THE CRUCIBLE IN REVIEW Essay, Research Paper
It’s the spring of 1692. The whole village of Salem is in an uproar. The Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter Betty won’t wake up, and the Putnams’ little Ruth is walking around like a zombie. The night before, Reverend Parris had heard a funny noise in the woods outside his house, and stumbled onto a frightening scene: his black slave Tituba was waving her arms over a boiling kettle, muttering wild-sounding gibberish, and around the fire a dozen girls were dancing- dancing, strictly forbidden by Puritan law. Among the girls were Betty and Ruth and his niece Abigail Williams. When he jumped out on them, everyone screamed and ran, all except Betty, who fainted dead away. And now she won’t wake up.
The house is buzzing with people, and every other word is “witchcraft.” Reverend Parris doesn’t want to believe it, but he’s sent for an expert just in case- the Reverend John Hale of the neighboring village of Beverly. When Hale arrives he tries to wake Betty, but she remains lifeless. Then he questions Abigail and Tituba. Some of the other village folk who look on are skeptical about witchcraft, especially John Proctor, whose serving girl, Mary Warren, had been with the girls the night before. Whip the nonsense out of them, Proctor suggests. Another doubter is old Rebecca Nurse, “twenty-six times a grandma,” who believes the girls are just going through one of their “silly seasons.”
But Reverend Hale’s questions are so sharp, and Tituba is so scared for her beloved Betty, that she blurts out that she was conjuring the dead. And when Hale presses her, she realizes her only way out
begins to name others that she “saw with the Devil.” Soon Abigail is swept up in Tituba’s ecstatic “confession,” and she too names names. Betty wakes up and joins them.
In the next few days other girls-including Mary Warren- are added to their number, and within a week they have “cried out” (as they called it) 14 “witches.” An official court has been set up. John Proctor is particularly worried about Abigail Williams, who has become the girls’ ringleader. Abigail had been hi maidservant before Mary Warren. When John’s wife, Elizabeth, fell ill, he had turned to Abigail in his loneliness, and at least once made love with her in the barn. He repented it immediately, and confessed to Elizabeth, who put Abigail out of the house. Now Proctor is afraid that Abigail means to “dance with him on his wife’s grave.” He doesn’t believe in witches, and he knows what mischief Abigail is capable of, so he decides to go to the court and denounce her. But before he can leave, the marshals come to arrest Elizabeth: Abigail has “cried her out.”
By now the jail is bursting with “witches,” and no one seems safe. Rebecca Nurse, the most respectable person in the Village, has been convicted and sentenced to hang. John Proctor brings Mary Warren to the court with a statement saying it’s all pretense. This is a serious accusation, and the judges- Hathorne and Deputy Governor Danforth- want proof. So Proctor confesses his lechery with Abigail; but when Elizabeth is brought in to corroborate the charge, she denies it, thinking to spare her husband’s name. Then Abigail and the other girls turn on Mary Warren and cry her out. Her resolve collapses and she renounces her statement. Proctor “witched her” into writing it, she says. Proctor is hauled off to jail.
By October, 11 witches have gone to the gallows. On the morning John Proctor and seven others- including Rebecca Nurse- are to hang, strange rumors are going around. Other towns have risen up against their witch courts and overthrown them. Reverend Hale, who had believed John Proctor’s story and had denounced the proceedings when Proctor was arrested, has now returned, and he’s trying to get the prisoners to “confess” and save their lives, even if it means lying. Perhaps worst of all, Abigail Williams had disappeared, but not before breaking into her uncle’s strongbox and stealing all his money. Despite rising doubt in the town, Danforth and Hathorne refuse to call off the executions, because such an action will imply that they murdered the 11 that have already hanged. Their only hope is to get John Proctor to confess. So they bring in his wife, Elizabeth, now four months pregnant, to persuade him. At first Proctor gives in, but when he realizes they want to use his name to save their own skins, he rips up his confession and goes to his death with a clear conscience.
CHARACTERS — BY RELATIONSHIP
Parris — A minister in Salem who is more worried about his reputation than the life of his daughter or the lives of his parishioners.
Betty — Parris’s young daughter; stricken at the beginning of the play; one of the girls who “cry out” during the trial
Abigail — Orphan; niece of Parris; tautness; mistress of Proctor; leads “crying out” during the trial
Tituba — Parris’s slave from Barbados; first accused witch
Putnam — Vindictive, bitter villager who believes he has been wronged and cheated; leading village voice against the witches
Mrs. Putnam — Wife of (Thomas) Putnam; first plants the idea that Betty has been bewitched
Ruth– Daughter of the Putnams; one of the girls who “cry out” at trials
Mercy Lewis — Putnams’ servant; also involved in accusation of witches; one of the girls who “cry out” during the trial
Proctor — Good man with human frailties and a hidden secret; often the voice of reason in the play; accused of witchcraft
Elizabeth — Wife of (John) Proctor; a cold, childless but upright woman who at first cannot forgive her husband’s frailties; an accused witch
Mary Warren — Proctor’s servant; an easily swayed young girl who plants the evidence of witchcraft on Elizabeth; one of the girls who “cry out” during the trial
Hales — A minister who is a recognized authority on witchcraft; at the play’s end tries to save the accused
Danforth — Deputy Governor of Massachusetts who is taken in by the testimony; attempts to get confessions of accused witches
Hathorne — One of the judges for the trials
Villagers
Rebecca– Wife of the respected Francis Nurse; midwife; exemplary Christian; accused witch
Francis — Husband of Rebecca; had land dispute with the Putnams
Giles Corey — Old, garrulous villager; inadvertently causes his wife to be accused
Sarah Good — Accused witch who cracks under the strain of imprisonment
Susanna — Doctor’s messenger; one of the girls who “cry out” during the trial
Cheever — Charged with arresting the witches
Herrick — Also charged with arresting the witches; acts as jailkeeper
Hopkins — Messenger
Other Villagers
Martha — Giles Corey’s wife who likes to read; accused witch
Goody Osburn– Midwife at birth of three Putnam babies who were born dead; accused witch
Bayley — Putnam’s brother-in-law; Putnam’s choice to be minister; opposed by Nurses