The Crucible Group

Question:

lili3
lili3
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In "The Crucible," what are some quotes about the characters Parris, Mary Warren, Tituba, and Abigail that describe each?

Include the page number (act).

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Posted by lili3 on Wednesday October 29, 2008 at 7:47 PM and tagged with abigail, characters, mary warren, parris, quotes, the crucible, tituba.

Answers:


  1. dymatsuoka

    eNotes Editor

    In his play "The Crucible", the author provides helpful descriptions of his characters in commentaries embedded in the action.

    About Reverend Parris, he says,

    "At the time of these events Parris was in his middle forties.  In history he cut a villainous path, and there is very little good to be said for him.  He believed he was being persecuted wherever he went...He was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them" (Act I, Scene 1).

    Tituba, the second character to be introduced after Parris, is described as

    "his Negro slave...Tituba is in her forties.  Parris brought her with him from Barbados...her slave sense...warn(s) her that...trouble in this house eventually lands on her back" (I,1).

    Abigail, the third character to appear in the play, is

    "strikingly beautiful, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling" (I,1).

    Abigail provides further insight into her own hardened, ruthless character when she warns the girls,

    ""I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine...and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down" (I,1).

    In contrast to Abigail, Mary Warren is

    "seventeen, a subservient, naive, lonely girl" (I,1).

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/crucible/act-scene-1-summary-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/crucible/characters

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Saturday November 1, 2008 at 1:04 PM