The Crucible Flashcards
1
Q
Who wrote The Crucible?
A
Arthur Miller
1
Q
What is the synopsis of The Crucible?
A
A powerful, fictional retelling of a historical moment in 17th century America: the “witch trials” of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play depicts how difficult it is to defend principles and human dignity under conditions of paranoia, fear, and hysteria.
2
Q
When is the play set?
A
1692.
3
Q
Where is the play set?
A
Salem, Massachusetts.
4
Q
What is the focus of the play?
A
The Salem Witch Trials.
5
Q
Who lived in Salem?
A
A small religious colony of Puritans lived in Salem near Boston Massachusetts.
6
Q
What is the play an allegory for?
A
This play is an allegory for 1950s McCarthyism. It parallels the activities of the house of Un-American Activities Committee in the USA during the mid 20th century when paranoia about communism pervaded the USA and spread to Canada.
7
Q
What does dissent mean in Salem?
A
In Salem, matters of good and evil are clearly defined; dissent is not merely unlawful, it is associated with satanic activity.
8
Q
How does the play open?
A
Early in the year 1962, a collection of girls from the colony fall victim to supposed hallucinations and seizures after dancing in the forest with a black female slave named Tituba.
9
Q
Why is Tituba treated with suspicion?
A
People fear that she is a witch who practices witch craft in their town. They think she harmed their children in the forest.
10
Q
Who is the ringleader of the girls?
A
Abigail Williams.
11
Q
How old is Abigail Williams?
A
17 years old.
12
Q
What does Abigail accuse various townsfolk of?
A
Witchcraft and conspiring with the devil.
13
Q
Name 3 things the colony is suddenly beset with.
A
- Jealousies.
- Bitter quarrellings.
- Deeply held hatreds that rise to the surface.
14
Q
What type of man is John Proctor?
A
He is a local farmer who is a deeply honest man.
15
Q
How does John think about Abigail?
A
John suspects Abigail of being a fraud.
16
Q
What is John’s secret?
A
He had an affair with Abigail when she was a servant in his house.
17
Q
What proves to be John’s downfall?
A
His affair with Abigail Williams.
18
Q
What type of person is Abigail?
A
She is jealous and vindictive.
19
Q
How does Abigail try to get even with John?
A
She accuses his wife of dealings with the devil as the hysteria grows.
20
Q
Why doesn’t John expose Abigail as a fraud?
A
He is scared that she will expose the affair he had with her to the town. That would cost him his good name.
21
Q
What do the old grudges and religious fervour result in?
A
They result in tragedy, as good people are hanged for witchcraft, others are jailed, and a community is left with its conscience in tatters.
22
Q
What does the character of Abigail Williams represent?
A
Abigail is a tormented character who represents absolute evil and The Devil.
23
Q
Why is Abigail seen as a mass murderer?
A
Her actions bring about the death of so many innocent people.
24
Why does Abigail want vengeance?
She was deeply in love with John Proctor and now that love has been taken away from her.
25
How did Abigail become an orphan?
Her parents were murdered by the Wabanaki.
26
Who raised Abigail?
She raised herself.
27
How did Abigail feel growing up?
She felt somewhat on the edge of society, and observing all the manipulation and hypocrisy around her.
28
Where does Abigail's power come from?
Her power comes from her intelligence, empathy and courage. She's like an animal, instinctual and strong. She knows what she has to do to get what she wants.
29
What did people fall prey to in Salem?
The people fell prey to the hysteria about the individuals accused of witch craft.
30
Name 5 things the Salem community was consumed by.
1. Jealousy.
2. Fear.
3. Hysteria.
4. Superstition.
5. Hypocrisy.
31
What drives John Proctor to become the hero?
He is driven by guilt over his act of lechery with Abigail. He becomes the hero but he remains painfully human.
32
Why is John seen as an imperfect man?
His lechery brought a fall from grace. He is weak and undecided, full of contradictions, and yet he makes heroic choices. Part of this imperfection is the knowledge that his bond with Abigail isn't completely ended. His choices are difficult but heroic.
33
Who is Elizabeth Proctor?
She is a good woman who has been treated badly by her husband and she pays the ultimate price for his betrayal.
34
How is Elizabeth described?
She is described as being cold, but it is perhaps merely acceptance of her life.
35
How did Elizabeth feel about John's affair?
Her love and understanding for her husband is powerful, but if she accepted his adultery, she did not intend to let it continue.
36
What happens to Elizabeth?
She is a loving mother who is sent to prison even though she carries a child.
37
Who is deputy-governor Danforth?
Deputy-Governor Danforth is the deputy-governor of Massachusetts and the presiding judge at the witch trials.
38
What type of person is Deputy-Governor Danforth?
He is a tough Boston lawyer who is basically fair, honest and scrupulous but overconfident in his ability to judge the truth. He is always right in his own mind.
39
What does Danforth believe his destiny to be?
He feels that it is his destiny and duty to purge society of evil and establish the Kingdom of Christ on earth.
40
How does Danforth interpret all the evidence?
He is temperamentally inclined to interpret all evidence as proof that Satan's forces are operating in Salem and he seems to feel particularly strongly that the girls are honest.
41
How does Danforth react to the evidence when he hears it?
He is sensitive to the presence of the Devil and reacts explosively to whatever evidence is presented.
42
Who is Mary Warren?
Mary Warren is a servant in the Proctor household and used by Abigail to accuse Proctor's wife, Elizabeth.
43
Why does John take Mary to the court?
He hopes that she will confess to the girls' pretense.
44
What does Mary do in court?
When Abigail leads the other girls against Elizabeth, Mary turns on Proctor and accuses him.
45
Why does Mary go along with Abigail?
Mary fears Abigail.
46
Who is Reverend John Hale?
He is a tight-skinned, eager eyed individual who is called to determine if witchcraft was being practiced.
47
How does Reverend Hale feel about being called to ascertain if witchcraft was being practiced?
This was a beloved errand for him. He felt pride as a the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for.
48
What transformation does Reverend Hale go through during the trial?
His belief in witchcraft falters, as does his faith in the law.
49
Who is Reverend Parris?
He is the pastor of the church in Salem.
50
What is Reverend Parris's relationship to the witnesses?
He is the father of Betty, the uncle of Abigail and the master of Tituba.
51
How does Reverend Parris feel about the events of the trial?
He believes that he is being persecuted and that the townspeople do not respect his position as a man of God.
52
What does Reverend Parris fear?
The people have ousted the last few pastors and Parris fears the same fate.
53
Why does Parris believe the girls?
He chooses to believe the girls, because to do otherwise would mean that the trouble would be connected to his own household. If this happened, he may not be trusted by the village.
54
When was The Crucible written?
1953.
55
What is Puritanism?
Puritanism is a Christian faith which originated in England during the early 17th century. They hold a strict belief in predestination.
56
What is predestination?
This term refers to the idea that God has previously chosen those who will be saved, and an individual can do nothing to change this status.
57
Name the 5 basic beliefs of Puritans.
1. Total depravity.
2. Unconditional election.
3. Limited atonement.
4. Irresistible grace.
5. Perseverance.
58
What does total depravity mean?
By virtue of the original sin of Adam when one is born, one has no right to salvation.
59
What does unconditional election mean?
Some are chosen for salvation, some are not. There is nothing one can do to change this status.
60
What is limited atonement?
The extent to which one can please God with acts is limited.
61
What is irresistible grace?
God showers one with a quality of grace, and one cannot resist it.
62
What is perseverance?
Once one has been saved, nothing he does will change that fact.
63
What does community mean?
A community might be identified by the values, attitudes and actions of its people. Rules of behaviour, either stated or implied, specify what beliefs and behaviours are permitted and not permitted in any community.
64
Why is community considered a theme in the crucible?
The Crucible depicts relationships and conflicts among three generations of community members. Certain aspects of intergenerational conflict are similar to what we experience today.
65
What is a theocracy?
A community governed by the laws of a specific religion.
66
What is the result of disagreeing with the Puritan theocracy of Salem?
The attitude of the religious rulers was all or nothing, thus they believed that people belonged to either God or the Devil, with no room in-between. If you disagreed, you were a devil-worshipper.
67
List the 3 main themes in The Crucible.
1. Community
2. Witchcraft and the supernatural
3. Revenge
68
Why is revenge a theme?
The play reveals reasons for various characters to seek revenge for their perceived wrongs by making accusations of witchcraft against a number of citizens of Salem.
69
What is a crucible?
One definition of a crucible is a vessel, often ceramic or porcelain, used for melting down and purifying metal. Another definition is that a crucible is a time or trial of great severity, in which different elements react and something new is formed.
70
Why is the play called The Crucible?
The Salem witch trials end up being a crucible, that is, a time of great testing and purifying, for the townspeople. Some of the trial takes place in the actual courtroom, but the metaphor extends beyond the courtroom scenes. For example, both John’s and Elizabeth’s imprisonments were a kind of testing too. By the end, their true natures are revealed.
71
Did the girls really see the Devil or witches?
No. The girls were caught dancing in the woods with Tituba, who was apparently performing love charms for them.
72
Was Tituba practicing witchcraft?
It’s not clear whether Tituba was actually practicing some kind of magic that she believed in and learned in Barbados, or if she made up the “charms” to keep the girls happy.
73
Did Abigail truly believe that Tituba was a witch?
Abigail definitely wanted to believe Tituba could come up with a spell to kill Elizabeth, but Tituba most likely didn’t believe in her own spells.
74
Was Tituba's confession the truth?
Tituba falsely confessed to save herself from being beaten to death, and the girls went along with her confession, making up new lies.
75
Why did Abigail go along with the girls' lies?
Abigail went along with the girls as a way out of the trouble she was in with her uncle. Later, she and others in the town realized that an accusation of witchcraft was an effective way to punish people they were angry with.
76
Why did Tituba confess to dancing with the Devil?
As a slave, Tituba had no status in Salem. Parris could have legally beaten her to death to try to get her to confess. So while we don’t have direct knowledge of her thoughts, we can infer that having realized how dire her situation was, she concluded that it was better to give the townspeople what they wanted by confessing to something she did not do.
77
What happened to Tituba in the end?
She ended up in jail, but at least she was not beaten to death.
78
Why does Tituba hate Parris?
She hates John Parris, who was cruel to her, and she uses her confession to scare him by telling him that the Devil told her “Mr. Parris no goodly man.”
79
What did the Devil promise Tituba according to her confession?
In her confession, Tituba says the Devil offered to fly her back to Barbados, an opportunity for Tituba to be released from slavery and returned to her home, which she misses terribly.
80
Why does Tituba's confession sound so convincing?
Once she’s decided to confess to something she didn’t do, Tituba indulges the fullness of her fantasy, which ironically makes her confession seem very convincing in its detail and anger.
81
Was John still in love with Abigail?
John’s feelings for Abigail are not entirely clear to us at the beginning of the play. John's confession of their affair seems to indicate if John ever loved Abigail, he loves Elizabeth much more. At the end of the play, he believes Elizabeth, and hates Abigail.
82
Why didn’t more people sign false confessions that they were witches to save their lives?
Many other people could not bear to falsely accuse their friends, neighbors, and families, especially since the only way those people could clear their names would be by implicating more members of the community.
83
Why did some people sign false confessions?
For some, it was easier to lie and say they were witches so that they could return to their lives and families. They may have thought that they could confess to falsely confessing and be forgiven at some future point.
84
What is Reverend Parris’s biggest concern?
Reverend Parris is most concerned with being highly regarded and treated well. He is also concerned with getting paid sufficiently well and complains that he has not been provided with firewood.
85
What causes tension between John and Elizabeth Proctor?
John Proctor’s past infidelity with Abigail Williams causes continued tension between John and Elizabeth Proctor.
86
What does Elizabeth believe about John and Abigail?
Elizabeth believes that Abigail is holding onto a promise—spoken or unspoken—made between Abigail and John that would make Abigail want to have Elizabeth killed in order to take her place.
87
Why is Rebecca Nurse accused of witchcraft?
Rebecca Nurse is blamed for “the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s babies.” The Putnam family may also be looking to punish Rebecca Nurse because of a land dispute they have with her husband, Francis.
88
Why is Elizabeth Proctor accused of witchcraft?
Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams because Abigail wants to marry Elizabeth’s husband, John, with whom she had an affair while serving in the Proctor household.
89
How does Abigail make Elizabeth look guilty?
Abigail makes it look like Elizabeth is practicing witchcraft by claiming that Elizabeth sticks needles in the poppet that Mary Warren gave Elizabeth in order to cause Abigail pain.
90
Where do the needle marks on Abigail come from?
Abigail sticks herself with needles in order to provide evidence of Elizabeth’s “crime.”
91
Why doesn’t John Proctor attend church often?
The primary reason John Proctor rarely attends church is that he doesn’t like Reverend Parris. John also explains to Reverend Hale that he stayed at home on Sundays during the winter because his wife, Elizabeth, was sick.
92
Why doesn't Proctor like Parris?
John complains that Parris is too concerned with his own wealth. John is also unhappy with the substance of Parris’s sermons.
93
What happens when Mary Warren tells the court the truth about the girls acting bewitched?
When Mary Warren tells the court the truth that the girls were just pretending that they were being affected by witchcraft, she is challenged by Parris, Hathorne, and Danforth, and she is intimidated by the other girls.
94
What effect does the pressure from Abigail have on Mary Warren?
The tension of the scene and hysteria of the girls mount until Mary cracks under the pressure and accuses John Proctor of threatening to murder her if she didn’t try to help him overthrow the court.
95
How does John Proctor know that the witchcraft isn’t real?
Abigail Williams tells John Proctor that the witchcraft is not real.
96
Where did the first accusations of witchcraft begin?
After Reverend Parris finds Abigail, Betty Parris, and some other girls dancing in the woods, Betty becomes unresponsive. This makes the townspeople think witchcraft is involved, and the girls play along with the idea, accusing other townspeople of being witches.
97
Why doesn’t Danforth believe John Proctor’s confession of his infidelity with Abigail Williams?
Danforth decides that John Proctor’s confession is not true because it isn’t substantiated by Elizabeth Proctor.
98
Why does Elizabeth lie to the court about her husband's affair?
Elizabeth, who John describes as never having lied, lies in this instance to protect John’s reputation.
99
What happens to John as a result of Elizabeth's lie?
He is found guilty and sentenced to death.
100
Why does Reverend Hale change his mind about the witch trials?
Reverend Hale loses faith in the witch trials in the face of Deputy Governor Danforth’s zealousness and the doubts John Proctor brings to the girls’ claims of witchcraft.
101
What does Reverend Hale realise about the court in the end?
Hale sees that the court has become feared in Salem for its brutality and lack of justice.
102
Why doesn’t John Proctor save himself?
Instead of saving his own life, John Proctor chooses to guard his reputation and not accuse others of witchcraft.
103
Why does John refuse to sign a false confession?
John refuses to do so, explaining, “I have three children—how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” John also refuses to sign a written confession.
104
What aspect of John's character remains intact at the time of his death?
His integrity remains intact because he did not bear false witness against anyone.
105
What genre does the The Crucible fall under?
Tragedy, Allegory, Historical Fiction
106
Who is the protagonist of the play?
John Proctor
107
Who is the antagonist in the play?
Abigail Williams
108
When is the play set?
1692
109
Where is the play set?
Salem, a small town in colonial Massachusetts
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