How does act 1 of 'the crucible' prepare us for the rest of the play?

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How does act 1 of ‘the crucible’ prepare us for the rest of the play?

‘The Crucible’ was written by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was brought before a committee in 1956 to answer charges of ‘communist sympathy’ and to name the people he had had meetings with up to twenty years before. Liberal writer, film directors, actors and actresses were all called before the committee. The committee often had lists of names of people who had attended meetings yet they still forced witnesses to recite names, to see if they would comply and give the right names. This action and others performed by the committee lead Arthur miller to associate his treatment and the treatment of others with the witchcraft trails that had taken place in Salem, Massachusetts, USA, two centuries before. He felt as if it was a historical parallel and in a sense history was repeating itself.

        Act 1 begins with a simplistic scene. A small room, a narrow leaded window to the left- sunlight streaming through. A candle burning next to a bed to the right of the room. The only furniture: a chest, a chair and a small table. A very minimal room which links in with the very disciplined, forbidding, severe way of life that the Puritans followed. From the setting it is obvious the play is not set in current times.

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In this sparsely furnished room, a man is kneeling beside the bed, praying over a small child. The impression all is not well is given away by the fact that the child is very still, as if in a deep sleep, even though it is evident that it is daytime. Even before any dialog has begun the audience is already apprehensive, as they are able to sense the tension in the air.

        As Tituba enter, she does not say anything that the audience has not already deducted from the scene that they have already seen. She clarifies the ...

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