The Crucible
What’s a Crucible?
• A vessel made of material that does not melt
easily, used to melting materials at high
temperatures;
• A severe test or trial of patience or belief
(searching, self-reflection);
• A place, time, or situation where powerful
intellectual, social, economic, or political
forces meet.
Hmm…A Vessel?
• What is the vessel that does not melt easily?
• In Danforth’s words: “Now, Mr. Proctor,
before I decide whether I shall hear you or not,
it is my duty to tell you this. We burn a hot fire
here; it melts down all concealment.” (Page
89)
• Was Danforth right?
…Or a Trial?
• What’s the trial? Think carefully…
• There’s an external trial in the courthouse
• There’s an internal trial: Who is John Proctor?
The Force is Strong in This One…
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What kind of forces are meeting in Salem?
Revenge
Fear / Panic
Prejudice
Power
Religious
Status Quo
Good Luck, John!
• Let’s compare “Good Night, and Good Luck” with
“The Crucible” for a moment.
• What forces are clashing in each story?
• Power, Politics, Prejudice, Status Quo
• What’s the trial in “Good Night, and Good Luck”?
Think carefully…
• Do you stand up to McCarthy?
• What’s the vessel?
• A courtroom without protections, perhaps…
So What Are We Looking For?
• The societies in “Good Night” and “The Crucible” both
grappled with a multitude of problems that often stemmed
from one or more of the Three Ps: Power, Prejudice, and
Panic.
• Let’s examine our ten themes with an eye towards each.
• For example, what effect does power have on each character’s
identity? Does prejudice dictate their character arc? Do they
panic when placed in a difficult situation?
• Moreover, watch carefully for other parallels between the
1950s and the 1690s – and between those eras and the present.
Quick Write!
• On a separate piece of paper, list some examples from your
own experiences.
• For example: Have you ever faced prejudice for your age, your
ethnicity, your gender, your sexuality, your faith, etc.?
• Have you ever felt fear of something unknown, or felt feared
because someone didn’t understand you?
• What power relations do you navigate each day? How often do
you feel as though you completely control your actions?
• Have you ever been given a name that isn’t yours – either out
of affection, or hostility? Have you accepted the names other
people give you? Do people call you different names based on
how they treat you, or treat you based on what they call you?
What’s In a Name?
• You may have noticed that names, or identities, or
reputations are at risk in both stories.
• One could argue that the stakes in “The Crucible” are
higher – they’re playing for keeps, so to speak.
• Yet Proctor willingly goes to hang after asking, “How
may I live without my name?” (Page 143).
• Why is the loss of his name / identity / reputation
such a problem?
• (Remember that “The Crucible” serves as an allegory
to the Red Scare!)
Names and Identities
• Re-read the character descriptions at the
beginning of the play; you’ll be surprised,
particularly because you now know what
eventually happens to these characters.
• Parris: Pages 3-4; Abigail: Pages 8-9;
Ann/Thomas Putnam: Pages 10, 14-15;
Mary Warren: Page 18; Proctor: Pages 20-21;
The Nurses: Pages 25-26; Hale: Pages 33, 36;
Giles: Pages 40-41.
Who is…?
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Who is John Proctor?
Who is Judge Danforth?
Who is Reverend Hale?
Who is Giles Corey?
Who is Elizabeth Proctor?
Who is Parris? Putnam? Hathorne?
Who is Cheever? Who is Herrick?
More Specifically…
• How is each character affected by, or
responsive to, the themes you chose?
• These questions should be fairly easy for you
to answer for the character you played; can
you find evidence in your lines to support your
opinions? Can you identify thematic
relationships for a character you didn’t play?
Quick Write!
• On the back of your sheet of paper, explain
how four of the themes we chose – both the
ones you chose, and two others – relate to the
character you played.
• Next, explain how two of those themes – one
that you chose, and one you didn’t – relate to
another character.
Conflicts in the Play
• Three types of conflicts:
– Character vs. Character (Abigail vs. Proctor)
– Character vs. Society (Proctor against
Salem/Courts)
– Character vs. Self (Proctor vs. Proctor)
The Nature of Prejudice
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Why do we feel prejudice?
Remember the “knife” example?
Prejudice means to “pre-judge”
Stems from a lack of knowledge
Power, Proctor
• Look back at pages 20-21
• From Page 30 (Proctor: “Mr. Parris, you are
the first minister ever did demand…”) to Page
31 (Proctor: “I mean it solemnly, Rebecca; I do
not like the smell of this ‘authority.’”)
• Pages 136, 143, and 144
Power, Putnam
• “This society will not be a bag to swing around
your head, Mr. Putnam.” (Proctor, bottom of
Page 27)
• “You cannot command Mr. Parris. We vote by
name in this society, not by acreage.” (Proctor,
Page 28)
Power, Abigail
• Abigail tries to drink a charm that will kill Elizabeth;
this helps start a chain of events that concludes with
Proctor’s death. (19)
• She feels powerless to keep Proctor
• Openly threatens Danforth (Page 108)
• “It’s God’s work I do” – Page 115 (Mary Warren also
says this on Page 59, although she says “we” rather
than “I.”)
• She gains absolute power – and is corrupted
absolutely – but pays the price for it, and ends up a
prostitute in Boston
Power/Evil/Justice: The Salem Court
• We witness the destruction of loyalty in the pursuit of
loyalty to Christ in “The Crucible,” or to the country
in the 1950s.
• One’s devotion to an idea or ideals took precedence
over one’s devotion to other people.
• We watch as Miller’s characters are corrupted by the
court; Mary goes wild, and Cheever takes his new
duties far too seriously.
• Cheever is the ultimate traitor – the embodiment of
power’s corrupting influence. He refuses to challenge
the court’s abuses, and actively enables the court to
continue persecuting the girls’ enemies.
Other Effects of the Court
• Our perception of Hale changes as he storms out of the court.
He is no longer Proctor’s antagonist.
• However, has Hale been corrupted by the court as well? Think
about Act IV as you answer.
• Herrick also loses himself; he is introduced as “somewhat
shamefaced” when Elizabeth is first taken to Salem, and he
turns to hard drink by Act IV.
• However, John Proctor changes as well, and possibly for the
better – he confesses his sins in open court, and rediscovers his
honor.
• Think “Crucible” – not just a melting down, but a burning
away as well. When Danforth mentioned the destruction of
“all concealment,” I don’t think this is what he had in mind…
Parallels: “Good Night”
• “Is every defense an attack upon the court?”
(Hale, page 94)
• What happened to those who questioned the
McCarthy court’s abuses in the 1950s?
• “We cannot blink it more. There is a
prodigious fear of the court in the country-”
Then there is a prodigious guilt in the
country!” (Page 98)
Allegorical Bliss
• “These are all covenanted Christians, sir.”
“Then I am sure they may have nothing to fear. Mr.
Cheever, have warrants drawn for all of these – arrest
for examination.” (Page 94)
• “No uncorrupted man may fear this court, Mr. Hale!
None! [to Giles] You are under arrest for contempt of
this court.” (Page 98)
• Remember that Danforth accepts no depositions, and
frowns on the presence of lawyers. Sound familiar?
Parallels: “Good Luck”
• Edward R. Murrow
• How does he compare
to Proctor?
• Don Hollenbeck
• How does he compare
to Hale?
The “Long Boring Passages”
• The opening pages of “The Crucible” feature
very little dialogue. Miller chose to write
extensively about the links between the period
he lived in (the 1950s) and the period of the
play (the 1690s).
• How do these paragraphs help us compare the
Three Ps’ effects in “Good Night, and Good
Luck” with those in “The Crucible”?
• Re-read them, and be amazed!
Allegorical Nature of “The Crucible”
• An allegory uses symbolic settings,
characters, and/or plots to achieve an
effect
– Discusses one thing while referring to another
– Deals in parallels!
– Examples: Theocracy (government by God’s
law) in Salem vs. the McCarthyist courts
Doppelgangers
• We don’t just see parallels between the world in
1692 and the world in the 1950s
• We also see characters who parallel other
characters!
– A doppelganger is a character whose arc parallels
that of another character, only in a different fashion
– Examples: Cheever and Herrick (one eager to
follow the court, the other reluctant); Abigail and
Elizabeth (adulteress vs. wife, both loving Proctor);
Abigail and Mary (both girls affected by Proctor, but
one is strong and cunning while the other is weak
and simple)
To Review and Study:
• Think about the settings of the play –
physical setting, temporal (time) setting,
theological/societal setting (better
understand the Puritans!)
• Think about the relationships between the
characters, and how their actions are
affected by them
To Review and Study:
• Think about the natures of the characters,
and how their actions are affected by
them. Are they hypocrites? (Parris is
supposed to preach simple values,
whereas he lectures over and over about
golden candlesticks.) Are they honorable?
(Giles being pressed to death for his
silence.)
To Review and Study:
• You’ve defined the goals, desires, and
motives for most of the characters by this
point (or could do so if asked). How many
of them get what they want – how many of
them succeed? How many of them fail?
(How do they succeed? If they fail, how do
they contribute to the problems of the
play? What specific actions or choices
does each character make that helps the
plot move along?)
To Summarize:
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Settings
Actions/Plots
Characters/Motives
Themes
Allegory/Parallels
Puritan Times – your Bradford,
Rowlandson, and Edwards readings!