1. The Crucible by Arthur Miller Summary

2. Interpreting a Text To understand a complex dramatic work like The Crucible, you need to interpret it. You should offer your own explanations of who the characters really are, why they behave the way they do, and what the larger meaning of their situation might be.

3. Interpreting a Text As you read The Crucible, jot down your interpretation of what the dialogue and actions reveal about the characters’ values, emotions, motivations, and personal histories. You may need to monitor your reading by going back over the play and re-reading sections to find more info about characters and their actions.

4. Motivation Motivation is what moves people to act the way they do. Just like real people, fictional characters often have complex motivations, and their actions can result form several motivating factors. Miller shows that every person in Salem had at least one reason for acting the way he or she did – psychological, sexual, financial, theological, or political.

5. Background The Crucible is based on the witch trials that took place in 1692, in Salem, Mass. Elizabeth Parris, daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, and Abigail Williams, his niece, began acting strangely. Since no medical cause for their behavior could be found, doctors concluded that the girls were bewitched.

6. Background Soon other girls began exhibiting the same behavior, crying out the names of women they knew and sparking the witch hunt. Over the next eight months, twenty-seven people were convicted, nineteen were hanged, one was pressed to death, and more than one hundred were imprisoned.