The Crucible Coursework
Arthur Miller's play, 'The Crucible', is based on the events leading up to and then the subsequent Salem Witch Trials. Before the play starts, the background story is that Samuel Parris, the local Reverend, was walking through the woods when he stumbled upon his niece, Abigail Williams, his daughter, Betty Parris, and other girls of the town dancing round a 'pot'. When Rev.Parris startles them, they all run off, but his daughter, Betty, seems to be afflicted by some kind of curse. That is where the play starts off.
Miller wrote the play in an attempt to strike out at Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose anti-Communist hearings in 1953 included the concept of 'UnAmerican' activities. Miller was targeted for these kind of accusations, and so he wrote this play with McCarthy and 'unamerican' views in mind, but with the Salem Witch Trials as the setting.
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
ACT 1
This act begins with Parris praying for his daughter Betty, who is led in her bed, with some kind of apparent curse over her. Parris had stumbled upon Betty, his niece Abigail and other girls of the village dancing in the woods, in some kind of voodoo ritual, led by Parris' slave, Tituba. Betty had still not woken.
Ann and Thomas Putnam arrive and claim that the Devil is present and has afflicted the girls. We are then informed that the Putnam's daughter, Ruth, is also afflicted. Witchcraft is first mentioned.
The adults leave, and Abigail, Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren try to wake Betty. Betty says that Abigail drank blood, and says she will be whipped. Abigail threatens the other girls and says she will beat them if they say anything.
John Proctor, a married farmer who had an affair with Abigail then enters. Abigail tells Proctor how she feels, but Proctor brushes her off and says nothing ever happened.
Rev. Parris calls in Rev. John Hale, a renowned witch-hunter, who then examines Betty. He questions Abigail and Tituba. Tituba is scared of being scared of being hung as a witch, so professes her faith in God, then confesses two women of the town, Goody Good and Goody Osburn, are in league with the Devil. Abigail and Betty say they have been bewitched, but also turn to God. The act ends as the girls chant the names of the townspeople who they accuse of witchcraft.
ACT 2
The act opens in Proctor's house eight days after the girl's accusations. Deputy Governor Danforth has arrived to head the trials against the accused. 14 people are imprisoned.
Proctor's wife Elizabeth tells John to go into town to testify against Abigail and the other 'Afflicted'. Proctor's servant, Mary Warren arrives, and she says she has been to the trials in Salem and has been with the other girls. Proctor goes to whip her, but she then says that she defended Elizabeth when Abigail accused her of Witchcraft. She gives Elizabeth a doll she made for her in court. As John and Elizabeth argue, Rev. Hale arrives and asks questions to test how 'Christian' Elizabeth and John are. John can recite every single commandment apart from the one which forbids Adultery.
2 people then arrive, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse. They have come to find John, as they need help because their wives have been accused of witchcraft. As they talk, a marshal arrives with a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. Abigail has accused her of sending her spirit to stab Abigail in the chest with a needle. John protests, but Elizabeth is carted away in chains.
After the visitors leave, John pleads with Mary Warren to tell the court about the girls' pretence. The curtain falls as he is determined to fight the proceedings, even if it means ...
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2 people then arrive, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse. They have come to find John, as they need help because their wives have been accused of witchcraft. As they talk, a marshal arrives with a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. Abigail has accused her of sending her spirit to stab Abigail in the chest with a needle. John protests, but Elizabeth is carted away in chains.
After the visitors leave, John pleads with Mary Warren to tell the court about the girls' pretence. The curtain falls as he is determined to fight the proceedings, even if it means revealing his sexual misconduct.
ACT 3
The act opens in the court. Francis Nurse, Proctor and Giles present their cases. Proctor presents a petition signed by 91 people who state that the men's wives are all good women. Danforth issues warrants for questioning the people who signed it. Giles accuses Putnam of convincing his daughter to accuse people of witchcraft in an attempt to gain their land. Giles says he has a witness to back this up, but will not give the name, so is arrested for contempt of court, despite his protests.
Proctor presents a deposition by Mary Warren which states that she never saw Satan, and that the other girls were lying. Abigail says that Mary Warren has sent her spirit out, and the girls begin screaming. Proctor confesses to adultery, but when questioned, Elizabeth denies that Proctor did commit adultery to save her husband, not knowing he has already confessed. Mary joins the girls again, and accuses Proctor of aligning with the devil. Danforth accepts this charge, but Proctor just laughs. Rev. Hale now sees that there is evil in the court, and walks out.
ACT 4
The final act begins in the local jail. The Salem trials are ending, and rumors that in a nearby town Witchcraft has been thrown out scare the townsfolk. Hale pleads with the prisoners to plead themselves guilty to save their lives. He asks Danforth to pardon the crimes., but he refuses as he has already hung 12 and it may look like he has made a mistake. Hale asks Elizabeth to plead with Proctor to confess, and she agrees to see him. When they are alone, Elizabeth forgives him for adultery, and blames herself for being 'icy'. Proctor confesses to being a witch, but doesn't accuse any others. Proctor then tears up his confession, and despite Hale and Parris' pleas to Elizabeth, she lets him go as 'he has his goodness now. God Forbid I should take it from him.' Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are taken away to hang as the last scene ends.
In this play, there are Static and Dynamic Characters; there are Heroes and villains. I am going to analyze the main characters in 'The Crucible'.
Samuel Parris is one of the main characters in the play. His daughter, Betty, and his niece, Abigail, are included in the group of 'afflicted' girls. He fears that he will be thrown out as the Minister of Salem, as 'The Devil has entered his home'. He is a static character throughout the play, as although he begins the play heading the witch-hunt, and ends it trying to stop the hangings, everything he does is fuelled by his self-interest and a desire to protect his reputation and stay in office.
This is more clearly shown in some of the opposing quotes from when he was heading the witch-hunt, and from when he was trying to stop it. For example, when he is heading the Witch-Hunt in Act 3, John Proctor arrives at Court with Mary Warren to prove the innocence of all those accused. Upon seeing them, Parris remarks, 'Beware this man, Your Excellency. This man is mischief', and 'They've come to overthrow the court sir!' When he is trying to stop the hysteria, he remarks, 'Excellency, I would postpone these hanging's for a time.' But, his reasons for being concerned soon become clear when he says, 'Tonight, when I open my door to leave my house-a dagger clattered to the ground. You cannot hang this sort. There is danger for me! I dare not step outside at night!' His apparent new found compassion is in fact, self interest; he fears for his life. This is the evidence which proves that Parris is a static character, as throughout the play, his one motivation is self interest.
Hale is the most dynamic character in the book, as proven by how he changes during the course of the witch trials. As Hale enters the story, the witch accusations are relatively new, and he is called in by Parris to sort out the situation, as he is a renowned 'witch hunter'. Hale then sparks off the town's cry of 'witch' by confronting Tituba, Parris' servant about alleged witch craft rituals in the forest. He gains a false confession off her, and then she begins to accuse various womenfolk of the town of witchcraft as well. This is when Hale begins to change. During the trials, Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, is accused, and Hale begins to see that all is not well in Salem. Then, when John Proctor is accused, Hale realizes that the 'accursed' group of girls are, in fact, manipulating the court to save themselves. Hale tries with all his power to prove Proctor's innocence, but to no avail, and at the end of the play, Hale is a broken man, in realization that the townsfolk would not have died had it not been for him. For this reason, Hale is a dynamic character.
Giles Corey is the hero of the play. Although not one of the most featured in the play, he is a static character as he sticks to his morals throughout the play, and he dies a martyr, pressed to death by boulders, in an attempt to make him confess. His wife, Martha, is accused of witchcraft early on in the play, and so he, along with John Proctor and Francis Nurse, try to clear their respective wives' names. Giles' compassion is clear when, in Act 3, Giles is trying to prove his wife innocent, and, while weeping, he says, 'It is my third wife, sir; I never had no wife that be so taken with books, and I thought to find the cause of it, dy'see, but it were no witch I blamed her for. I have broke charity with the woman, I have broke charity with her.'
Giles is a martyr in this play, and was the only character who could be called a hero.
Abigail Williams is, without a doubt, the villain of the story. She is Parris' niece, and is one of the first girls to be 'afflicted'. She has had an affair with John Proctor, and when he doesn't want anything more to happen between them, she becomes angry, and so unleashes revenge on the town of Salem. The group of girls all follow her and look to her as a leader. She is a devious character who manipulates the judges and lies about who she has 'seen' with the 'Devil'. Abigail is a Dynamic Character, as early on in the play, she seems innocent and denies witchcraft, but as the play goes on, she is the main cause of the hysteria. An example of this change in Abigail's character comes from 2 quotes. The first, in Act 1, comes when Parris is questioning Abigail about what she and the other girls were doing in the forest. She says, after Parris asks her what else they did in the forest, 'Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it- and I'll be whipped if I must be. But they're speakin' of witchcraft. Betty's not witched.' Then, when Abigail 'confesses' to having taken part in some kind of ritual later on in Act 1, when Hale forces a confession out of Tituba, she says, 'I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!' This is at the end of Act 1, when Abigail, Tituba and Betty all chant the names of the townsfolk who they 'have seen with the Devil'. Abigail is the villain of the book for this reason, as she provokes Mass Hysteria.
John Proctor, in my eyes, is also a hero in the play. He is also, in my eyes, a static character. I believe this because he sticks to his morals throughout, and although his temperament wavers near to the end of the play, he sticks to what he believes in, and dies a martyr. He is a farmer in his 40's, married to Elizabeth, and has had an affair with Abigail Williams. Elizabeth is accused of Witchcraft, and Proctor storms the court with his servant, Mary Warren, in an attempt to prove the innocence of Elizabeth, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse. However, the plan backfires when Mary turns against him, and so he is accused and tried for Witchcraft. Hale pleads with him to confess, and he almost does, but his pride and his reputation are too important to him, and so he dies a martyr. Evidence of his 'static-ness' are shown in two quotes, one from the start of the play and one at the end of the play. The first, in Act 1, shows how Proctor doesn't believe the Witch Craft, when he says, about Parris, 'I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.' Then, later on in the play, in Act 3, when Mary Warren tells the court that Proctor is in league with the Devil, Proctor knows that he can't convince the court otherwise, and so says, ' A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth!' This, I believe to mean that Proctor knows he has committed a sin by having an affair with Abigail, and is implying that Danforth has committed a sin by believing the girls and sentencing the accused to death.
There is a divide in the townsfolk, as the majority of them believe the girls, but there is a small segment of the town who don't believe them. Included in this small segment is John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Giles Corey, and later on in the play, Rev. John Hale. In act 1, Parris says to Proctor, 'There is a party in this church. I am not blind; there is a faction and a party.' Proctor then replies, 'Why, then I must find it and join it.' This is a clear indication of the divide between the residents of Salem.
There are various messages in the play, some obvious, some not so obvious. The messages include:
Stand up for what you believe in
Law, Justice and Government must be kept separate from Religion
Consider what the consequences of your words and actions could be
All actions have reactions
Everybody has their price
Good and Evil are both present in society
As William Congreave said,
'Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred burn'd,
Nor Hell a fury like a woman scorn'd'
This is relevant to Abigail, because it seems that, throughout the play, she is creating this hysteria because John Proctor did not carry on their affair for longer.
After both reading the book and then watching the film, I believe that the film was better. This is because everything is a lot clearer in the film. In the book, things happened very fast, and it was easy to get confused. Also, in the book, new characters were brought into the different scenarios without any introduction whatsoever, and so whilst reading I would often wonder who, for example, Herrick was. These 'smaller' characters were put into the play without a description. Although these characters didn't get a big introduction in the film, there was at least an explanation of why they were in Salem, and I could visually see what they looked like. The book, however, is that although the smaller characters don't have descriptions, the main characters do, and I was able to get some kind of history on the characters. The film did give things a more dramatic edge, and made things a lot easier to understand. For example, during scene in court, when Mary Warren accuses Proctor of aligning with the Devil, everything happens too fast in the book, and it was hard to follow exactly what was going on, whereas in the film, it was a lot easier to follow. The main problem with the film was that it was turned into a sort of 'Romance' Story. By this I mean that at the end of the book, Elizabeth and John part with nothing more than an embrace and a goodbye, whereas in the film, it is made to be more emotive and in my opinion made the film worse than it could be.
In my opinion, 'The Crucible' is a good play, and I have enjoyed reading it.
Charlie Hartley
