1. The Crucible
Themes & Symbols

2. Pride
John Proctor wrestles with confessing, because he cannot allow his name to be tarnished.
He has nothing left but his name to leave his sons.
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!

3. Intolerance
The witch trials are the ultimate expression of intolerance.
The Crucible is set in a theocratic society, in which the church and the state are one, and the religion is a strict, austere form of Protestantism known as Puritanism.
Sin and the status of an individual's soul are matters of public concern.
Hanging witches is the ultimate means of restoring the community's purity.
Danforth: a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it.

4. Hysteria Hysteria can tear apart a community.
Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors are committing incredulous crimes.
The townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held grudges.
Example: Abigail who uses hysteria to attempt to rid herself of Elizabeth Proctor.

5. Reputation
Reputation is tremendously important in theocratic Salem, where public and private moralities are one and the same.
The fear of guilt by association becomes particularly destructive.
Focused on maintaining public reputation, the townsfolk of Salem fear that the sins of their friends will taint their names.
Example: Reverend Parris fears having talk of witchcraft originate in his home, with his daughter.

6. Empowerment
The witch trials empower several characters in the play who are previously marginalized in Salem society.
The once debased, lower classed woman align themselves with what appears to be God’s will.
The women and children, as Proctor puts is “jangle the keys of the Kingdom.”

7. Accusations, Confessions, and Legal Proceedings
The dramatic accusations and confessions fill the play even beyond the confines of the courtroom.
A chorus of indictments are heard before Hale even arrives. (Putnam & Corey, Abigail & Parris, etc…)
The entire witch trial system thrives on accusations, the only way that witches can be identified, and confessions, which provide the proof of the justice of the court proceedings.

8. Crucible
Definition: A place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces.
Miller’s title suggests a convergence of conditions that included theocratic power, guilt, repression, pride, reputation which all led to the activities of Salem, MA in 1692.