1. The Crucible
Arthur Miller

2. Why do you think America is so obsessed with the Supernatural?

3. Skills for this unit: Literature Drama Features
Characters and Conflict
Figurative language such as symbolism, irony, allusions, and allegory
Writing
Argumentative Writing

4. What you need to know about the context of this famous play
The Crucible
What you need to know about the context of this famous play

5. To begin, what is a crucible?
A vessel or melting pot
A test of the most decisive kind, a severe trial.

6. So what’s the deal with these Puritans?

7. Background First, some background… THE MIDDLE AGES
A time of great change. Why?
Well…
The plague swept through Europe, killing up to 40% of the population.
Lots of wars

8. Background
The authority of the Kings and the Church was being questioned
New ideas e.g. the earth is not flat!
New inventions i.e. the printing press
All of this leads to lots of instability So…
Let’s kill witches!

9. Background
In Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France and other parts of Europe, hundreds of “witches” were killed.
In some instances, people were actually tied up and thrown into water. If you floated, you were guilty (because Satan was helping you), and you would be killed. If you drowned, you were innocent.

10. Puritanism
They were a religious group in England who had very strict rules about how people should behave. Many Puritans fled to America to escape religious persecution.
They split from the Church of England in 1633.
They settled in the American colonies in 1620.
Their radical beliefs flourished in the new world.

11. Puritanism They firmly believed:
in the Bible; they felt that it revealed the Lord’s word, and only through it does he directly communicate to people.
man could do nothing to be saved – salvation is a gift that can only come from God.
A person’s soul is predestined from birth – they are either going to Heaven or Hell. They constantly searching for hints as to what path they were on.

12. Puritanism
Women were considered subservient to men, and women were more likely to consort with the Devil than men
The church was the centre of society.
They also wanted to purge evil from the world. One way to do this  confront and eradicate witchcraft.

13. The Salem Witch Trials

14. Map of the United States of America

15. Map of Massachusetts

16. Witchcraft in Salem
Like all Puritans, the residents of Salem Village believed in witches and in witchcraft.
They believed that witchcraft was “entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil.”
They considered witchcraft both a sin and a crime; it was a very serious accusation, which was carefully and thoroughly investigated.

17. Witchcraft in Salem
The witchcraft hysteria began in Salem, Massachusetts, in early 1692.
Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter and Abigail Williams started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucination.
A doctor examined the girls and concluded that the only explanation for these bizarre behaviors was witchcraft.

18. Witchcraft in Salem
The girls pointed fingers at Tituba (the Parris’ slave), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn, which sparked a witch hunt.

19. The Trials
Evidence was generally just testimony from those afflicted – basically, one person’s word against another’s.
Almost all those who died were hung, although Giles Corey, an elderly farmer, was pressed to death – large stones were placed on his body until he died.

20. The Trials
The last trial took place in There’s no one reason why it ended.
Today, in Salem, there are numerous museums and memorials dedicated to providing information about this unique period in history
Check out

21. The Trials
Numerous reasons have been offered since to explain the original symptoms the girls showed, including hysteria, hallucinations brought on by food poisoning, and various diseases.
There is also no one reason as to why things got so out of control – desire for land and power, strict religious beliefs, and a tightly controlled society are just some of the explanations.

22. Witchcraft in Salem
During the next eight months of terror, more than 150 people were imprisoned for witchcraft.
By the time court was dismissed, 27 people had been convicted, 19 hanged, and 1 pressed to death.
The hysteria that snowballed in Salem reveals how deep the belief in the supernatural ran in colonial America.

23. Let’s break it down even further

24. Arthur Miller 1915-2005 American Playwright and Writer
In 1953 he wrote The Crucible, which uses the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 to attack the anti-communist “witch hunts” of the 1950s.
He believed the hysteria surrounding the witch craft trials in Puritan New England paralleled the climate of McCarthyism – Senator Joseph McCarthy’s obsessive quest to uncover communist party infiltration of American institutions.
After the publication of The Crucible, Miller himself was investigated for possible associations with the communist party.
He refused to give information regarding his colleagues and was found guilty of contempt of court. His sentence was later overturned.

25. Characters

26. Abigail Williams Orphaned niece of Reverend Parris
She was once the mistress of John Proctor but was turned out when his wife discovered the affair. 
She is extremely jealous of Elizabeth Proctor and uses her power in the town to rid herself of Elizabeth as well as any others who have insulted her in the past. 
She cannot let go of her obsession with Proctor. 
She is the leader of the girls.

27. John Proctor Husband to Elizabeth
He had an affair with Abigail when she was employed in his household. 
He knows that the girls are pretending but cannot tell what he knows without revealing having been alone with Abigail.
Abigail uses her influence to convict his wife, he tries to tell the truth and finds himself condemned. 
He refuses to admit to witchcraft or to consider Abigail as anything more than a liar.

28. Wife of John Proctor
She discovered an affair going on between her husband and Abigail Williams and turned Abigail out of her house. 
She is Abigail's main target but is saved from hanging because of her pregnancy. 
She feels responsible for driving her husband to infidelity.

29. Tituba Servant to the Parris household She is a native of Barbados.
She is enlisted by Ruth Putnam and Abigail to cast spells and create charms. 
When Abigail turns on her to save herself from punishment, Tituba confesses to all and saves herself.

30. Reverend Parris Pastor of the church in Salem
He is the father of Betty and the uncle of Abigail Williams. 
He believes that he is being persecuted and that the townspeople do not respect his position as a man of God.

31. Deputy Governor Danforth
He seems to feel particularly strongly that the girls are honest. 
He is sensitive to the presence of the devil and reacts explosively to whatever evidence is presented.

32. Reverend Hale
Reverend Hale is an intellectual and has studied witchcraft extensively.
He comes to Salem hoping to find witchcraft.
When he finds evidence, he begins to condemn people in the town.
However, once certain members of the town are accused, he begins to question his actions.
By the end of the play, he is convinced that there was never witchcraft in Salem.

33. Identifying Text Structures
ACT I

34. Identifying Text Structures
Most plays are written to be performed, not read.
When reading drama, it is important to identify the text structures that provide different kinds of information.
Text Structures include:
Dialogue
Stage Directions
Dramatic Exposition
For the greater portion, the text structures contribute to the reader’s understanding of the characters and what is happening in the play.

35. Terms
Stage direction- set in italics or brackets, details the playwright includes about the setting and action
Dialogue- conversations between characters
Dramatic exposition- prose commentaries that provide background information about the characters and their world.

36. ACT I – PARTS Tituba – Parris – Abigail – Mrs. Putnam – Putnam –
Betty –
Proctor –
Giles –
Rebecca –
Hale –
Background – Ms. Holmes

37. ACT I DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why does Abigail “admit” that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring spirits? Why is Abigail afraid the others will confess what they were doing in the woods? How does Abigail treat the other girls? How does she treat her uncle?
2. What are Abigail’s feelings towards John Proctor? Why is she antagonistic toward Elizabeth Proctor? Why has she been asked to leave her home? Why does she tell John what happened to Betty?
3. Why does Abigail accuse Tituba? Why does Hale believe Abigail rather than Tituba? How does he lead Tituba into naming names? Why do Abigail and Betty name names?

38. Small Groups (p.1126) Read your assigned section of the play.
Divide parts among your group members.
Some people may have two parts.
Find evidence of each of the following and explain how each contributes to the text. Be prepared to share.
Dramatic exposition
Stage direction
Dialogue

39. Text Features Text Feature Example from the text and page number
What it reveals about the characters, setting, or action.
Dialogue
Stag Directions
Dramatic Exposition

41. Group and Page Numbers Pgs. 1129-1130 Pgs. 1133-1134 Pgs. 1138-1139

42. Conflict and Allusions
ACT II

43. Conflict Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces
There are two broad categories of conflict:
External Conflict: takes place between a character and an external force, such as society, nature, fate, or another person.
In Act II, as accusations and hysteria mount in Salem, characters face increasingly dangerous external conflicts with their neighbors, Abigail and the other accusing girls, and the authorities.
Internal Conflict: takes place within a character who is torn by his or her own competing or contradictory values or desires.
In Act II, deepening external threats create new internal conflicts for characters and magnify those that already exist.

44. Allusions A reference to something outside the text.
Types of Allusions:
Classical- refers to Greek and Roman Mythology
Shakespearian- refers to a work of Shakespeare
Literary- refers to a piece of literature
Of Mice and Men

46. Biblical Allusions
Some of the conflicts in the play arise out of the stern religious world view that defines the Salem community. This world view is revealed through the characters’ actions, descriptions of their lifestyles, and biblical allusions.
Biblical allusions, or references to figures, stories, or settings from the Bible, remind characters – and readers – of the religious beliefs of the Puritan people.

47. ACT II – PARTS Proctor – Elizabeth – Mary Warren – Reverend Hale –
Giles –
Francis –
Cheever –
Herrick –

48. ACT II DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why doesn’t Proctor go to Salem to report what Abigail has told him? Why does Elizabeth want him to go to town? Why does Elizabeth mistrust him?
2. How has Hale changed since he arrived in Salem? Why is he testing John and Elizabeth? Why hasn’t Proctor been in church?
3. Why does Proctor insist that Mary Warren testify in Elizabeth’s defense? Why does Mary Warren refuse?

49. Allusions Close read the following pages with your group.
Find at least 4 allusions.
On one side of the paper, write the allusions and their meaning.
On the other side, choose one allusion to illustrate.
Divide the paper into two parts.
On one side illustrate the literal meaning.
On the other side illustrate the figurative meaning.

50. Characterization
Act III

51. Characterization
Characterization is the art of revealing characters’ personalities.
1. Direct characterization – the author simply tells the reader what a character is like.
A playwright might use direct characterization in stage directions, but most dramatic literature uses indirect characterization.

52. Characterization
2. Indirect characterization – characters traits are revealed through:
the character’s words, actions, and appearance
other characters’ comments
other characters’ reactions
Like people in real life, characters in plays are not always what they seem. Fear, greed, guilt, love, loyalty, pride, and revenge are some of the forces that drive human behavior, but they may be masked or hidden.
Character’s motives – the reason for their behavior – may be stated directly or suggested through indirect characterization.

53. Reading Act III I will give your group a section of lines to read.
Assign roles for each member.
Read the section assigned.
You will be doing a dramatic reading for the class, so practice it in such a way.
Read it through once just to get a feel for what’s going on (even though you won’t be aware of what the rest of the class knows).
Then read it again looking for ways to make it dramatic.
Practice until you run out of time.

54. Reading Act III
Individually, write an ICE paragraph that explains a conflict in the section you were assigned. Address who is involved, what motivated the conflict, and how it is being shown in the story. There may be multiple conflicts such as person vs. person, person vs. self, or person vs. society. Choose one that fits into one of these categories.

55. ACT III DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What is the professed purpose of the court? Why doesn’t the court need witnesses? What does this suggest about the proceedings?
How is Elizabeth’s testimony used against Proctor? Why is this an unfair test of Elizabeth’s word against John’s?
Why does Hale denounce the proceedings? What should have been the effect of his denunciation? Why is it not?

57. External Conflict
On a sheet of paper, create a list of the characters in Act IIII.
Draw lines between characters that have conflicts.
On the lines, briefly explain what the conflict is.
Be prepared to share.

58. Internal Conflict

59. Internal Conflict
You will receive the name of a character from ACT III.
Do not tell anyone who you have.
Illustrate the face on the paper to go with your character.
Use the angel and devil symbols to show the internal conflict.
Think about what they are warring about inside themselves.
For each, pull a quote that shows the side of the internal conflict and explain it.
When we are done, we will try to guess who you have.

60. Allegory
ACT IV

61. Allegory
A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
Think Animal Farm
The Crucible is an allegory, because Miller uses one historical period and setting (seventeenth-century New England) to comment on another (1950s America).

62. Act IV Parts Herrick – Danforth – Parris – Hale – Elizabeth –
Proctor –
Rebecca –

63. Allegory The Cold War & Communism McCarthyism & the Red Scare
A. What was the Cold War?
B. What are the basic tenets of Communism and why were they a threat to the United States?
C. What were Cold War policies of the United States?
D. What were Cold War policies of the Soviet Union?
E. What caused the Cold War to escalate during the post-World War II period?
A. Who was Joe McCarthy?
B. What was McCarthyism?
C. What was HUAC? Why was it created? When was it abolished?
D. What were McCarthy’s aims and methods, and who were his victims?
E. What events led to McCarthy’s downfall?

64. ACT IV DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How has Parris changed? Why doesn’t the news that Abigail and Mercy have left town affect the decision of the court? How is Danforth a victim of his own logic?
Why does Danforth allow Elizabeth to speak to John Proctor? How has she changed toward her husband? Why doesn’t she take Hale’s advice?
Why does Proctor confess? Why will he not name names? Why will he not let Danforth have his signed paper?