The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. In Act I, Reverend Paris finds his daughter Betty unconscious and suspects witchcraft. He questions the girls in his house, including Abigail Williams. Abigail threatens the other girls to stay silent. When John Proctor confronts Abigail about their past affair, she admits she still loves him. In Act II, as the witch trials intensify, John Proctor's wife Elizabeth and Giles Cory's wife are accused of witchcraft. To save his wife, John plans to force Mary Warren to confess the truth about the girls' accusations, even if it means admitting his own past
4. Characters Tituba Abigail Williams Susanna Walcott Mrs. Ann Putnam Thomas Putnam Mercy Lewis John Proctor Giles Cory Rebecca Nurse Francis Nurse Reverend John Hale
5. At the beginning of the play Reverend Paris is sitting with his daughter Betty who is lying unconscious in bed. He is afraid that she is bewitched because he caught her and her friends dancing naked around a fire and trying to fly.
6. What he didn’t know was that the girls were trying to conjure spirits, drinking chicken blood as part of a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor and trying to fly. He sent for a witchcraft expert and was waiting for him to arrive.
7.
8.
9. Although Paris was worried about Betty, he was also very concerned about the people of Salem thinking that the girls in his house are practicing witchcraft. Something like that could ruin his reputation.
10. Paris eventually leaves the room and the girls that were downstairs entered. Abigail threatens to kill Mary Warren and Mercy if they don’t keep their mouths shut.
11. When the other girls leave, John Proctor and Abby confront each other. Abigail flirts with John and tells him she still loves him. This is when we find out that the two were having an affair.
12. Later on in the act Reverend Hale comes in and questions everybody. He makes Abigail look guilty so she puts the blame on Tituba. Tituba knew she’d be hanged for denying working with the devil so she tries to save herself by confessing to everything. She also starts accusing people she doesn’t like of witchcraft. Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned for her because she was still hanged.
13. Abigail picked up on Tituba’s method of getting innocent people arrested. This is how the witch trials in Salem began.
15. There is a lot of tension in Elizabeth and John Proctors house because he thinks she wont forgive him for his affair with Abigail. Elizabeth tells John what is going on with the witch trials.
16. Whoever is accused of being a witch is brought in front of Abigail and her friends. If the girls fall to the ground and act like spirits are attacking them ; the accused person is sentenced to death
17.
18. Both Giles Cory’s and John Proctor’s wives were accused and arrested
19. To save his wife, John goes to Mary Warren and tries to force her to confess the truth. By doing this he knows he’ll have to admit to cheating on Elizabeth with Abby but he’s willing to do it to clear his wife’s name.