Name:



The Overture to The Crucible Name ____________________________ Period _____ Date _______

The Overture introduces the setting of the play in prose form. This “mini-essay” format creates two worlds: the world inhabited by the play’s characters, and the world that contains the playwright and his readers/audience. As the play continues, note how Miller speaks of “we,” as if he and his readers are talking behind the characters back. Consider who “we” may be. Note how Miller uses this technique to discuss the Puritan traits of discipline and hypocrisy, the relationship between America’s political policy and religious beliefs, and Americans’ fear and mistrust (of communism and the Soviet Union).

Directions: Read the Overture on pages 138-141. The Parris it is referring to is the Reverend in Salem, MA, in 1692.

1. After reading the first paragraph, would you have liked Rev. Parris if you had known him? Explain your answer.

2. How would the people in Europe, where these Puritans came from, have viewed the “town” were Parris lived? Give details.

3. Why didn’t the Puritans have a lot of time to fool around?

4. What did the “two-man patrol” do? What does its existence say about Puritan society?

5. What was a constant threat to the Puritans from the west?

6. Why might these Puritans not have been successful in converting the Indians?

7. What did the people in Salem think of the forest lands around them?

8. What was the Puritan’s attitude toward other religions (sects)?

9. What four qualities of the Puritans were “perfect instruments for the conquest of this space so antagonistic to man”?

a.

b.

c.

d.

10. What did the town of Salem hope that their theocratic government would do for the town?

11. Why might some of these Puritans want to accuse innocent people of doing something wrong?

The Crucible: Act One Reading Review Name ___________________

Setting:

Directions: Setting influences the characters and the action in the play. As a drama, setting is limited to what can be accomplished in a stage performance.

1. At the beginning of Act I, the setting is introduced in the stage directions. Where does Act I occur?

2. Where do the controversial events occurring prior to Act I take place?

Character Review:

Directions: Match the character to Miller’s description from the play. As you read the play, consider how stage directions support/develop the elements of drama.

1. __L__ In her forties, brought from Barbados, frightened because “as always, trouble in

this house eventually lands on her back”

2. __G__ Daughter of Parris, aged ten, inert

3. _____ A little younger than seventeen, a “nervous, hurried girl”

4. _____ Middle forties, “believes he is being persecuted wherever he went”, widower with

no interest or talent with children

5. _____ Seventeen, a “strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan with an endless capacity for

dissembling”

6. _____ “Twisted soul of forty-five, a death-ridden woman, haunted by dreams”

7. _____ “The Putnam’s servant, a fat, sly, merciless girl of eighteen”

8. _____ A seventeen, “subservient, naïve, lonely girl”

9. _____ “A farmer in his middle thirties”, “respected and even feared in Salem, has come to

regard himself as a kind of a fraud”

10. _____ Eighty-three, “knotted with muscle, canny, inquisitive, and still powerful”

11. _____ Seventy-two, “the general opinion of her was so high that to explain how anyone

dared cry her out for a witch—and more, how adults could bring themselves to lay hands on her”

12. _____ “A well-to-do, hard-handed land owner, near fifty”, “the eldest son of the richest man in the village”, “his

vindictive nature was demonstrated long before the witchcraft began”

13. _____ “One of those men for whom both sides of the argument had to have respect”, “originally rented the land… he

gradually paid for it and raised his social status”

14. _____ “Nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual”, “he felt the pride of the specialist whose unique

knowledge has at last been publicly called for”

Plot:

Directions: Put the events in the appropriate order by listing the lettered events in number order. Identify what happens first, then what happens last in the Act, and work forward or backward from there. Some have been provided for you.

A. After trying to sync up their stories, Abigail threatens all of the girls, telling them that she will kill them if they tell what happened in the woods

B. Parris asks Abigail about her reputation, worrying about his own reputation and the “faction” if Betty’s condition is interpreted as witchcraft

C. John Proctor arrives at the Parris house, and we learn about his relationship with Abigail

D. Reverend Hale arrives in Salem to investigate the possibility of witchcraft, and Giles Corey asks Reverend Hale about his wife reading strange books

E. Susanna Walcott visits the inert Betty and tells Parris that the doctor can find no natural causes for Betty’s sickness

F. Tituba confesses, under duress, to making the girls conjure spirits and drink blood.

G. Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse arrive, and Rebecca insists the girls are fine, and their illness has nothing to do with witchcraft, Giles and Proctor square off against Rev. Parris

H. After seeing the reprieve and attention granted Tituba, the girls begin to name the names of those who were with “the devil”

I. Parris finds the girls dancing in the woods

J. The Putnams and Mercy Lewis comes to see Betty because their daughter is also “sick” and hysteria begins to build

Quotes:

Directions: Match the quote to the appropriate speaker. Use the character bank from the character review. As you read the play, consider how quotes support/develop characterization.

1. __D__ “The witch-hunt was not, however, a mere repression. It was also, and as importantly, a long overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims.”

2. _____ “It must come out—my enemies will bring it out…There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit.”

3. _____ “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar”, “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.”

4. _____ “I have eleven children, and I am twenty-six times a grandma, and I have seen them through their silly seasons… There is prodigious danger in the seeking of loose spirits”

5. _____ “[to Putnam] You cannot command Mr. Parris. We vote by name in this society, not acreage”, “Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.”

6. _____ “I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of Hell upon her.”

7. _____ “I know it, sir. I sent my child—she should learn from Tituba who murdered her sisters.”

8. _____ “We’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error… We must tell the truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things.”

9. _____ “You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!” *What other signs let us know the girls are faking?*

10. _____ “Mister Reverend, I do believe somebody else be witchin’ these children… I don’t know, sir but the Devil got him numerous witches.”

Act 1: Independent Reading Questions Name ________________

Begin at the description of Rev. Hale and conclude at the description of Giles Corey.

1. Give a physical description of Reverend Hale.

2. Why is Rev. Hale brought to Salem?

3. Reverend Hale “encountered a witch in his parish not long before.” Explain what happened and what he found.

4. Miller uses this section to emphasize the idea that “Ours is a divided empire in which certain ideas and emotions and actions are of God, and their opposites are of Lucifer.” What is Miller saying here? Consider his context (McCarthy Hearings).

5. Read the last paragraph of the description of Rev. Hale. What is his purpose in Salem? How is it similar or different to other members of the Puritan community?

6. How does Rev. Hale know Rebecca Nurse?

7. Does Proctor have an opinion on witches?

8. What does Hale mean when he says “we cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of Hell upon her.”

9. What does Parris tell Hale about what happened before he arrived in the town?

10. What does Mrs. Putnam admit to Rev. Hale?

11. What does Giles Corey ask Rev. Hale? Why?

Begin at the description of Giles Corey in Act 1 of the play.

12. Why is Giles Corey the suspect of so much blame in the village?

13. How does Rev. Hale first test Betty for signs of the Devil?

14. What is in the kettle?

15. Who is the first person accused of communicating with the devil? Who is the accuser?

16. How does Abigail excuse herself from laughing at prayer?

17. Why does Tituba confess to witchcraft?

18. Who suggests possible witches to Tituba?

19. What does Rev. Hale's say happens to a person that has confessed to witchcraft?

20. Why does Mrs. Putnam think Goody Osburn is a witch?

21. What happens to make Betty finally rise from bed?

22. Describe the mood at the end of Act 1.

WHO AM I?

You have met these characters in Act 1. Can you identify them as:

John Proctor, Abigail Williams, Rev. Hale, Rebecca Nurse, Mrs. Putnam, Mr. Putnam , Giles, Mary Warren, Tituba, Rev. Parris

1. ________________ I am a wealthy and influential person in Salem that comes from a long family line. I am a vindictive person who holds grudges when I do not get my way in town and church matters. I feel that I have been cheated out of land and money during my life. I am bitter, manipulative and vengeful.

2. ________________ I have some secrets that have to be kept, especially from my uncle. If he ever finds out that I asked Tituba for a blood potion to put a curse on Goody Proctor, I will be in big trouble. I threatened my friends to keep the secret. I think Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar who is blackening my name in the village. Another one of my secrets is my little affair with John Proctor. I am smart, wily, vindictive and a good liar.

3. ________________ I was brought here from Barbados as a slave. I know some practices that I learned there that the townspeople find unusual. These bored young girls here in Salem like to come to me for fun and excitement. My master is suspicious of me and threatens to beat me. I don’t want to get beat for being a witch, so I blame others for being one.

4. ________________ I am a tense, unhappy and superstitious person. I believe that the deaths of my babies in childbirth were caused by supernatural means.  Can you blame me for sending my Ruth to Tituba to try to commune with the dead so that I could find out how my babies died? Now my only living child, Ruth, is ill and afflicted by something I cannot explain.

5. ________________ I have little patience with the people in this town, especially the reverend. He accuses me of not getting to church often enough, and I told him the reasons that I don’t are that I live so far away and that his sermons are always just lecturing and warning us about hell. I refuse to let people sway my opinion, and I say it like it is. I do have one little secret, though, and I am ashamed of it and trying to put it behind me. I sometimes consider myself a fraud because I hate hypocrites.

6. ________________ I’m old and have seen a lot, but I have had a good life. I have helped deliver a lot of babies in this town. I am wise, pious and reasonable. My husband and I are well-respected and liked around here. The only one who seems bitter toward me is a woman who lost most of her babies. I think she is jealous of my large family and that people respect me. Plus her husband resents mine for some conflict over some land.

7. ________________ I am the religious leader of this town, and I am very upset because my daughter is in bed unresponsive. There is talk of her being involved in witchcraft. I can’t let that rumor turn people against me. A minister can’t have someone in his household dealing with witchcraft. So many of the townspeople are already against me. They don’t appreciate me and don’t pay me enough.

8. ________________ I’m an old, old man, and people like to make fun of me and blame me for ridiculous things. Maybe it’s because I don’t care at all about what people say about me. But, I believe in the law, and I am experienced in using it to defend myself effectively. I know that I can be an old grouch and a nuisance, but, believe me, I’m a very innocent and brave person.

9. ________________ I’m an important person because I am considered to be an expert at seeking out witchcraft. As a reverend, I know my Bible and I know the signs of someone who is going against its teachings by dabbling in witchcraft, which comes from the Devil. However, I’m a very fair, honest person; I don’t accuse someone of being a witch without a very good cause. I’m excited to be here in Salem to investigate witch charges.

10. ________________ I’m just a servant, but my friends and I could get into a lot of trouble for what we did out in the woods with Tituba. People are going to start accusing us of being witches! I warned Abigail to confess what we’ve done and take the punishment. It was all her fault anyway. We’re not witches!

The Crucible: Act Two Reading Review Name ___________________

Setting:

Directions: Setting influences the characters and the action in the play. As a drama, setting is limited to what can be accomplished in a stage performance.

1. When does Act 2 occur in time in relationship to Act 1?

2. Where does Act 2 occur?

Plot:

Directions: Put the events in the appropriate order by listing the lettered events in number order. Identify what happens first, then what happens last in the Act, and work forward or backward from there. Some have been provided for you.

A. Reverend Hale arrives to question the Christian character of the house, revealing that Elizabeth and Rebecca Nurse have been mentioned in court. Ironically, John Proctor receives his “third strike” when he falters in reciting the Ten Commandments.

B. Mary Warren, the Proctor’s servant and now an official of the court, returns and gives Elizabeth a poppet she made in court. The situation is Salem is discussed, with 39 now accused, Goody Osburn set to hang; and Sarah Good confessing to witchcraft.

C. Proctor commits to saving his wife, confronting Mary and saying she will go to the court to tell the truth. Mary Warren admits to being afraid of the wrath of Abigail, as she cowers and sobs that she cannot do it.

D. John and Elizabeth realize that Abigail wants Elizabeth dead, and Elizabeth pleads with John to go to Abigail and set everything straight.

E. Elizabeth denies any wrong doing, and explains that Mary gave her the poppet in question. Mary is brought in to corroborate her testimony.

F. John Proctor forbids Mary from returning to court, and Mary reveals that Elizabeth’s name has been mentioned in the court.

G. Elizabeth and John Proctor discuss his interaction with Abigail in town in Act I, and the audience realizes that the relationship is tense and tried.

H. Proctor tells Hale that Parris found the girls dancing in the woods, and that there antics have nothing to do with witchcraft.

I. Giles Corey and Francis Nurse enter and announce their wives were taken away. Ezekiel Cheever arrives to question Elizabeth, as she has been charged with attacking Abigail Williams by pushing a needle into her stomach.

J. Cheever prepares to take Elizabeth away by serving her arrest warrant, which Proctor in turn rips up in anger.

Quote Analysis:

Match the quote to the appropriate speaker. As you read the play, consider how quotes develop characterization/ theme.

1. __D__ “The Deputy Governor promise hangin’ if they’ll not confess, John. The town’s gone wild, I think. She speak of Abigail, and I thought she were a saint, to hear her. Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel.”

2. _____ “If the girl’s a saint now, I think it is not easy to prove she’s fraud, and the town gone so silly.”

3. _____ “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man.”

4. _____ “I must tell you, sir, I will be gone every day now. I am amazed you do not see what weighty work we do.”

5. _____ “There be a certain danger in calling such a name…She’d dare not call out a farmer’s wife but there be monstrous profit in it.”

6. _____ “I am a stranger here, as you know. And in my ignorance, I find it hard to draw a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court… And so this afternoon, and now tonight, I go from house to house.”

7. _____ “I labor the earth from dawn of day to blink of night, and I tell you true, when I look to heaven and see my money glaring at his elbows—it hurt my prayer. I think, sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ houses”, “I see no light of God in that man. I’ll not conceal it.”

8. _____ “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.”

9. _____ “There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang; have you never thought of that?”

10. _____ “I falter nothing, but I may wonder if my story will be credited in such a court. I do wonder on it, when such a steady-minded minister as you will suspicion such a woman that never lied, and cannot, and the world knows she cannot! I may falter somewhat, Mister; I am no fool.”

11. __D__ “If you think I am one, then I say there are none.”

12. __B__ “If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole green world from burning.”

13. _____ “Child, you are certain that this be your natural memory? May it be, perhaps, that someone conjures you even now to say this?”

14. _____ “If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? I’ll tell you what’s walking in Salem—vengeance is walking in Salem! We are what always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!”

15. _____ “Then her saintliness is done with. We will slide together into our pit; you will tell the court what you know.”

16. _____ “She’ll kill me for saying that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!”

Predict:

Support your answer with references to what you have read that has led you to make that prediction.

1. Do you think that Mary Warren will expose Abigail? Why or why not?

2. How do you think Abigail will react when Proctor tells the court that she said the girls were just playing and were not really bewitched?

3. Do you think the four judges who have come from Boston for the trial, the court magistrates, and the deputy governor will fall for the girls’ “bewitched” antics?

4. Predict what will happen to: John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale

The Crucible: Act Three Reading Review Name ___________________

Setting: Where does Act 3 occur?

Plot Review:

Directions: Put the events in the appropriate order by listing the lettered events in number order. It may be helpful to identify what happens first, then what happens last, and either work forward or backward from there.

A. Mary testifies that she and the other girls were only pretending to be afflicted by witchcraft. Judge Danforth, shocked, asks Proctor if he has told the village about Mary’s claims.

B. Elizabeth claims to have gotten the mistaken notion that Proctor fancied Abigail, so she lost her temper and fired the girl without just cause. As marshal, Herrick removes Elizabeth from the room. Proctor cries that he confessed his sin, but it is too late.

C. Danforth sends for Abigail and her troop of girls. Abigail denies Mary’s testimony, as well as her explanation for the doll in the Proctor home.

D. Back in Salem, the court is in session. Giles interrupts the proceedings by shouting that Putnam is only making a grab for more land. He claims to have evidence to back up this assertion.

E. Proctor leaps at Abigail and calls her a whore. He confesses his affair with her and explains that Elizabeth fired her when she discovered it. He claims that Abigail wants Elizabeth to hang so that she can take her place in his home.

F. Abigail shivers and the other girls follow suit. They accuse Mary of bewitching them.

G. Giles refuses to name the man who gave him the information about Putnam because he does not want to open him to Putnam’s vengeance. Danforth arrests Giles for contempt of court.

H. Danforth and Hathorne inform Proctor that he need not worry about Elizabeth’s imminent execution because she claims to be pregnant. She will not be hanged until after she delivers. Danforth asks if he will drop his condemnation of the court, but Proctor refuses.

I. Proctor submits a deposition signed by ninety-one land-owning farmers attesting to the good characters of Elizabeth, Martha, and Rebecca. Parris insists that they all be summoned for questioning because the deposition is an attack on the court. Hale asks why every defense is considered an attack on the court.

J. Mary seems to become infected with the hysteria of the other girls and starts screaming too. Proctor tries to touch her, but she dashes away from him, calling him the devil’s man. She accuses him of consorting with the devil and pressuring her to join him in his evil ways.

Quote Analysis:

Match the quote to the appropriate speaker. As you read the play, consider how quotes support/develop characterization.

15. _____ “Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land!”

16. _____ “And you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?”

17. _____ “They’ve come to overthrow the court, sir!”

18. _____ “Do you know, Mr. Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through these children?”

19. _____ “Let me continue. I understand well a husband’s tenderness may drive him to extravagance in defense of a wife. Are you certain, Mister, that your evidence is the truth?”

20. _____ “But if she say she is pregnant, then she must be! That woman will never lie, Mr. Danforth!”

21. _____ “You say your only purpose is to save your wife. Good, then, she is saved at least this year, and a year is long… Will you drop your charge?”

22. _____ “Is every defense an attack upon the court? Can no one—?”

23. _____ “I have brought trouble on these people—“

24. _____ “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road in between.”

25. _____ “The proof is there! I have it from an honest man who heard Putnam say it! The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land.”

26. _____ “We cannot blink it more. There be prodigious fear of the court the country—“

27. _____ “There might also be a dragon with five heads in my house, but no one has ever seen it.”

28. _____ “I heard the other girls screaming, and you, your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I—It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I—I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not.”

29. _____ “I have been near to murdered everyday because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—“

30. _____ “I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name!”

31. _____ “She only thought to save my name!”

32. _____ “Excellency, it is a natural lie to tell; I beg you, stop now before another is condemned! I may shut my conscience to it no more—private vengeance is working through this testimony!”

33. _____ “I say God is dead!”

34. _____ “I denounce these proceedings! I quit this court!”

Predict:

Review your predictions from Act II. After reading Act 3, what might happen to the following characters in the final act?

• John Proctor

• Elizabeth Proctor

• Abigail Williams

• Reverend Hale

• Mary Warren

• Giles Corey

• Rebecca Nurse

The Crucible: Act Four Reading Review Name ___________________

Setting:

Where does Act IV occur?

Plot Review:

Directions: Put the events in the appropriate order by listing the lettered events in number order. It may be helpful to identify what happens first, then what happens last, and either work forward or backward from there.

A. Proctor, refusing to be a martyr, confesses to being a witch, but stops at indicting others.

B. 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.

C. The Salem trial is ending. Rumors of a rebellion against witchcraft trials in a nearby town ignite fear that the people of Salem will riot if upstanding citizens are hung.

D. The 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.

E. When Hale asks Elizabeth to counsel Proctor to lie and save himself, she balks but agrees to see him.

F. As Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are led to be hanged, 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!"

G. Hale, disillusioned and humbled, pleads with the prisoners to save their lives by making false confessions. He requests Danforth pardon the accused, but Danforth refuses saying twelve have already hung for the same crime.

H. When Proctor tears up his confession, Elizabeth rushes to him and they embrace.

Quotes Analysis:

Match the quote to the appropriate speaker. As you read the play, consider how quotes support/develop characterization.

35. __D__ “Andover have thrown out the court, they say, and will have no part of witchcraft. There be a faction here, feeding on that news, and I tell you true, sir, I fear there will be riot here…It were another sort that were hanged until now.”

36. _____ “There will be no postponement.”

37. _____ “Tonight, when I open my door to leave my house—a dagger clattered to the ground.”

38. _____ “You must pardon them. They will not budge.”

39. _____ “You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just.”

40. _____ “It may well be that God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride.”

41. __E__ “He would not answer aye or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge they’d hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law.”

42. _____ “More weight”

43. _____ “I am no good man. Nothing’s spoiled by giving them this lie that were not rotten long before.”

44. _____ “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery.”

45. _____ “Proctor, you mistake me. I am not empowered to trade your life for a lie. You have most certainly seen some person with the Devil.”

46. _____ “It is a weighty name; it will strike the village”

47. _____ “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are!—You will not use me!”

48. _____ “I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in this world, and I sold my friends?”

49. _____ “Is that document a lie? If it is a lie I will not accept it”

50. _____ “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

51. _____ “You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs. Give them no tear. Tears pleasure them! Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!”

52. _____ “Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption!”

53. _____ “It is pride, it is vanity…What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare the truth?”

54. _____ “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”

The Crucible: Learning Focused Concept Review

Elements of Drama

Match the term to the definition.

1. _____ Italicized comments that identify parts of the setting or the use of props or costumes, give further information about a character or provide background information

2. _____ A character who is much like another character in class, rank, and background, but has opposite traits which provide a contrast between the two characters

3. _____ A story that can be read on two levels, a literal and a figurative/symbolic (where things stand for something beyond themselves).

4. _____ The author of a play.

5. _____ A form of literature that is written to be performed for an audience.

6. _____ A division in a play, much like chapters in a novel

7. _____ A protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to his demise

8. _____ When the audience or reader knows something that the characters in the story do not know

9. _____ A long speech spoken by a character to himself, another character or the audience

10. _____ A serious work of drama in which the hero suffers catastrophe or serious misfortune, usually because of his own actions

Predict:

What do you think might have happened to these characters at the conclusion of Act IV?

• Reverend Parris

• Abigail Williams

• Elizabeth Proctor

• Town of Salem

Mass Hysteria

by Marc D. Feldman, M.D.

Witch Hunts & the Winds of Rumor

Salem, Massachusetts is famous for its 1692 "witch hunts." Sparked by the accusations of four young girls, a Puritan community already fearful of eternal damnation became panicked into believing that witches were among them. By the time the events came to an end, more than 20 people had been convicted: 19 were hanged, one was pressed to death under huge stones, and four others died in prison.

Even as late as 1957, the small Massachusetts community was paying restitution to the families of those who had become the victims of so-called "mass hysteria" (Bartholomew, 1995).

The cause of mass hysteria is often a baseless belief that begins small but, like a hurricane, travels and becomes more devastating as it picks up speed. Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast in 1938 is a well known example of the power of a false idea gone berserk.

Though the play was announced as fictional several times, panic still spread throughout the country as millions became convinced that the Martians were taking over the Earth.

From our perch distant in time, we might view these episodes as rather quaint. Believing ourselves to be more enlightened, we're likely to bristle at any suggestion that we too can be overwhelmed by misguided passions. In reality, the Internet and other new communication technologies allow us not only to spread information as fast as it is generated, but to transmit it even before it has been verified. This creates a climate ripe for runaway rumors.

How does a normal person, or a small group of people, or even an entire community get swept up into the conviction that an off-hand remark is a terrifying reality?

Mass Sociogenic Illness

"Mass sociogenic illness" (MSI), a form of mass hysteria, demonstrates the process. In MSI, mere sight and sound, like disabling viruses, can make so many people feel so sick that within minutes an entire town's ambulances are summoned. One such case occurred in a summer program in Florida for disadvantaged kids (Desenclos, Gardner, & Horan, 1992).

Every day at noon, the 150 children gathered in a dining hall where they were served pre-packaged lunches. As lunch began one day, a girl complained that her sandwich didn't taste right: she felt nauseated, and came back from the restroom reporting that she had thrown up. Others began to complain that their stomachs hurt too and that the sandwiches really did taste funny.

Then a number of them described having headaches, tingling in their hands and feet, and abdominal cramping. The supervisor, obviously worried about all the complaints, announced to the horrified children that the food might be poisoned. They were told to stop eating immediately.

Within 40 minutes, 63 children were sick. More than 25 of them had vomited. Ambulances were called and the children had to be divided up among three different hospitals.

But an hour later, it was all over. Every examination and test performed on the children was normal. Meal samples were analyzed, but no bacteria or pesticides were detected. Food processing and storage techniques had been faultless. And no one had become ill at any of the other 68 sites at which the very same food was served. Unmistakably, these children were victims of MSI.

The Reasons

Looking back, doctors recognized that the statement of the first girl had precipitated a small chorus of complaints. Her reason for the remark may have simply been the momentary feeling of lightheadedness many of us get at times. Regardless, it proved very powerful. The number of victims, all suggestible children, multiplied as an authority figure, the supervisor, announced that the food might indeed be tainted.

Typical of settings ripe for mass hysteria, the summer program itself was already an unsettled environment. Two days earlier, a newspaper article had reported on management and financial problems within the youth center, and the children seemed to have picked up on the anxiety of the staff.

Containing the Fear

Mass hysteria is best countered through prevention or very early intervention. The most powerful tool is for a calm authority figure to give clear and accurate information repeatedly, and to remain visible and available to provide updates and reassurance. In contrast, a message that is dramatic and menacing, as in the Florida case, is guaranteed to have a catastrophic result.

Thankfully, mass hysteria occurs infrequently. Still, it has common characteristics that the general public should know. For instance, in MSI, even though the individuals involved appear and feel ill, all the lab tests and physical exams are normal. Second, hyperventilation, dizziness, and fainting are almost invariable. Third, the symptoms spread through the group with blazing speed. And fourth, though "relapses" can occur if the same factors all conspire again, the long-term outcome is excellent.

If people are aware of the phenomenon and know its features, they will be better able to overcome the main obstacle: accepting that there is no actual basis to their frightening beliefs and physical symptoms.

References: Marc D. Feldman, M.D. is the co-author of "Patient or Pretender: Inside the Strange World of Factitious Disorders" (1994) and co-editor of "The Spectrum of Factitious Disorders" (1996).

QUESTIONS:

1. What causes mass hysteria?

2. How does the spreading of information today (like on the Internet) cause mass hysteria? Provide one example you have witnessed recently.

3. Why was the summer program a typical setting for mass hysteria?

4. What is the best method for counteracting mass hysteria? How could this have helped in a community like Salem?

Standards Focus: Tragedy and the Tragic Hero

A tragedy is a traditional play structure where the drama deals with catastrophic events and often has a happy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of a main character.

A tragic hero is a protagonist with a fatal (also called tragic) flaw which eventually leads to his downfall. The Aristotelian tragic hero is introduced as happy, powerful, and privileged, and ends up dying or suffering immensely because of his own actions or mistakes.

The tragic hero must have four characteristics:

• goodness (a moral and ethical person),

• superiority (such as someone with supreme or noble authority or control)

• a tragic flaw (will eventually lead to his demise)

• eventual realization that his decisions of actions have caused his downfall (faces death or suffering with honor)

Usually, the realization of tragic flaw results in an epiphany, or a sudden realization by the character, audience, or both, and a catharsis, or a release of emotions, which makes the audience feel more at peace.

Directions: Many scholars feel that John Proctor is the classic tragic hero. Analyze the character of John Proctor and the play as a while by answering the questions below. EXPLAIN your answers.

1. In your opinion, what is John Proctor’s tragic (fatal) flaw?

2. When John is introduced, he is he “happy”? Why or why not?

3. How might John be considered a superior or privileged person in Salem?

4. In your opinion, is John a moral and/or ethical person?

5. At what point does John realize he is facing his own demise? Who’s fault is his demise?

6. Does John Proctor experience a catharsis in the play? How?

7. Do you feel pity for the characters, especially John Proctor? Why or why not?

Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Fact & Fiction

Essential Question: What is the relationship between the drama and the source texts with inspire it?

Miller created works of drama, inspired by actual events for artistic/political purposes. First produced on Broadway in 1953, the play was a response to the panic caused by irrational fear of Communism during the Cold War which resulted in the hearings by the House Committee on Unamerican Activities.

In Miller's tale, a lovelorn teenager is spurned by the married man she loves, and in her revenge, she fans a whole community into hysteria. This is simply not history. Miller took artistic license with the Salem Witch Trials, fictionalizing historical material, to comment on the hysteria and intolerance of his time period. Even though they may share names and basic fates, the characters in Miller's work are simply not the real people who lived.

A NOTE ON THE HISTORICAL ACCURACY OF THIS PLAY

"This play is not history in the sense in which the word is used by the academic historian. Dramatic purposes have sometimes required many characters to be fused into one; the number of girls involved in the 'crying out' has been reduced; Abigail's age has been raised; while there were several judges of almost equal authority, I have symbolized them all in Hathorne and Danforth. However, I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history. The fate of each character is exactly that of his historical model, and there is no one in the drama who did not play a similar-and in some cases exactly the same-role in history.

"As for the characters of the persons, little is known about most of them except what may be surmised from a few letters, the trial record, certain broadsides written at the time, and references to their conduct in sources of varying reliability. They may therefore be taken as creations of my own, drawn to the best of my ability in conformity with their known behavior, except as indicated in the commentary I have written for this text." --Arthur Miller

Some of the historical inaccuracies in the play:

1. Betty Parris' mother was not dead. She died in 1696, four years after the events.

2. Miller admits in the introduction to the play that he boosted Abigail Williams' age to 17 even though the real girl was only 11. John Proctor was 60 and Elizabeth, 41, was his third wife. Abigail never worked for the Proctors, and there is no evidence that supports an affair between Abigail and John.

3. Tituba was not an African slave from Barbados, but rather a Native American woman who had a husband and daughter. She was also tortured for a long time before she confessed.

4. Ruth was not the only Putnam child out of eight to survive infancy. In 1692, the Putnam’s had six living children.

5. Rebecca Nurse was hanged on July 19, John Proctor on August 19, and Martha Corey on September 22 -- not all on the same day on the same gallows.

6. Reverend Hale would not have signed any "death warrants," as he claims to have signed 17 in the play.

7. The hysteria did not die out "as more and more people refused to save themselves by giving false confessions," as the epilogue of the movie states. The opposite was true: more and more people gave false confessions to save themselves as it became apparent that confession could save one from the noose.

Question: Considering Miller’s purpose in The Crucible, why Miller might have chosen to present history inaccurately in his play. Choose two historical inaccuracies created by Miller, explain their impact on the play’s plot and characterization, and explain how they reflect or serve Arthur Miller’s purpose (why did he change them).

|What Happened in the History (Based on Primary |What Happened in the Drama |Why might the playwright make this change? |

|Source Texts) | | |

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Historical Context: The Salem Witch Trials, 1692

The seeds of the hysteria that afflicted Salem Village, Massachusetts were sown in January 1692 when a group of young girls began to display bizarre behavior. The tight-knit community was at a loss to explain the convulsive seizures, blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the youngsters. The physicians called in to examine the girls could find no natural cause of the disturbing behavior. If the source of the affliction

|[pic] |

|The Salem Village Meeting House |

|where the trials took place |

was not attributable to a physical malady, the community reasoned that it must be the work of Satan. Witches had invaded Salem.

In February the village began praying and fasting in order to rid itself of the devil's influence. The girls were pressured to reveal who in the community controlled their behavior. Three women were identified and examined. One, Tituba (a slave), confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog." Even more troubling, Tituba confessed that a conspiracy of witches permeated Salem Village.

In March the afflicted girls accused Martha Corey. The three women previously denounced as colluding with the devil were marginal to the community. Martha Corey was different; she was an upstanding member of the Puritan congregation - her revelation as a witch demonstrated that Satan's influence reached to the very core of the community. Events snowballed as the accusatory atmosphere intensified and reached a fever pitch. During the period from March into the fall many were charged, examined, tried and condemned to death. The hangings started in June with the death of Bridget Bishop and continued through September. As winter approached, the hysteria played itself out as criticism of the procedures grew. In October, the colonial governor dissolved the local Court of inquiry. The convictions and condemnations for witchery stopped. Nineteen victims of the witch-hunt had been hanged, one crushed to death under the weight of stones and at least four died in prison awaiting trial.

The Trial of Martha Corey

Friday March 11, 1692 was a day of fasting and prayer in Salem. During the day the community's minister, the Rev. Samuel Parris, asked the girls to reveal another witch. They did, and the accusation shocked those who heard it for it implicated Martha Corey (Goodwife Corey) a new but upstanding member of the congregation. Immediately a delegation was sent to the Corey farm to interview the accused in the hope of clearing up this discrepancy. Martha Corey's sarcastic response to the accusation disheartened the delegation who immediately called for her arrest. Her trial was the scene of much agitation. In the courtroom Martha's accusers writhed in agony as they were forced by an unseen power to mimic the witch's every movement. When Martha shifted her feet the girls did also, when Martha bit her lip the girls were compelled to bit their own lips, crying out in pain. They saw the specter of a black man bending over the accused and heard the drum beat calling the witches to convene on the meetinghouse lawn. Deodat Lawson, a visiting minister, describes the scene:

"On, Monday, the 21st. of March, the magistrates of Salem appointed to come to examination of Goodwife Corey. And about twelve of the clock they went into the meeting house, which was thronged with spectators. Mr. Noyes began with a very pertinent and pathetic prayer, and Goodwife Corey being called to answer to what was alleged against her, she desired to go to prayer, which was much wondered at, in the presence of so many hundred people. The magistrates told her they would not admit it; they came not there to hear her pray, but to examine her in what was alleged against her. The worshipful Mr. Hathorne asked her why she afflicted those children. She said she did not afflict them. He asked her, 'Who did then?' She said, 'I do not know; how should I know?'

The number of the afflicted persons were about that time ten, viz. four married women: Mrs. Pope, Mrs. Putnam, Goodwife Bibber, and an ancient woman named Goodall; three maids-. Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewes, at Thomas Putnam's, and a maid at Dr. Griggs's; there were three girls from nine to twelve years of age, each of them, or thereabouts, viz. Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam.

These were most of them at Goodwife Corey's examination, and did vehemently accuse her in the assembly of afflicting them, by biting, pinching, strangling, etc.; and that they did in their fit see her likeness coming to them, and bringing a book to them. She said she had no book. They affirmed she had a yellow bird that used to suck betwixt her fingers; and being asked about it, if the had any familiar spirit that attended her, she said she had no familiarity with any such thing, she was a gospel woman, which title she called herself by. And the afflicted persons told her ah, she was a gospel witch. Ann Putnam did there affirm that one day when Lieutenant Fuller was at prayer at her father's house she saw the shape of Goodwife Corey and she thought Goodwife N, praying at the same time to the Devil. She was not sure it was Goodwife N., she thought it was, but very sure she saw the shape, of Goodwife Corey. The said Corey said they were poor, distracted children, and no heed to be given to what they said. Mr. Hathorne and Mr. Noyes replied it was the judgment of all present they were bewitched, and only she, the accused person, said they were distracted.

|[pic] |

| Peabody Essex Museum |

| |

|"The Trial of George Jacobs" |

|a 19th century view of the witch trials |

It was observed several times that if she did but bite her underlip in time of examination, the persons afflicted were bitten on their arms and wrists and produced the marks before the magistrates, ministers, and others. And being watched for that, if she did but pinch her fingers, or grasp one hand hard in another, they were pinched, and produced the marks before the magistrates and spectators. After that, it was observed that if she did but lean her breast against the seat in the meeting house (being the bar at which she stood), they were afflicted. Particularly Mrs. Pope complained of grievous torment in her bowels as if they were, torn out. She vehemently accused said Corey as the instrument, and first threw her muff at her, but that not flying home, she got off her shoe, and hit Goodwife Corey on the head with it. After these postures were watched, if said Corey did but stir her feet, they were afflicted in their feet, and stamped fearfully.

The afflicted persons asked her why she did not go to the company of witches which were before the meeting house mustering. Did she not hear the drum beat? They accused her of having familiarity with the Devil, in the time of examination, in the shape of a black man whispering in her ear; they affirmed that her yellow bird sucked betwixt her fingers in the assembly; and, order being given to see if there were any sign, the, girl that saw it said it was too late now; she had removed a pin, and put it on her head, which was found there sticking upright.

... she denied all that was charged upon her, and said they could not prove her a witch. She was that afternoon committed to Salem prison; and after she was in custody, she did not so appear to them and afflict them as before."

References: Lawson, Deodat, A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft at Salem Village(1692) [reprinted in Commager, Henry Steele, The Heritage of America (1949)]; Starkey, Marion, The Devil in Massachusetts (1989); Trask, Richard, "The Devil Hath Been Risen" (1997).

Questions:

1. Why did the people of Salem reason that Satan had invaded their community?

2. What was one primary difference between the women accused first and Martha Corey?

3. During the trial, the girls’ behavior is very similar to Martha’s in the courtroom, accusing her of making them act this way. To an outside observer, what else could actually be happening?

4. When did Martha finally stop “afflicting” the girls? Explain why this might have been.

The Crucible: Learning Objective Review

Understanding Allegory

Directions: As an allegory, the play has two levels of meaning: literal and figurative. Read the first paragraph summarizing the plot of The Crucible, noting the underlined literal parts of the setting and story that are meant to figuratively comment on Arthur Miller’s own historical context and personal experience. In the second paragraph, use the given word bank to provide the figurative parallel from Miller’s time period.

Literal (story level—what elements in the story actually are):

The Crucible takes place during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The play focuses on the Puritan community and its leaders as they respond to an outbreak of mass hysteria within the town. People were afraid that the Devil, hiding in the nearby forest, was gaining control of the town. As hysteria mounted, the personal vengeance of individuals against others in the community became a motive for accusing others of associating with the Devil. People who were accused of being witches often lost their lives and their homes. Once accused, people were often interrogated utilizing loaded questions and language which made it difficult to prove their innocence. It was during this dark time that individuals were jailed simply because they refused to confess like Tituba and reveal the names of others. These individuals who refused to cave in to pressure and personal fear were excommunicated from the church, and many were tortured or put to death. The hysteria, led by Abigail Williams, extended until her attempt to accuse reached too far, to the highest points of the Puritan leadership, specifically the respected Reverend Hale. Many of the judges of the Salem Witch Trials would later apologize for their treatment of those accused.

Figurative (symbolic level—what elements in the story are meant to represent or parallel):

The Crucible is published during the ________ _______of _____. The play comments on the ________ community and its leaders as they respond to an outbreak of mass hysteria within the ______. People were afraid that _______, hiding in the _____ _____, was gaining control of the country. As hysteria mounted, the personal vengeance of individuals against others in the community became a motive for accusing others of associating/sympathizing with ______. People who were accused of being ________ often lost their ____ and their ____. Once accused, people were often interrogated utilizing loaded questions and language which made it difficult to prove their innocence. It was during this dark time that individuals were _______ simply because they refused to confess like ___ ______and reveal the names of others. These individuals who refused to cave in to pressure and personal fear were excommunicated from _____ ________, and many were __________ or _________. The hysteria, led by ________ __________, extended until his attempt to accuse reached too far, to the highest points of the _________ _________, specifically the respected ___________. Many of the _________ in the ____________ would later apologize for their treatment of those accused.

WORD BANK:

-----------------------

A. Giles Corey

B. Reverend Hale

C. Mercy Lewis

D. Narrator

E. Francis Nurse

F. Rebecca Nurse

G. Betty Parris

H. Reverend Parris

I. John Proctor

J. Mr. Putnam

K. Mrs. Putnam

L. Tituba

M. Susanna Walcott

N. Mary Warren

O. Abigail Williams

1. _____

2. __E__

3. _____

4. _____

5. _____

6. __C__

7. _____

8. _____

9. __F__

10. _____

A. Giles Corey

B. Reverend Hale

C. Mercy Lewis

D. Narrator

E. Francis Nurse

F. Rebecca Nurse

G. Betty Parris

H. Reverend Parris

I. John Proctor

J. Mr. Putnam

K. Mrs. Putnam

L. Tituba

M. Susanna Walcott

N. Mary Warren

O. Abigail Williams

11. _____

12. __D__

13. _____

14. _____

15. _____

16. __H__

17. _____

18. __E__

19. _____

20. _____

A. Giles Corey

B. Reverend Hale

C. Francis Nurse

D. Elizabeth Proctor

E. John Proctor

F. Mary Warren

1. ______

2. ______

3. ______

4. ______

5. ______

6. ______

7. ______

8. ______

9. ______

10. ______

A. Giles Corey

B. Judge Danforth

C. Reverend Hale

D. Francis Nurse

E. Reverend Parris

F. John Proctor

G. Mr. Putnam

H. Mary Warren

I. Abigail Williams

1. ______

2. __C___

3. ______

4. __E___

5. ______

6. ______

7. ______

8. ______

A. Judge Danforth

B. Giles Corey

C. Reverend Hale

D. Reverend Parris

E. Elizabeth Proctor

F. John Proctor

A. Act

B. Allegory

C. Drama

D. Dramatic Irony

E. Foil

F. Monologue

G. Playwright

H. Stage Directions

I. Tragedy

J. Tragic Hero

1. Elia Kazan

2. Hollywood Studios

3. HUAC

4. Jailed

5. Jobs

6. Joseph McCarthy

7. Participants

8. Popular Media

9. Reputation

10. Unemployed

11. 1950s

12. American

13. American Government

14. Army

15. Blacklisted

16. Communism

17. Communism

18. Communist Hearings

19. Communists

20. Country

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