The Crucible

As defined in dictionary.com, one of the meanings of "crucible" is "a severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial. A "crucible" is also "a vessel made of a...

In act one of The Crucible, Mrs. Putnam and her husband visit Reverend Parris's home and begin discussing the arrival of witchcraft in the community of Salem. When Rebecca Nurse arrives, she warns...

Act IV of The Crucible contains many events that contribute to Salem's condition. At the beginning of the act, three months have passed and the trials have demoralized many in the village....

In act one, John Proctor voices his displeasure with Reverend Parris for requesting Reverend Hale's presence to look for signs of witchcraft without first holding a meeting to discuss the matter....

When Mary Warren gets home from a long day in court, she gives a handmade doll to Elizabeth Proctor, her employer. She tells Elizabeth, "We must all love each other now, Goody Proctor," and she...

The Crucible is a play about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. We see the citizens employ logos, pathos, and ethos as they discuss their theories on what's happening, accuse others around them, and...

This stage of the play marks a very disturbing shift from what has been "play" or "sport" with the girls dancing naked with Tituba in the woods to something that casts its dark shadow over all of...

Abigail is a selfish vindictive girl. She wants to feel like she has power. She is a bully and threatens her friends to keep quiet about the truth. Abigail had become the housekeeper for John and...

Since her parents were killed, Abigail has spent her life as a poor relation in the house of the Reverend Parris. This cannot have been an easy or agreeable position, but it has given her a...

Arthur Miller gives us some insight into the octogenarian Giles Corey in his author's notes in act one of The Crucible. Giles is a rather comical and stubborn man, but he is also good-hearted and...

Reverend Hale could certainly have done a lot more to end the hysteria. As both a man of God and an expert in witchcraft he should've been able to see straight away that there was no foundation to...

There are many instances of irony in act 2 of The Crucible. Elizabeth encourages John to go to Ezekiel Cheever for assistance (since the two are well acquainted) when, at that moment, Cheever is...

It's a none-too-gentle reminder from Elizabeth that John's committed adultery. It's instructive that John wants to be thought of as a fine, upstanding member of this deeply devout religious...

The godly Rebecca Nurse, an upstanding member of the Puritan community, was known for her service and altruistic compassion in Salem. She was the resident midwife and had been at the bedside of...

One way in which the Reverends Parris and Hale are similar is that, however ill-intentioned the one and well-intentioned the other, they both fail the people of Salem. Reverend Parris is more...

At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris is more worried about his own occupation and status throughout the community than he is about his daughter's well-being. When Abigail mentions that...

Elizabeth believes that her husband, John, still has feelings for Abigail Williams, and so she is afraid that the reason he hesitates in revealing Abigail as a liar is that he doesn't want to see...

Engaging in religion can be as sinful as maintaining a heathen or pagan lifestyle. Even in our society today, churches and mosques and synagogues are filled with people who go through the motions...

In Act Three, Reverend Parris tries to install himself as a deputy to the court. He has no official position within the court, but he is clearly trying to get on Deputy Governor Danforth's good...

The Reverend Hale enters The Crucible in act 1 with the assurance of an expert who has been invited because of his specialist knowledge. His books, he says, are heavy because they are "weighted...

In Act 3, John Proctor does, in fact, twice refer to the same scripture in his wish to encourage Mary Warren and to strengthen her resolve. When he first speaks to her in court before taking out...

Not only does John try to please Elizabeth, but Elizabeth tries to please John, too. When he goes to taste the stew she's prepared, "She sits and watches him taste it." Then, when he compliments...

Rebecca Nurse is somewhat of an expert on children, having had several children of her own and then, by her own count, twenty-six grandchildren. Rebecca seems certain, from the outset, that Betty's...

Elizabeth Proctor is depicted as a morally upright woman, who is somewhat dull and callous, particularly towards the beginning of the play. When the audience is introduced to Elizabeth Proctor in...

In Act III, scene i of The Crucible, Abigail accuses Mary of lying in her testimony because she wants to keep her own ruse going. She still hopes that somehow, these false accusations of...

In act 1, Reverend Hale arrives in Salem and is considered an expert in anything involving supernatural forces, demons, spirits, and witchcraft. At Reverend Parris's home, Hale shows off his...

At the beginning of act 2, Miller depicts the tension that exists between John and Elizabeth Proctor following his affair with Abigail Williams. When John returns home from farming, he tastes...

The beginning of this Act clearly shows that John and Elizabeth's marriage is under significant strain. The scene at the beginning, before Elizabeth enters, shows John tasting the food that...

Yes, John Proctor is hanged in the play's final scene. On the day of his scheduled execution, John is urged to confess to save himself from hanging. With two children and a pregnant wife, Proctor...

John Proctor has, appropriately enough, been utterly bewitched by Abigail Williams. And by the time we get to act 2, he's still very much in thrall to her seductive charms. For him to accuse her...

When we're first introduced to Elizabeth Proctor in act 1, she comes across as quite a cold, aloof figure. This is undoubtedly deliberate on Miller's part, as he wants to provide John Proctor with...

Reverend Hale's character helps to show that those who wash their hands of responsibility of wrongdoing, so to speak, are just as responsible as those who commit the wrongdoing. Tellingly, at the...

In act 1 of The Crucible, Abigail Williams is portrayed as a "strikingly beautiful girl" of seventeen with the ability to disguise the truth about everything. She blatantly lies about...

Putnam is trying to strong arm Parris into accepting and broadcasting the idea that there are witches in the town, saying, "I have taken your part in all contention here, and I would continue; but...

Mary Warren has always been understandably reluctant to support the Proctors with legal testimony. She is bound to be called a liar, since her story now is that she was lying and dissimulating...

Rebecca married Francis Nurse, who was a highly respected man in Salem who owned three hundred acres of land. It was said that Francis Nurse originally rented the land and gradually paid for it....

Since this question is posted under the title of The Crucible, it will be assumed that the responses should be relevant to the historical setting of both the play and the issues of the McCarthy...

In Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible, he chronicles the events that transpired during the Salem witch trials in the spring of 1692. Historically, more than two hundred people were accused...

Rebecca Nurse is accused of witchcraft along with eight other women and men in Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning play of 1953, The Crucible. The horrific events are set into motion when a group of...

Both Elizabeth and John Proctor's motivations change throughout the play. Initially, Elizabeth seems motivated to please John and repair her marriage. Although Elizabeth struggles to forgive John,...

The fact that Danforth's credibility might suffer is an important one. But it goes beyond his status as an official of the court. This man, whose intelligence and charisma have allowed him to be...

Most people tend to feel that Abigail Williams is to blame for what happened in The Crucible. She is the master manipulator who fools an entire town into believing that witches are running amok....

The quote you mention can be found in act three of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It is spoken by John Proctor as he tries to impart some courage to his servant girl, Marry Warren. Mary Warren is...

In Act Two, we see Elizabeth's conflict with her husband, John. He asks if she is sad again, and "she doesn't want friction, yet she must" say, You come so late I thought you'd gone to Salem this...

In this quotation, Parris seems to claim that either an individual is with him and the church on the side of righteousness and goodness, or that individual is a sinner who works against the church...

There are several things that happen in Act One that, if you pay close attention, foreshadow some future events. You have to pay close attention to what the characters say about each other, and...

This statement, spoken by the renowned witch hunter Reverend Hale, shows the tremendous faith he has in his own education, as well as his overconfidence and even cockiness when it comes to his...

In Act 2, scene I, it is revealed that Mary Warren is now an official of the court. She has gone from a meek and timid character to a defiant and important character. Because of this newly...

Reverend Hale's external conflicts initially relate to his attempts to discern evidence of witchcraft in Salem, then to find and arrest those who have been accused. Finally, he comes into...

A crucible is a container, usually made of ceramic or some kind of metal, in which substances are melted down via subjection to high temperatures. It is often used to describe a trial an individual...