Crucible Act 1 Characters

Question 1

had an affair with Abigail that he says he no longer wishes to continue. Skeptical of witchcraft and of Parris’s claims of persecution and leaves shortly after Reverend Hale arrives at the Parris household.

Answer 1

John Proctor

Question 2

accused by her uncle of dancing in the woods (possibly naked) and of being soiled; she vehemently denies this, but when he leaves Betty wakes and accuses her of drinking a potion to kill Elizabeth Proctor.

Answer 2

Abigail Williams

Question 3

shows up at the Parris household to confer with Abigail and Mercy about what’s going on (since they were all dancing in the woods the night before).

Answer 3

Mary Warren

Question 4

wanders into the Parris house to find out what’s going on. He tells Reverend Hale that he thinks it’s weird his wife Martha reads all the time and that whenever she reads, has trouble praying

Answer 4

Giles Corey

Question 5

comes over to the Parris household and tries to calm everyone down, saying it’s probably just girls being girls and not anything supernatural. When it becomes clear that everyone else wants to go ahead with the investigation of possible witchy causes for the girls’ behavior, she departs.

Answer 5

Rebecca Nurse

Question 6

appears in response to Parris’s summons. Excited to use his specialized skills to hunt out the Devil, ends up (inadvertently) pressuring Tituba into confessing until she names names.

Answer 6

Reverend John Hale

Question 7

tries to urge her husband to go to town to tell everyone Abigail is a liar – first because it’s the right thing to do, then because she’s worried Abigail is going to accuse her of being a witch in order to take her place in John’s life

Answer 7

Elizabeth Proctor

Question 8

worried that Betty is sick, so he has called on Dr. Griggs for medical care and sent for Reverend Hale for spiritual care. He questions Abigail about her dancing in the woods with Betty and Tituba and discusses how he thinks there are people plotting against him and his fears about how people will perceive him if witchcraft is discovered under his roof.

Answer 8

Reverend Samuel Parris

Question 9

falls ill after dancing in the woods with Tituba and some of the other girls of the village (Abigail Williams, Mercy Lewis, Mary Warren, and Ruth Putnam).

Answer 9

Betty Parris

Question 10

tries to find out how “her beloved” Betty is doing, but Parris shoos her away; later, she is accused by Abigail of forcing the girls to do the Devil’s work. When pressured by Hale and Parris to confess and give the names of those who are abetting her, she eventually does by naming Goody Good and Goody Osburn

Answer 10

Tituba

Question 11

has come to the Parris house to find out what’s going on. She gets to confer with Abigail about getting their stories straight about what happened in the woods (since she was apparently running around naked in the woods) before she’s sent away to get Doctor Griggs for Ruth.

Answer 11

Mercy Lewis

Question 12

comes to the Parris household to find out what’s going on and report that her daughter is being afflicted by something possibly supernatural. She knows that the cause of her daughter’s illness is something supernatural because she sent her daughter to Tituba to find out

Answer 12

Mrs. Ann Putnam

Question 13

urges Parris to investigate possible supernatural causes of Betty’s (and his daughter Ruth’s) ailments. Miller intimates (via stage directions) that he doesn’t necessarily believe in witchcraft

Answer 13

Thomas Putnam

Question 14

Thomas Putnam floats her name as a possible witch (p. 43); Tituba then picks up on this priming and names her as a co-conspirator

Answer 14

Sarah Good

Question 15

Giles first brings up his suspicions that her bookishness is somehow causing him to falter at his prayers

Answer 15

Martha Corey

Question 16

What year did the Salem witch trials take place

Answer 16

1692

Question 17

Why is Reverend Parris reluctant to let people know of Betty’s illness?

Answer 17

He feels that his enemies will destroy his reputation

Question 18

What were Betty and Abigail doing in the forest when Reverend Parris frightened them?

Answer 18

Dancing and conjuring spirits

Question 19

What do the Putnams and Reverend Parris have in common?

Answer 19

They both have sick or bewitched daughters

Question 20

What mission did Abigail have concerning the wife of John Proctor?

Answer 20

She wanted to conjure a spell to get rid of her.

Question 21

Why did Mrs. Putnam send her daughter to Tituba?

Answer 21

To have Ruth Contact the spirits of the dead Putnam babies

Question 22

Who did Betty call for when she awakened and what did she try to do?

Answer 22

Her mother. Fly out the wiondow

Question 23

She admits to “dancing with the devil” and “writing in his book” at the end of Act I. She also claims to have turned to Jesus.

Answer 23

Tituba

Question 24

Why does Mary urge Abigail to confess?

Answer 24

So they wont be hanged