The Crucible Flashcards
Characters
John Proctor
About
● A local farmer who lives just outside town Elizabeth Proctor’s husband.
● A stern, harsh-tongued man, John hates hypocrisy.
● Nevertheless, he has a hidden sin in his affair with Abigail Williams that proves his downfall.
● When the hysteria begins, he hesitates to expose Abigail as a fraud because he worries that his secret will be revealed and his good name ruined.
Characters
John Proctor
End of Play
● Hung on August 19, 1692 in Salem Village
● After being falsely accused and convicted of witchcraft.
● John Proctor declares that he cannot throw away his good name in a lie, even though doing so would save his life. He chooses to die.
Characters
Abigail Williams
About
● Reverend Parris’s niece.
● Abigail was once the servant for the Proctor household, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor.
Characters
Abigail Williams
End of play
● She ran away from home
● Made her way to the region of Lake Ontario
● Sneaked on board a cargo ship
● where she ended up working in the fur trading industry on Mackinac Island.
● She eventually died there and is buried in the protestant cemetery.
● Rumours have it that Abigail became a prostitute in Boston.
Characters
Reverend John Hale
About
● A young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft.
● Reverend Hale is called in to Salem to examine Parriss daughter Betty.
● Hale is a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft.
● His critical mind and intelligence save him from falling into blind fervour.
● His arrival sets the hysteria in motion, although he later regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of those accused.
Characters
Reverend John Hale
End of play
● Reverend Hale is fed up with the lack of evidence being used against the accused, and the blind faith the court has put into the girls.
● As a result, he condemns the court proceedings and quits the court.
Characters
Elizabeth Proctor
About
● John Proctor’s wife.
● Elizabeth fired Abigail when she discovered that her husband was having an affair with Abigail.
● Elizabeth is supremely virtuous, but often cold.
Characters
Elizabeth Proctor
End of play
● Elizabeth Proctor is framed by Abigail Williams and wrongly accused of witchcraft
● She is put into prison, but not executed yet because she reveals herself to be pregnant.
● She eventually gives birth to the baby boy and is released from prison.
Characters
Reverend Parris
About
● The minister of Salem’s church.
● Reverend Parris is a paranoid, power-hungry, yet oddly self-pitying figure.
● Many of the townsfolk, especially John Proctor, dislike him, and Parris is very concerned with building his position in the community.
Characters
Reverend Parris
End of PLay
● Parris is voted out of office. He leaves Salem, never to be heard from again.
Characters
Rebecca Nurse
About
● Francis Nurse’s wife.
● Rebecca is a wise, sensible, and upright woman, held in tremendous regard by most of the Salem community.
● However, she falls victim to hysteria when the Putnams accuse her of witchcraft and she refuses to confess.
Characters
Rebecca Nurse
End of Play
● She was hanged on July 19, 1692, for witchcraft.
Characters
Francis Nurse
About
● A wealthy, influential man in Salem.
● Nurse is well respected by most people in Salem, but he is an enemy of Thomas Putnam and his wife.
Characters
Francis Nurse
end of play
● Francis Nurse dies a widow just a few years later.
Characters
Judge Danforth
About
● The deputy governor of Massachusetts and the presiding judge at the witch trials.
● Honest and scrupulous, at least in his own mind, Danforth is convinced that he is doing right in rooting out witchcraft.
Characters
Giles Corey
About
● An elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his tendency to file lawsuits.
● Giles’s wife, Martha, is accused of witchcraft, and he himself is eventually held in contempt of court and pressed to death with large stones.
Characters
Giles Corey
end of play
● tortured to death.
● Heavy stones were placed on him until he was crushed.
● He refused to confess to witchcraft or deny the charge because if he did, his sons wouldn’t be able to inherit his farmland.
Characters
Thomas Putnam
About
● A wealthy, influential citizen of Salem, Putnam holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnam’s brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister.
● He uses the witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land.
Characters
Thomas Putnam
end of play
● Thomas Putnam died of an illness in 1699 at the age of 46.
Characters
Ann Putnam
About
● Thomas Putnam’s wife.
● Ann Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only Ruth Putnam survived.
● The other seven died before they were a day old, and Ann is convinced that they were murdered by supernatural means.
Characters
Ann Putnam
end of play
● Annie was chronically ill in the years after the trials, and that led to her death at a young age.
Characters
Ruth Putnam
About
● The Putnams’ lone surviving child out of eight.
● Like Betty Parris, Ruth falls into a strange stupor after Reverend Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods at night.
Character
Tituba
About
● Reverend Parris’s black slave from Barbados.
● Tituba agrees to perform voodoo at Abigail’s request.
Characters
Tituba
end of play
● In April 1693, Tituba was sold to an unknown person for the price of her gaol fees.
