The Crucible - Act One



The Crucible - Act One

1) Copy the following plot summary, filling in the correct options

The play is set in 1962 / 1692 / 1269 and when the curtain rises, Reverend Parris / Hale / Putnam is praying by his daughter’s / niece’s / aunt’s bed. Abigail / Betty / Tituba enters, but he sends her away in a rage. He talks to Abigail / Betty / Tituba about the girls dancing in the forest and she denies that it had anything to do with ‘unnatural causes’. The Putnams enter; Ms Putnam is convinced that Betty danced / flew / was naked. The girls involved in the scandal are left alone and Abigail / Mercy / Susanna warns the others to say nothing. John Proctor, a local priest / marshal / farmer, enters; he has slept with Betty / Abigail / Mercy but rejects her advances now. During their loving / sad / angry exchange of words, Betty begins to laugh / scream / choke and only Rebecca / Giles / Proctor can calm her. Hale / Danforth / Herrick enters and questions Betty, who remains uninterested / limp / hysterical in his hands. When he turns to Abigail, she, in fear / anger / spite, accuses Mercy / Betty / Tituba of being a witch who in turn names two women she has ‘seen with the Devil’. Abigail and Mercy / Betty / Mary join in, and the Act ends with their hysterical accusations.

2) Who? What? Why? When? Where? How? – answer in full sentences

1) Who sends for Reverend Hale?

2) What lie does John Proctor tell in this Act?

3) Why does Abigail interrupt Tituba’s confession?

4) How did Abigail’s parents die?

5) How do we know the Reverend Hale is a learned man?

3) Who is this? – copy out the quote and then write down to whom it refers

1) “…a subservient, naïve, lonely girl.”

2) “…a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling.”

3) “…a fat, sly, merciless girl of eighteen.”

4) “A secret child she has become this year, and shrivels like a suckling mouth were pullin’ on her life too.”

5) “Look at her God-given innocence; her soul is so tender; we must protect her…”

6) “And I heard a screeching and gibberish coming from her mouth. She were swaying like a dumb beast over that fire!”

4) Turning-point

What did happen during the much discussed ‘witchcraft’ incident? Why does Miller make it so difficult to untangle the denials, accusations and counter-accusations?

1) Who instigated the ‘conjuring’, and why?

2) Who danced naked?

3) Who drank from the kettle, and what did it contain?

4) Who ‘conjures’ spirits?

5) Whose spirits are ‘conjured’?

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