Show:
Act One
Act Two
Act Three
Act Four
Miscellaneous
100
What year does the story take place in, and in what city/state?
1692, Salem is the city, in the state of Massachusetts.
100
What gift did Mary Warren give Elizabeth?
Mary gave Elizabeth a "poppet" (doll) she had made while sitting in court.
100
What does Mary testify to Judge Danforth in court?
"It were pretense, sir." The girls have been lying.
100
What became of Abigail at the end of the story?
Abigail stole money from Parris and disappeared, reportedly leaving on a ship.
100
Who was the author of The Crucible?
Arthur Miller
200
Identify the character: I am a 17-year-old orphan and the niece of Reverend Samuel Parris. I have a good reason for wanting to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, and that reason is her dreamy husband John. Who am I?
Abigail Williams
200
Why doesn't Proctor want Mary to go back to court?
If she goes back, that makes him further involved. Also, he believes that the accusations are false and the girls are frauds. It isn't a just court in Proctor's eyes.
200
When Danforth hears that Elizabeth is pregnant, what does he allow?
He allows her time to see if her "natural signs" appear. If they do not, and she is truly pregnant, he will allow her one year before she is hanged, to have her baby.
200
Why does Reverend Parris feel the hangings of the accused have put him in danger?
Because so many of the accused are respected, upstanding citizens, people have turned against Parris for his involvement in their prosecution. He has received threats on his life.
200
True or False: John Proctor doesn't attend church because he is an atheist.
False. Proctor does believe in God, but does not share the same strict, intolerant beliefs of the Puritan community. He does not like the way Reverend Parris always sermonizes about God's anger and eternal hellfire.
300
What does Reverend Parris discover going on in the woods which begins the story?
Parris finds several neighborhood girls (including his daughter) dancing and allegedly attempting to conjure spirits, led by his slave, Tituba.
300
What things are "suspicious" about Proctor and his family?
What things are "suspicious" about Proctor and his family? Proctor does not go to church regularly. His youngest son has not been baptized. He does not have total faith in Parris, the minister. It takes both Parris and Elizabeth to remember all of the commandments. (He significantly forgot adultery.)
300
Of what does Giles Corey accuse Thomas Putnam?
He accuses him of killing his neighbors (by accusing them of witchcraft) for their land. (If a person were hanged as a witch, his or her land would go up for auction. Putnam was the only man with enough money to buy up all the land.)
300
In Act 4, why has Hale come back to Salem, after he had quit at the end of Act 3?
Hale has come back to Salem to encourage the accused to confess and save their lives (whether they are guilty or not).
300
The Crucible parallels a real-life witch-hunt which took place in the 1950s. Who was the U.S. senator who led the witch-hunt, and what group was being persecuted?
Joseph McCarthy was the senator, and the group he was targeting was Communists.
400
Who is John Proctor? Describe him.
Proctor is a strong, fit man in his thirties. He is a farmer. Basically he is an even-tempered man, soft-spoken, but full of authority and confidence. His one character flaw was the adultery he committed on his wife with Abigail Williams.
400
On what charge was Rebecca Nurse arrested?
She was arrested for the "marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies."
400
What is Hale's problem as Proctor and his friends present evidence to Danforth?
Hale begins to realize that Proctor and his friends have a valid point and that the people who had been accused and sentenced so far could very well have been innocent.
400
What did Proctor do after he signed the confession? Why?
He held the confession and would not give it up to be publicly posted. He knew he was not guilty and did not want to have his lie used to make other innocent people give up their goodness.
400
True or False: Putnam was a land-grabbing man who would use devious means to get what he wants.
True.
500
What do the girls do at the end of Act One?
They admit that they were bewitched, and they started naming the names of people they had seen with the devil.
500
Explain the significance of the needle in the "poppet."
Abigail had accused Elizabeth of sticking a needle in her (Abby's) stomach through the use of a "poppet" (doll). Cheever asked to see the doll that was in Elizabeth's house (the one that Mary had given her). When he looked under the dress, there was a needle stuck in the abdomen of the doll. On the basis of this evidence, Cheever determined that witchcraft was possible and did, in fact, take Elizabeth to prison.
500
At the end of Act 3, what happens to Proctor, and what does Reverend Hale do?
Proctor is jailed for his contempt of the court and his suspicious activities. Hale quits the court.
500
How has John Proctor "regained his goodness" by the end of the story?
Proctor regains his goodness by accepting his death by hanging rather than becoming an accomplice to the misguided authorities, and by holding to the truth that he was not in partnership with the devil.
500
Which Hollywood immortal was Arthur Miller once married to -- Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, or Lauren Bacall?
Marilyn Monroe