Crucible Characters
Parris saw the girls doing this in the forest, sparking the witchcraft rumors.
What is dancing (and one was naked)?
What was the name of the U.S. senator who led anti-Communist investigations in the 1950s?
Joseph McCarthy.
Tituba confesses to witchcraft for this reason.
What is to save herself from being hanged/beaten?
John Proctor's reasoning to Hale when he asks him why he had only been to church 26 times in 17 months.
What is, "My wife were sick this winter."
What is one major similarity between the Salem witch trials and the Holocaust?
Both involved accusations without evidence fueled by fear.
How does Abigail manipulate both Tituba and the other girls, and what does this reveal about power dynamics in Salem?
She uses fear to control them, revealing that fear can give ordinary people disproportionate influence.
What is looked down upon in Puritanism?
1. Dancing
2. Singing
3. Going to the woods
4. Witchcraft
What is Reverend Parris most concerned about when he suspects witchcraft?
His reputation
This term describes the paranoia and fear spreading through Salem.
What is Hysteria
What is the term "crucible" mean and why is it named after our play?
A crucible is a heat resistant container used for melting and high temperatures similarly like the characters going through "heated times."
How does Miller use Tituba’s forced confession at the end of Act 1 to comment on the nature of truth and fear?
He shows that under extreme fear, people confess to lies to survive, revealing how hysteria distorts justice.
How does Miller use the Putnams’ grievances about their dead children to deepen the theme of paranoia
It shows how personal tragedy and resentment can fuel accusations and hysteria.
What is the significance of Elizabeth’s arrest at the end of Act 2 for the narrative structure?
It escalates tension and shows that hysteria spares no one, marking the shift from private conflict to public chaos.
How does Miller use The Crucible as an allegory for McCarthyism?
He parallels Salem’s witch hunts with the Communist hunts of the 1950s to criticize mass hysteria and blind conformity.