1. Puritans PURITANISM (Colonial America) (1564-1660)
The Puritans believed in the following ideas:
“Purification” of the Church of England
Existence for the glory of God
The Bible as the sole expression of God’s will
Predestination
Grace
Original Sin
No fun
Hard work; self-discipline;
sobriety
Plainness and austerity

2. Witch Trials Yes, they took place in Salem Theocracy
Most accused were women
Accused by “spectral evidence”
20 executed;
imprisoned

3. How did it start?
In 1692, several girls in the village of Salem, Massachusetts became intrigued when a West Indian servant told them stories of magic and voodoo from her native land.
Bored and restricted by the oppressive Puritan life, the girls slipped into the woods one night and “conjured” love charms and hexes.
One girl, Betty Parris, slipped into unconsciousness when her father caught them. She wouldn’t wake up, and this started the discussion of witchcraft. To avoid punishment, the girls created the story of the “witches” who made them dance and conjure the spells.

4. Why did it happen?
It began as a way for the oppressed girls to avoid being punished.
It then became an ideal way to get revenge on anyone whom you disliked.
People started accusing their neighbors of being witches so they could steal their farmland.
People accused others of being witches if they wanted to steal their husbands or wives or possessions.

5. Those accused of being witches were most often found guilty
Those accused of being witches were most often found guilty. Sometimes they were sentenced to be tied to a rock dunked in a pond, and if they sank, they were declared innocent. Innocent. If they somehow survived the dunking, they were obviously witches, and they were executed.
Most of those found guilty of witchcraft were hung.
One man was pressed to death with rocks because he refused to plead guilty or innocent, insuring that his sons still inherited his lands.

6. Why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible
Arthur Miller, one of America’s most famous playwrights, lived during the 1950s and experienced the Communist hysteria of the era. People thought their were Commies everywhere, and one man, Senator Joseph McCarthy, made it his personal mission to find Communists and destroy their lives by bringing them before something called the HOUSE UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE.
Arthur Miller
Joseph McCarthy

7. Senator McCarthy accused many people— actors, writers, people in media, people in the military — of being Communists. He held hearings where people were commanded to give names of other Communists in order for leniency. People were afraid they might be named as Communists, and it was called the Red Scare. (‘Red’ was a word used for a Communist.)

8. The Crucible was Arthur Miller’s way of protesting the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. He compared the Communist hearings to the witch hunts of Salem, where gossip, rumors, and fear were evidence enough to convict people. The term “witch hunt” now applies to any activity where people are looking for a scapegoat or where they are using accusations to get revenge or to get personal gain or attention.

9. John Proctor John Proctor is a down-to-earth, forthright farmer
John Proctor John Proctor is a down-to-earth, forthright farmer. He tries to be a decent husband and citizen but he is no saint. He had a sexual relationship with Abigail Williams when she was a servant at the farm. He does not attend church as often as he should. His wife is Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Proctor John Proctor's wife, and a resident of Salem. She is accused of witchcraft, and is only saved from death due to the fact that she is pregnant. Abigail hates her for being Proctor's wife, and for keeping Proctor's heart. By the end of the play she feels that Proctor's affair is due to her own faults, much to Proctor's dismay.

10. Rebecca Nurse Rebecca Nurse, wife of Francis Nurse, is highly respected in Salem for her helpful nature. Very firm in her opinions, and willing to make any sacrifice in the cause of truth, she voices her opposition to the idea of witchcraft. Near the end, she is accused of being a witch on the prompting of the Putnams, who are jealous of her good fortune.
Reverend John Hale Hale is a well-respected minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Reverend Hale is called in to Salem to examine the witchcraft trials and Parris's daughter Betty, who has fallen into a mysterious illness after being discovered participating in the suspect rituals. He originally believes that there are witches in Salem and advocates the trials, but later realizes the widespread corruption and abuse of the trials, and struggles to convince accused "witches" to lie by confessing and live, rather than to tell the truth and die.

11. Abigail Williams Williams is Parris' niece. She is 17 years old
Abigail Williams Williams is Parris' niece. She is 17 years old. Abigail was once the maid for the Proctor house, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail and her uncle's slave, Tituba, lead the local girls in love-spell rituals in the Salem forest over a fire. Rumors of witchcraft fly, and Abigail tries to use the town's fear to her advantage. She viciously accuses many of witchcraft, starting first with the outcasts of society and gradually moving up to respected members of the community. Finally, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor, because she believes that John truly loves her and not Elizabeth. Abigail thinks that if Elizabeth is out of the way, she and John can marry. John says in the play that Abigail "hopes to dance with me upon my wife's grave." She is manipulative and dramatic, as well as darkly charismatic. She attacks anyone who stands in her way (i.e. Mary Warren, Goody Proctor), regardless of who they are. She later flees Salem during the trials and, according to legend, becomes a prostitute in Boston.

12. CHARACTERS
Reverend Samuel Parris Parris is the poorly respected minister of Salem's church. He is disliked by many Salem residents because of his greedy, dominating nature. The man is more concerned about his reputation than of the wellbeing of his sick daughter, Betty. He is also less concerned about his missing niece, Abigail Williams, and the lives of the dead and condemned on his conscience.
Tituba Tituba is Rev. Parris' slave. Parris seems to have owned and possibly purchased her in Barbados. She cares for the children and prepares a potion for Abigail that will kill Elizabeth Proctor. Additionally, she attempts to raise the spirits of Ann Putnam's dead children.

13. Ann Putnam Ann Putnam is the wife of Thomas Putnam
Ann Putnam Ann Putnam is the wife of Thomas Putnam. She has one daughter, Ruth, but has had seven miscarriages. She is a twisted soul of forty-five. Ann is accusatory and harsh to many, but also very hurt by the deaths of her babies. Thomas Putnam Thomas Putnam lives in Salem village and owns a bit of land close to Giles Corey. Giles accuses him of trying to steal it, and says that Putnam got his daughter to accuse Giles' wife of witchcraft. This possibility is strongly supported by the play, and thus Putnam is one of the play's true villains. Betty Parris Elizabeth "Betty" Parris was the nine-year-old daughter of the Salem villages' Reverend Samuel Parris and was the first to become ill after being "bewitched" as most people thought. She said that Abigail drank blood to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Betty was seen in Act I and III.

14. Mary Warren Mary Warren serves as housemaid for the Proctors after Abigail Williams. The play portrays her as a lonely girl who considers herself an "official of the court" at the beginning of the trials. John Proctor abuses her and hits her with a whip. She nearly confesses that she and the other girls were lying about witchcraft until the other girls pretend that she is sending out her spirit upon them in the courtroom. This event, which could have led to her death, propels her to accuse John Proctor of witchcraft and to state that he forced her to lie about herself and the others.
Giles Corey Giles is a friend of John Proctor who is very concerned about his (Corey's) land. He believes Thomas Putnam is trying to take it and that of other people by getting the girls to accuse Giles' wife of witchcraft.

15. John Hathorne The sadistic presiding judge over the trials
John Hathorne The sadistic presiding judge over the trials. Cold, ignorant, antagonistic, he constantly denies any new developments regarding the events in Salem Village.
Thomas Danforth  Mister Danforth is a pretentious and selfish judge, who is extremely loyal to the rules and regulations of his position. Public opinion and his acute adherence to the law are most important to him.
Ezekiel Cheever the town constable
Herrick the marshal (sheriff) of Salem