The Crucible Act 3 & 4

The Court The entire town of Salem is now a power struggle between those in power, and those who are trying to protect the innocent Deputy Judge Danforth and Judge Hathorne do not want to admit that they were deceived by young girls, it looks better to sentence everyone to death Parris does not want Abigail to be proven a liar or an adultere because it would ruin his reputation

The Court Anyone who is defensive is automatically assumed guilty Proctor is accused of wanting to “overthrow the court” because he fights for the innocent Proctor is accused by multiple people of not being a good Christian, which would discredit anything he says When Danforth is given the petition with 91 signatures on it in favor of the innocent women, he casts is aside, showing that in a theocracy, the people have no freedom or power. Act III is about who is defining innocence and guilt  Judge Hathorne and Danforth, two characters who care much more about themselves than the town

Hypocrisy The trials begin so that they can save the town from witchcraft, but they end up destroying it by putting everyone in jail Their need for power and control results in chaos Danforth’s reason to refuse postponing the hangings is because it would not be “fair” to the 14 people already executed to pardon the rest.

The Crucible Dramatic Structure Exposition: Important background information of a story (asides about the location, characters etc) Rising Action: Events that create suspense in the story before the climax to keep the readers interested Climax: The peak of excitement in the story, the most important and exciting part Falling Action: Events that happen after the climax with less excitement leading towards the resolution of the conflict in the story Resolution: All of the action is completed, and the characters come to a solution for their conflict

The Crucible Dramatic Structure Exposition: Act One intro about Rev. Parris and the town of Salem Rising Action: Betty and Ruth fall ill, characters start to blame witchcraft for the girl’s behavior, Abigail lies about their activities in the forest, reader finds out Proctor and Abigail had an affair, Tituba is blamed for killing Goody Putnam’s children

The Crucible Dramatic Structure Climax: Proctor exposes his affair with Abigail in an attempt to save his wife and discredit Abigail Falling Action: Elizabeth lies about Proctor’s affair, Abigail and the girls act as if Mary Warren conjures spirits with the “yellow bird,” Proctor confesses to dealing with the Devil Resolution: Proctor is unable to stand by his confession and rips up his paper, doing what is right.

The Crucible Conflict Man vs. Man: 2 or more characters have conflicts with each other Man vs. Himself: Character has an internal conflict with his/her own mind or consciousness Man vs. God/Supernatural: Character has an issue with the supernatural or with his faith Person vs. Nature: Characters struggle against nature (weather, earthly elements) Person vs. Society: Character is faced with conflicts from the society they live in