Short-Answer Quizzes: Act II, Scene 4
Study Questions
1. What orders do Cheever and Herrick have at the Proctor house?
2. What has happened to Abigail?
3. Why is this related to the poppet?
4. Did Elizabeth keep poppets in her house?
5. What is found in the poppet?
6. How did the needle get there?
7. Do the authorities believe Mary’s admission?
8. What does John do with the warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest?
9. What does Proctor believe is motivating the court at this point?
10. What does Mary warn will happen if Proctor attempts to interfere with the court?
Answers
1. Cheever and Herrick are to search the Proctor’s house for poppets and to
arrest Elizabeth.
2. Abigail’s belly has been pierced deeply with a long needle.
3. The poppet was found with a needle sticking out of its belly. It was commonly believed that dolls were kept by witches and manipulated in order to torture people.
4. Elizabeth never had poppets in the house until that day, when Mary gave her one.
5. A long needle is found in the poppet in the same place Abigail had been stabbed.
6. Mary Warren admits that she may have left it there when she made it.
7. The authorities pay no attention to Mary’s admission.
8. John tears up the warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest.
9. Proctor believes the court is now motivated entirely by vengeance.
10. Mary tells Proctor that Abigail will accuse him of lechery if he attempts to interfere.
Expert Q&A
What is the allusion Proctor makes to Pontius Pilate in act 2 of The Crucible?
In Act 2 of The Crucible, Proctor makes an allusion to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect who ordered Jesus Christ's execution despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing. Proctor uses this reference when Reverend Hale, despite knowing the unjust accusations against Elizabeth, does not act to prevent her arrest. Proctor accuses Hale of acting like Pilate, absolving himself of blame while enabling an unjust act, thus highlighting the hypocrisy and injustice of the witch trials.
How do Hale's opinions of the accused change by the end of Act 2 in The Crucible?
By the end of Act 2, Reverend Hale shifts from believing in the witchcraft accusations to recognizing the mass hysteria and manipulation driving the trials. Initially confident in his expertise, Hale becomes disillusioned as he witnesses the girls' deceitful behavior, such as pretending to see a yellow bird. Realizing his role in the wrongful conviction of the accused, Hale quits the court in disgust and later urges Proctor to confess falsely to save his life.
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