The Crucible Study Questions Act One
1. Based on the information, which characters are the protagonists, and who the antagonists?
2. Why is Abigail concerned about her dancing being associated with witchcraft?
3. Read the following quotes, identify the symbolic color, explain the significance of each, and why it
means that.
a. “Your name in the town –it is entirely white, is it not?” (pg. 11)
b. “There be no blush about my name.” (pg. 11)
c. “I will not black my face for any of them.” (11)
d. I will not have it said my name is soiled.” (12)
4. How does Tituba serve as a scapegoat? What role does the color of her skin play and why?
How does her confession at the end of Act 1 help progress the movement of the plot?
5. Name at least three of person vs. person conflicts that have arisen in the first act.
6. What is the change that causes the girls to confess to witchcraft? What do they gain from it?
7. Why is the need for upholding a good reputation so important in Salem?
8. Read the following quote and respond to the questions that follow:
“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. And you know I
can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some
reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!”
a.
b.
Explain the symbolism or metaphor in each underlined word.
Discuss Abigail’s tone in this passage and what it reveals about her character.
9. What does Mrs. Putnam mean in her discussion of “seeking loose spirits”, when she claims, “there are
wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires”? Explain the metaphor.
10. What is the tone at the end of the first Act? What has caused this to happen?
11. Who are the most/ least sensible characters of the play thus far? Which character holds the most
credibility and why?
12. Identify at least 2 examples of irony in Act One.
13. What is Abigail’s motivation for having drank “a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife”?
14. Provide 1 example of foreshadowing in Act One, or make a prediction based on the events thus far.