical Background: McCarthyism and the Red Scare

The onset of Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union following World War II had major ramifications for American society, as the problem of how to deal with domestic Communists became a major political and social preoccupation.

Until the Cold War, Communists never made much of an impact on American life. There were never very many of them, and their dream of leading a proletarian revolution in the United States seemed so far-fetched that it bordered on the unthinkable. Most Americans despised the Communists, but weren't particularly preoccupied with them.

Then, a few years after World War II, the United States found itself locked in potentially mortal confrontation with the Soviet Union. Suddenly American Communists, that tiny fringe of wannabe revolutionaries, came to represent a major problem in American society.

There still weren't many of them. They still had little power or influence. They still had a snowball's chance in hell of creating a United Soviet States of America.

But what if they were agents of the Soviets, boring from within our open society to destroy us? What if they were spies? What if they were secretly seeking positions of influence within our society, subverting the work of our government, miseducating in our schools, propagandizing in our movies?

Fear.

Fear—utterly justifiable fear—transformed American Communists from a minor nuisance into a national obsession. Fear created McCarthyism, an intense effort to root out Communists from every corner of American society by any means necessary—even if those means violated traditional American values: Due process. Civil liberties. Constitutional rights

The culture of fear created a society of conformity, a politics of repudiation. The results weren't always pretty. Senator Joseph McCarthy, the most prominent Communist-hunter of the period, was a reckless alcoholic demagogue. Unknown numbers of innocents had their lives ruined by a loyalty-security apparatus that knew few checks or balances.

But the culture of fear also worked. The Communist Party USA disintegrated. Soviet spies were brought to justice. Leftists were even purged from Hollywood.

Was it worth it?

"Are you now or were you ever a member of the Communist Party?" Would you answer?

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Salem Witch Trials

An accusation of witchcraft was a serious matter in seventeenth century New England. The regional religious climate of the period was so fervent that people actually believed the Devil was literally lurking just around the corner. He could be manifested in any number of guises, just waiting to tempt people into sin and eternal hellfire. Women were considered especially vulnerable to the Devil's temptations; after all, European culture dating back to the Medieval Ages had depicted females as temptresses who could lead men astray, and the Bible claimed that Eve and her kind had been forever tainted with sin from the moment she accepted the serpent's apple in the Garden of Eden.

Because witchcraft accusations were so serious in colonial society—witchcraft was punishable by death— the justice system intervened to try to prevent false accusations of witchcraft or possession by harshly punishing those who made false charges. When, in 1647, a Springfield, Massachusetts, woman named Mary Parsons was accused of spreading rumors that a local widow was a witch, a local judge sentenced her to be "well whipped...with 20 lashes by the Constable unless she could procure the payment of 3 pounds" to the widow in question "for and towards the reparation of her good name." Still, not even such harsh punishments for false accusations could prevent witchcraft hysteria from repeatedly erupting within New England communities. The first accusations predated the infamous Salem Witch Trials (1692) by almost half a century; the first person in North America to actually confess to witchcraft was Mary Johnson, in 1648. Even before the Salem witch hysteria, more than 300 people were charged with witchcraft in New England, and most of them were middle-aged women. Over 30 were hanged.

A witch, Puritans believed, was a person who made a pact with the Devil in order to obtain supernatural powers. Such powers were held responsible for social afflictions such as crop failures or stillborn children. Popular faith in the existence of witchcraft—and the danger posed by it—was brought to America from Europe, where hangings for witchcraft dated back to medieval times and were often presided over by the most prominent village officials. The Puritan clergy of New England compounded this historical legacy by constantly warning their congregations of Satan's omnipresence and his devices of temptation. Because Massachusetts was well known for its religiosity, church elders reasoned that their colony—the so-called Bible Commonwealth—was a special target for a Devil who targeted the godly. Schoolchildren were taught in their primers that Satan would attempt to lure boys by offering them permission to skip school and play all day long. In short, New England Puritans believed that the Devil was a visceral presence in their daily lives, that they must remain constantly vigilant against him, and that if they failed to do so it would be at the peril of their own souls. An all-encompassing terror of eternal damnation was a constant presence in the lives of these settlers.

The heightened tensions and anxiety of the post-Glorious Revolution period in North America contributed to an outbreak of unparalleled witchcraft hysteria in late 1691. The colony of Massachusetts was undergoing a difficult transition to its new status as a royal province in which

4 religious toleration was mandated from the crown and town membership surpassed church membership as the prerequisite for voting power. Salem Village, scene of the infamous witch trials, was in the process of trying to break free from the taxes and influence of its neighbor, the larger Salem town on the coast. These subtle sources of anxiety and tension may have made the town residents even more willing than most Puritans to believe that the Devil was present and active in their midst. A recent historical reinterpretation has argued that a frontier conflict with nearby Indians known as King William's War was an essential precursor to the witchcraft trials. In this new account, historian Mary Beth Norton argues that the colonists saw themselves as punished for their sins by visible spirits (the Native Americans) and invisible ones (the Devil's Satanic possession).

The story of how the Salem witch hysteria began has a few subtly different versions, but all of them involve several pubescent girls in the town. One explanation describes how the girls began to experiment with fortune-telling by dropping an egg white into a glass and asking what trade their future husbands would practice. Another says that the girls met in the kitchen of town minister Reverend Samuel Paris, to hear his West Indian slave tell them voodoo stories. Both accounts might well be true, and ultimately the girls began experiencing nightmares and suffering fits, in which they shouted, barked, and seemed to undergo involuntary spasms. The town doctor and other adults interpreted these symptoms as signs of demonic possession. The girls identified Tituba and two other women, and , as their tormentors and as Satan's servants. The three women were arrested. Tituba confessed to the charge and then proceeded to identify several people in town who she said were also performing Satan's deeds.

By March, 1692, seven more people in town were said to be afflicted, including a well-respected matron, a desperately poor man, four maidservants, and one child, twelve-year-old Anne Putnam. Men, women, and children were accused of witchcraft. When a former preacher returned to Salem to preach in the meetinghouse, he found what was considered to be solid proof of Satan's presence: the possessed group spoke in church and commented on the sermon, two actions forbidden to any member of the congregation regardless of sex, age, or status.

Both accusers and the accused described meetings with the Devil and over 200 people who professed their allegiance to him. One man testified that he saw accused witch Susannah Sheldon carried through her yard and over a stone wall by some other witches. Although ministers never described Satan physically in their sermons, they believed the various representations of him that emerged during the trials: he appeared as a "black man" (not necessarily connoting an African man), a large black dog, a hog, a red cat, a black cat, a little yellow bird, and even a clawed monkey with the face of a man and the feet of a cock. All of these versions seemed plausible to a society that assumed the Devil could appear in various guises to tempt his victims.

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Setting: Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. In 1692, Salem was populated by Puritans who believed in black- and-white lines between good and evil. The powers of darkness were real forces to them, which could wreak havoc and destruction on society if unleashed. The system of government was a “theocracy,” which meant that God was the true leader of society, and he expressed his will through the actions of men and women. In the Old Testament, we hear stories of how God led directly through Moses; Salem, likewise, was led through men who were supposed to be directly connected to God.

In theory, if you believe in a loving God, this should work; but in practice, men lust after power regardless of their principles. This meant that God’s power was mediated through men, and men made the rules. Among those rules were strict guidelines for what it meant to be a Christian, and what it meant to follow God. Miller describes the forest as the last bastion of evil according to Puritan understanding, so the forest where Abigail and the girls danced was seen as ruled by the Devil – while the town of Salem was ruled by God. The entire play is about the moral contradictions inherent in Salem at this time, and how its strict religious theology became twisted and led to the death of innocent people.

What’s Up With The Title?

What is up with the title? Nowhere in this play is there of a mention of the word "crucible." What the heck is a crucible anyway? Well, it's a piece of laboratory equipment used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures or to melt metal. It's a little container full of violent reactions. Seems like a pretty good metaphor for the violent hysteria that the little village of Salem contained during the witch trials.

Yes, Salem became a “crucible” for many people living there when they were brought before the religious court and accused falsely of being witches. If an accused person did not confess, she was hanged. If she did confess, she was spared death but marked for life as a person who worshipped the Devil. Under such conditions, several characters in this play, especially the central characters, John and , are forced to face their own internal demons, a process that ultimately leads to internal, spiritual transformation.

The title (and the entire play) is also a metaphor for the anti-communist craze of America's Red Scare, led by Sen. Joe McCarthy. Thanks to the efforts of McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee, the whole United States became a "crucible."

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CHARACTER ROLES:

PROTAGONIST: John Proctor

Although John Proctor doesn’t show up until halfway through the first act, it is his story of failure, guilt, and redemption that carries us through the entire plot. He is human and has failed in his marriage; it is this failure that makes him and his wife vulnerable to charges of witchcraft. But it is also his ability to forgive himself, protect his wife, and to confront Abigail, that makes this a story of personal triumph.

ANTAGONIST:

Abigail Williams stirs up the entire town of Salem against many people, including Elizabeth and John Proctor, because of her selfish personal ambition to be John’s next wife, as well as her treacherous lust for the power that she gains by accusing innocent people of witchcraft.

GUIDE/MENTOR: Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth guides her husband to a better understanding of himself, towards self-forgiveness and self-acceptance, and to recognize that he is, after all, a good man.

FOIL: John Proctor to Reverend

Like John Proctor, Reverend Hale goes through a major journey over the course of the play. Their paths, however, go in diametrically opposite directions. Proctor goes from doubt and uncertainty to a place of truth. He is redeemed and in the end finds his goodness. Hale, on the other hand, starts out completely certain and confident in the righteousness of his calling. By the end of the play, though, he is counseling people to lie just to save their lives. The Reverend is now preaches deceit rather than truth. He becomes a prisoner of guilt and confusion.

FOIL: Elizabeth Proctor to Abigail Williams

Though both Elizabeth and Abigail play other roles in the play, they serve as foils for each other as well. Elizabeth is contrasted with Abigail as being forgiving, loving, and truthful, while Abigail is jealous, vengeful, and a liar.

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Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory :

The play itself. Though there isn’t a lot of symbolism in the story, the events in the play itself are an allegory for the intolerance of McCarthyism. For a decade spanning the late 1940s to the late 1950s, the American government was intensely suspicious of the possible influence of communism on citizens and institutions. The FBI accused thousands of people of “un-American activities” and monitored many more; these people’s careers and personal lives were frequently destroyed. More often than not, there was little to no evidence to support the accusations. Nevertheless, the FBI and various government groups involved in monitoring or accusing individuals, such as The House Un-American Activities Committee, enjoyed widespread support from the American population.

Similarly, in The Crucible, there is little evidence that much witchcraft activity is going on, but once accusations started flying, many innocent people get caught in the web of hysteria. Lives are destroyed and people die based on zero evidence.

Tone:

Critical. The tone Miller adopts towards the subject of witch trials and witch-hunts, and towards the characters that perpetuate them, is unequivocally critical. He is sympathetic towards individual characters who are the victims, such as the Proctors or .

Writing Style:

Simple, Old Fashioned. The dialogue is the simple language of country folks, while at the same time employing old-fashioned vocabulary and grammar. The narrative asides are slightly more complex and use regular, standard, 1950s everyday language.

Genre:

The Crucible is a four-act dramatic play, produced on Broadway and later made into a film. It uses pure dialogue to convey the tension, resolution, and themes, with a few directions for action. It was intended to be performed rather than read. Though most people nowadays experience the play on the page, it really works best as a stage production.

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What’s Up With The End?

The Crucible ends with John Proctor marching off to a martyr's death. By refusing to lie and confess to witchcraft, he sacrifices his life in the name of truth. At the end of the play, Proctor has in some way regained his goodness.

Much is said elsewhere in this guide about John Proctor's journey, which is completed by his execution. As such, we'd like to use this section to focus on the actual last two lines of the play. We think it's interesting that, though this is Proctor's story, Miller doesn't give him the last word. Instead Reverend Hale and Elizabeth Proctor get the honor. Miller writes:

HALE: Woman, plead with him! […] Woman! It is pride, it is vanity. […] Be his helper! What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!

ELIZABETH: […] He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him! (IV.207-IV.208)

It seems to us that these last two lines raise an interesting philosophical question, to which there is no right answer. Hale does have a pretty good point. Though the character of Proctor is often lauded for his integrity, is he helping his family by dying? His wife, sons, and unborn child will have to make it in the world without him. This is none too easy in the harsh Massachusetts wilderness. His choice of death could also be viewed as a form of suicide, which is unacceptable to many Christians. His death might also be interpreted as inherently selfish, because he's placing his own self-image over the good of his family.

Of course, we doubt that Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, views it as abandonment. Though, she tries her best to remain neutral when John is trying to decide whether or not to confess, it seems pretty obvious in the subtext that she thinks he should die an honorable death. It makes total sense to a Puritan. They believed, as most modern Christians do, that a person's time on Earth is a mere speck when compared to one's afterlife. She likely believes that if John lies, he'll go to hell for all eternity. If he dies a martyr's death, he'll inevitably see his family again and spend all eternity with them in heaven.

It looks like both Hale and Elizabeth have a point. There are pros and cons no matter what decision Proctor makes. Miller's choice of these particular last two lines seems to almost ask the audience a direct question. Which is more important: your honor or your life? There's no definitive answer to this question. It's totally subjective. Like every great play, The Crucible gives its audiences a lot to think about long after they've left the theater.

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Study Questions:

Act I

1. What does reveal about what happened in the woods?

2. What happened in the past between John Proctor and Abigail? How do each of them feel about it now?

3. How does John Proctor feel about Reverend Parris?

4. What does reveal to Reverend Hale?

5. When Abigail is questioned by Reverend Hale, who does she blame? What proof does she offer?

6. Who does Tituba accuse of being a witch?

7. Why does Abigail start accusing people at this point?

8. Why does Betty Parris start accusing people?

Act II

1. What is the primary center of tension in the encounter between John Proctor and Mary Warren?

2. What other “symptoms” can be added to the Act I list of "evidence" that the Devil has invaded Salem?

3. What is your impression of Elizabeth Proctor by the end of Act II? Of Reverend Hale?

4. How does Reverend Hale initiate the hysteria that closes the Act?

5. Describe the methods Miller uses to achieve the climatic build-up at the end of Act II. (Note images, syntax, rhythm, any special effects)

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Act III

1. Observe Miller’s description of the physical properties of the courtroom. What specific details make the room “forbidding”?

2. What is Danforth’s role in the proceedings? How would you characterize Danforth’s personality?

3. Clarify Danforth’s statement that “the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children.”

4. How would you describe the encounter between Danforth and Abigail? Who “wins”? Why?

5. Define Hale’s stance in the last part of Act III, particularly as it relates to Proctor.

6. The end of Act III is often a climax or turning point in a play (Shakespeare plays, for instance).

7. Do you perceive the end of Act III as a “turning point”? Explain your conclusion with evidence from the text.

8. What various techniques does Miller use to achieve such heightened drama at the end of Act III?

Act IV

1. How would you describe the opening of Act IV? What does Miller achieve dramatically with such an opening? (Have you encountered this kind of opening before–perhaps in Shakespeare?)

2. What has happened in Andover that has Parris so agitated?

3. What is Reverend Hale doing that brings “hope”?

4. Why does Danforth suggest that Hale has been preaching in Andover?

5. What is the “good purpose” Parris refers to? How will "unconfessed and claiming innocence" contribute to “our good purpose {being} lost in their tears”?

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6. What, in your perception, has contributed to Parris’s apparent “softening” in attitude?

7. What "evidence" does Hale give of the effect of the witchcraft accusations on the town? (Do you remember any other literary sources that detail a “curse on the land”?)

8. What "law" is Danforth referring to in his assertion: "I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolutions of the statutes”?

9. What is the implication in Elizabeth’s statement that Giles "died Christian under the law"?

10. What is it that Proctor refuses to do to help his sons "walk like men in the world"?

11. Explain what Elizabeth means as, with a "cry," she calls out "He (Proctor) have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!"

12. What dramatic statement, in your perception, does Miller punctuate with his closing simile "the drums rattle like bones in the morning air"?

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