The Crucible Revision Notes

4. A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance. . . .

This quotation is taken from Act III, when Proctor finally breaks down and confesses his affair with Abigail, after trying, in vain, to expose her as a fraud without revealing their liaison. Proctor knows from the beginning that the witch trials constitute nothing more than a “whore’s vengeance”—Abigail’s revenge on him for ending their affair—but he shies away from making that knowledge public because it would lead to his disgrace. This scene, in the Salem courtroom, marks the climax of the play, in which Proctor’s concern for justice outstrips his concern for his reputation. This re-prioritization of values enables him to do what is necessary. But he finds, to his horror, that his actions come too late: instead of Abigail and the witch trials being exposed as a sham, Proctor is called a liar and then accused of witchcraft by the court. His attempt at honesty backfires and destroys him.

5. 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!

Proctor utters these lines at the end of the play, in Act IV, when he is wrestling with his conscience over whether to confess to witchcraft and thereby save himself from the gallows. The judges and Hale have almost convinced him to do so, but the last stumbling block is his signature on the confession, which he cannot bring himself to give. In part, this unwillingness reflects his desire not to dishonor his fellow prisoners: he would not be able to live with himself knowing that other innocents died while he quaked at death’s door and fled. More important, it illustrates his obsession with his good name. Reputation is tremendously important in Salem, where public and private morality are one and the same. Early in the play, Proctor’s desire to preserve his good name keeps him from testifying against Abigail. Now, however, he has come to a true understanding of what a good reputation means and what course of action it necessitates—namely, that he tell the truth, not lie to save himself. “I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” he rages; this defense of his name enables him to muster the courage to die, heroically, with his goodness intact

Rebecca nurse:

• Contrast of the Putnam’s
• Good person caught in a web of other peoples desires and prejudices
• High reputation –‘the general opinion of her character was so high that to explain to anyone dared cry her out for a witch – and more, how adults could bring themselves to lay hands on her – we must look to the fields and boundaries of that time.
• Mrs Putnam accuses Rebecca’s spirit of ‘ tempting her to iniquity(sin/evil)’
• Old women
• 11 children + ’26 times a grandma’
• Practical and logical in her thinking ‘I think she’ll wake when she tires of it’

• ‘Pray John, be calm’

• Conflict between Rebecca and mrs Putnam

• Mrs Putnam: Rebecca, the doctors baffled!

It's implied that Ann Putnam is jealous that she has not had many children live where Rebecca Nurse has had a huge number.

As a member-in-waiting of Daughters of Early American Witches, being a direct descendant of Rebecca Towne Nurse, it was a dispute over land that the Putnams had had very recently with the Townes, and thereby Rebecca and her sister Rebecca Towne Estey were used as smashables (along with other accusation to the Townes but they were the only ones killed in it).

• A voice of reason; seeks to quell the hysteria of witchcraft and be a peacemaker. Searches for a practical solution to Betty’s state
• All conflict resolutions need these type of people
• Has Proctor’s respect
• A love and understanding of children; her mere presence calms Betty Parris; something her father could not do
• Victim of her accusers – the Putnams – of long held jealousies; charged with the murder of Ann Putnam’s babies; she is the Devil’s temptress.
• Has encountered conflict through motives of vengeance, jealousy
• Demonstrates strength and courage at her hanging

 Abigail Williams

• Manipulative
• Passionate, adventurous but finds herself incarcerated in a straightjacket of moral inhibitions
• When she is with John, we see a softer side to her that is totally opposite to the ruthless personality she demonstrates.
• Non-conforming
• Able to control her fear when in danger
• Quick thinking
• Strong sense of self-preservation
• Capable of violence
• The initiator of conflict, perpetuates the conflict and will not allow the conflict to be resolved – the villain of the play
• She has created havoc in Salem – the sense of power she has over all the town is overwhelming to her.
• She takes extreme joy in the attention she receives and in the suffering she has caused to others through her accusations.
• She takes revenge, not only on John, who has refused her advances, but also on the whole town who have frustrated her life.
• The people of Salem encounter conflict through the stories of Abigail and the other girls
• Refuses to become a victim. Before her pretence is revealed, she steals Parris’ money and hops a ship to Barbados

• Quiet dignity and strength
• Lacking in confidence
• Difficult to show love and forgiveness to her husband – domestic conflict
• Encounters conflict as she is accused by Abigail of being a witch
• Could have resolved the conflict but: (inner conflict)
• Refuses to admit that John committed adultery
• Prepared to lose him to the hangman rather than convince him to compromise his principles. This is her final act of love and unselfishness.

• 
  Serious,intelligent, assertive of his authority
• The human face ofGod’s justice
• Devises the testof Proctors honesty – if his wife admits her husband “ ... has known AbigailWilliams”. This taints Proctor’s evidence against the character of Abigail
• Refuses toapprove pardons or postponements ofexecution because to do so would be to flout God’s law – religious conflict
• Compassionate forthose touched directly or indirectly by the courts in which he presides

• Respected and feared for his independence
• Stubborn
• Demanding master
• Uncompromising and quick tempered; capable of violence
• Defensive – especially of criticism of his wife
• Strong sense of conscience and remorse
• Maintains a personal vendetta against Parris
• Strong sense of principles and the value of integrity
• Independent and open minded
• Courageous in the face of his oppressors
• An adulterer in his home and a rebel and sinner in the church
• Reluctant to expose Abigail because to do so would reveal his adultery – inner conflict
• The catalyst - the accusations against his wife spur him on to confess the truth
• He is unable to make the court believe him is essential to his suffering. The conflict has gone to the point of no return. The court cannot accept Mary Warren’s confession or John’s claims because to do would prove the court is a sham.
• The only resolution possible is to publicly confess and in doing so blot his reputation ad publicly denounce his integrity
• Proctor’s reputation, in the end, is more important than his life. His wife cannot take that way from him.

• Self important and aware of her power
• Crushed by Abigails’ bullying – ultimately saves herself by denouncing Proctor as a witch – is easily broken
• Terrified by her employer, Proctor’s violence
• Rebellious, indifferent – will not accept Elizabeth’s authority
• Her role in the conflict – by handing the poppet to Elizabeth, she perpetuates the conflict
• Could resolve the conflict – is to weak to withstand Abigail’s power in the court.

• Firm believer in the reality of evil and in the existence of the devil
• Capable of kindness
• Conscious of his authority and the need to administer it
• Sense of duty
• Authoritative in his administration of the court’s process and initially a believer in justice
• Rejects superstition and uses his books to discover evidence of witchcraft
• A contrast to characters like Thomas Putnam in that he is entirely without malice and only seeks to serve god – he reinforces the religious conflict by making Tituba confess
• As innocent people are killed and imprisoned, he tries to resolve the conflict – insisting that Danforth waive the executions, allow Proctor a lawyer, accept Mary Warren’s evidence
• His final act to resolve the conflict – imploring those who are about to be hanged to confess – even though he knows it would be lies

• Readiness to believe in witchcraft; a guiding hand behind the initiation of conflict
• Frustrated in his role in the community – couldn’t control the Salem ministry – wanted his brother-in-law
• Wants to manipulate the community – frustrated in his efforts by Proctor and Parris – community conflict
• He seizes the opportunity to:
• Condemn Parris who he hates
• All those in Salem who had failed to recognise his self-appointed authority
• A man totally without conscience; uses his daughter to condemn neighbours
• In a conflict, ruthlessness by an individual to perpetuate a conflict is necessary

• Minister – inhumane, selfish, self-assertive, self-important, greedy
• Seeking to serve his own interests and protect the security of his position
• Bitter at his lack of acceptance by the community
• Is forced to acknowledge his own hand in the murder of innocent people