The Crucible by: Arthur Miller

1. The Crucibleby: Arthur Miller Mrs. Kaufman 8th Grade English

2. Drama • (AKA play) a story that has been written to be performed by actors for an audience • The story is told through the words and actions of the characters.

3. Dialogue • The words that are spoken by the characters. • DRAMA IS DRIVEN BY DIALOGUE!!!

4. Stage Directions (Italics) • Instructions to help actors, directors, and readers visualize what is happening onstage. • Tell how characters should look, speak, act, and move on the stage.

5. Protagonist & Antagonist • The protagonist is the character around whom the action revolves. • The protagonist is usually in conflict with one or more antagonists.

6. Tragedy vs. Comedy • Tragedy – a play in which the protagonist usually comes to an unhappy end. • Comedy – a light, humorous play with a happy ending.

7. Characters • A cast of characters is listed at the beginning of a a play. • A short description of the characters may be included. • The playwright may further describe the character when he or she first appears in the play. • The audience continues to learn about the characters through their actions and through the dialogue.

8. Setting • The time and place in which the events of a play occur. • The setting often helps to create the mood of the play. • Typically described at the beginning and throughout as the setting changes (act and scene changes) • Setting can also affect the views expressed by characters.

9. Plot • The series of related events that revolve around a central conflict. • Conflict may be a struggle involving: • People • Ideas • Forces • Plot typically develops in the following pattern: • Exposition • Rising action • Climax • Falling action • Resolution • Denouement

10. Dialogue • Conversation between the characters • Helps reveal the plot and character of the play. • The author must speak through the characters • As you read, decide which characters, if any, are expressing the author’s real beliefs.

11. Acts & Scenes • They indicate a change in location or the passage of time during a play. • “Real time” vs. “drama time.” • Action in a play may occur over a much longer period of time than the performance takes.

12. As You Read The Crucible • Who is the protagonist? Is there more than one? • Who are the antagonists? • What is the central conflict?

13. BackgroundThe Time and Place • The Crucible takes place in 1692 in and near Salem, a small town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that had been founded in the early 1600’s by a group of Christians called Puritans. • The Puritans had fled England for North America to escape religious persecution and to establish a religious community. • As industry grew in Salem, many people did not share the religious beliefs of the Puritan founders. • Many Puritans felt they were losing hold of their ideals. • Insecurity, frustration, and loss of control helped create a climate of guilt and blame. • In the winter of 1691-1692, several teenage girls began behaving strangely. This led to accusations of witchcraft and the execution of 20 people.

14. About the Title • Crucible – a pot or vessel made from highly heat-resistant material. • Used for melting metals to test them for their purity. • Used by chemists to conduct chemical reactions that require high heat. • Has also come to mean – “a severe test,” or “a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development.”

15. Drawing Conclusions • What does the phrase “an endless capacity for dissembling”(Miller 9) tell us about Abigail?

16. Drawing Conclusions • We should recognize that Abigail deceives others. • We have to always question her reliability and search for a hidden motive in her words.

17. Dancing is BAD • The Puritans forbade activities that they considered “vain” entertainment. • Dancing • Theater

18. Literary Elements: Setting • What function does the forest serve?

19. Literary Terms: Setting • The girls go there to hide their dancing. • It also serves as an atmospherical function. • To the Puritans, the forest was a wild, dark place—the abode of heathens and evil spirits.

20. Theme • The idea of a person’s good name will be a central theme to the play. • Abigail: “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled?” (Miller 12)

21. Enter the Putnams • What adjectives would you use to describe Parris’s attitude toward the Putnams? • He seems fearful, fawning, submissive, and groveling. • The Putnams seem to have influence over people in Salem.

22. Thomas Putnam • Miller considered Thomas Putnam one of the play’s principal villains. • He was vindictive, had many grievances against his neighbors, and was involves in disputes ownership of land. • Seems to have played a key role in the accusations of witchcraft.

23. Literary Terms: Metaphor • “the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick. It’s death, y’know, it’s death drivin’ into them. Forked and hoofed” (Miller 13). • These are references to the traditional Puritan view that represents the devil as a creature with a forked tail and cloven hoofs.

24. Cultural Note • Superstition holds that sneezing might indicate that a possessed person was expelling demons through the nose. • Who sneezes? What is the implication? • This might be the origin of the practice of saying “God bless you!”

25. Abigail • Describe the change in Abigail’s behavior after the adults leave.

26. Abigail • She reveals a cruel side to her nature in the way she treats the other girls. With the adults gone, Abigail is able to become the dominant personality and reveal her true nature. • Is her attitude here believable? Why or why not?

27. Literary Elements:Figurative Language • “What a grand peeping courage you have” (Miller 19). • Said by Mercy to Mary Warren-What does Mercy mean?

28. Literary Terms • Double meaning: • The act of looking cautiously or sneakily. • The weak sound of a newborn bird, especially a chicken. • This is an example of scorn for Mary Warren’s courage.

29. Literary Elements:Characterization • “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller 20). • What do Abigail’s threats toward the other girls reveal about her character?

30. Dialogue-Theme • Notice the difference in what names are used in the dialogue. • Mr. Proctor vs. John • Abigail vs. Abby • What does this reveal about relationships in the play?

31. Evaluate • Evaluate the offhand way Abigail describes events to Proctor in light of what we know about her character. How does her demeanor change depending on who she is speaking with?

32. Abigail • She illustrates her ability to adapt her manner to suit a situation. With her uncle, she feigns concern and righteous indignation. With the girls, she is domineering and cruel. With Proctor, she is coy and seductive.

33. Conflict • What is revealed about the central conflict in the conversation between Abigail and John Proctor?

34. Conflict • The conflict between Abigail and Mrs. Proctor: Abigail’s motivation is now known. There was a romantic link between her and John, which is why Mrs. Proctor dismissed her. Abigail believes John loves her. Mrs. Proctor’s death would clear the way for marriage between them. • The conflict between Abigail and John: He denies that he ever gave her reason to believe there was hope for marriage.

35. Literary Elements:Character • Analyze how the Putnams differ from Proctor and Rebecca on the issue of witchcraft. Support your conclusions with specific dialogue references.

36. Literary Elements: Character • The Putnams seem determined to prove that witchcraft is afoot. Proctor and Rebecca believe there is a natural explanation for the children’s behavior.

37. Think Critically • Why might Ann Putnam hate Rebecca Nurse? • Ann already has mentioned that she has lost seven babies in infancy. Now her only surviving child is behaving strangely and is ill. Rebecca has 11 children and 26 grandchildren, all of whom seem to be healthy.

38. Characterization • Notice how Proctor is very vocal about his displeasure with Parris’s actions, but allows Rebecca to silence him. What does this show about Proctor’s character? Rebecca Nurse?

39. Characterization • Proctor does not defer to fools. His reaction clearly reveals that he respects her. • The fact that a man like Proctor will defer to her is testament to her wisdom and strength of character. • Rebecca is the “voice of reason” in the play.

40. Irony—Why is this ironic? • Parris: “I do not preach for children, Rebecca. It is not the children who are unmindful of their obligation toward this ministry” (Miller 29).

41. Irony • Parris has little understanding of children and sees no reason to instruct them, yet it is the young girls who are trying to commune with the devil. In an effort to conceal their misbehavior, they set in motion events that will wreak havoc on Salem.

42. Acts & Scenes • In the absence of scenes, the appearance of a new character may indicate a shift in focus. Predict what Mr. Hale’s arrival means.

43. Hale’s Arrival • From previous references to this character, we should recognize that he is an expert on witchcraft. His arrival signals a shift from the arguments over practical matters to the subject of witchcraft.

44. Irony • Parris: “Why would he choose my house to strike? We have all manner of licentious people in the village!” • Hale: “It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister” (Miller 41)? • What is ironic here?

45. Irony • Parris asks why the devil would choose his house when there are so many less worthy people in Salem. He does not recognize this own lack of good character. Hale’s question assumes that the minister must be the best person in the village, an assumption at odds with the facts.

46. Thinking Critically • Who is the first person to name specific individuals? What can you infer from this?

47. Thinking Critically • Thomas Putnam is the first. Sarah Good and Osburn are people whom the Putnams do not like or against whom the Putnams have grievances.

48. Irony • Hale: “You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, Tituba, you are chosen to help us cleanse our village” (Miller 46). • Identify the irony.

49. Irony • He tells Tituba that she is God’s instrument doing his work and helping cleanse the village. In reality, he is persuading her to make false accusations of witchcraft against innocent people.

50. Responding to Literature • Describe the feelings the characters have toward each other: the Putnams toward John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse, Proctor toward the Putnams and Parris, and Parris toward the congregation. What effect might these feelings have on the future action of the play?