Summary Of ' The Crucible '

Transition: Abigail is a character, who puts her reputation above the life of others throughout the book, and this is really significant, because her endeavors to protect that reputation are what shape most of the story. Her actions are the causes of John Proctor’s and Danforth’s endeavor.

John Proctor has a dark secret, He possesses a major flaw he has had an affair with Abigail Williams, and eventually he realizes what he has done to Elizabeth, He has committed adultery against his wife. Due to the fact that Proctor has committed adultery against Elizabeth, he becomes a tragic hero, and Abigail Williams shows that when she says “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near” (Act I, lines 423-425). John broke his marriage vows, but even though he regrets he has become a tragic hero. It’s too late to regret he has sinned, he has ruined his marriage with Elizabeth and now she is not pleased with him. Due to the fact that he has cheated on Elizabeth, his outlook in life is negative, when He tells her “I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you” (Act II, lines 159-161). The affair also caused Elizabeth to distrust John, who for seven months was trying to get into her good graces and is tired of her suspicion. Because of John's inability to control his desire and resist temptation, his life is being turned upside down by the jealousy and need for revenge of Abigail, marking the beginning of his downfall and path to becoming a tragic hero. As a result, the need for revenge of Abigail marks the beginning of John downfall.

Abigail starts to accuse several people in Salem soon after Tituba in a desperate ploy to get attention, that soon gets blown out of proportion and becomes a massacre of innocent people.

In the third stage is Reverend Parris, who is controlled by his reputation. In the beginning, he is afraid of what Betty’s illness, should it be related to “unnatural causes” will do to his repute. Salem had had more ministers in a few years than he thought it should have, and he did not want to be put out like the others. When Danforth comes to town, Parris becomes one of his peers, and is closely related to Abigail Williams, the girl who has been selected by God to purge Salem of its evils, and this strokes Parris’ ego. At the end of the play, Parris is no longer so concerned with what others think of him as he is worried that Proctor’s death will be on his conscience.

Tituba’s fear of physical harm motivates her to cry witch. Reverend Hale’s harsh treatment of Tituba causes her to cower from him even before being accused of witchcraft. Tituba’s fear increases when Abigail accuses her of making her “drink blood” (43). Reverend Hale in turn concludes that Tituba serves the Devil. Reverend Hale orders her to wake Betty who she has sent her “spirit out upon” (44). Initially, Tituba pleads that she “don’t compact with no Devil” (44) but when she realizes that she

Abigail Williams a sixteen year old girl worked as a maiden for Elizabeth and John Proctor; she fell in love with John and he had an affair with her. Elizabeth found out and kicked Abigail out of their home and this started the hatred between the two of them. Abigail cared about no one except herself and John. Abigail and her friends were messing around with supernatural things in the woods and she asked Tituba to put a spell on Elizabeth that she

In order to get what she wanted, she had pulled a group of friends to get involved in it, which they willingly obeyed Abigail in fear she would accuse them next. Many of her friends began to slowly fall apart because the guilt was taking over their minds. One of them had said, “She’ll kill me for sayin that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!”(Miller) Mary Warren feared that if she were to tell the truth, that the other girls would accuse her for witchcraft, and have her hung. It is hard to say who the hero is in this play, but the ones who know the truth and try and explain seem to be at war with Abigail and the other girls. One might say, “it is unfortunate that the play itself aligns a group of heroes against a group of villains."(Budick) Abigail and her group of girls are the villians in this play, having men and women wrongfully hung to save

Reverend John Hale is the minister who is called in to investigate the witch trials in The Crucible. At first he believes them, but later he returns to the town to try and stop the trials. Deputy Governor Danforth is the judge at the witch trials. He is dedicated to removing all witches. He rules by the law and will not allow exceptions or anyone to try to undermine his court.

     John Hale represents the voice or authority and reasoning. He appears to be strong and assured himself that there was a whole world of witches around him at any given time. He believes in the churches power to be the ultimate law in the situation at hand. This is his source of pride. He sees himself as the person come to save the lives in the New World. As the case progresses though he starts to doubt himself and realizes that he had caused many deaths. His pride is swiftly destroyed and he asks

There were many more accused witches in Salem. Although they were not the main characters in the play, they were a victim of the mass hysteria sweeping the town too. One of these people was Goody Nurse. Mrs. Putnam claimed that she was a witch because of the death of

     Abigail William’s aggressive personality easily persuades the other girls to follow her footsteps, and back up anything and everything she says. This personality also frightens people in the courtroom to question her truthfulness, or her relation with John Proctor. Due to her forceful behavior, the girls support Abigail, and therefore become entangled in her web of lies, sins, and murders.

John Proctor, a well respected man, was having an affair with Abigail Williams, one of the girls who was caught. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, knows about

The play opened with the girls doing something considered taboo in Puritan society, dancing in the woods. The girls involved in this were Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, Ruth Putnam, and a few others. Tituba, Reverend Parris’s slave from Barbados was also with them. All of the girls involved were caught by Reverend Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem. When Reverend Parris catches the girls dancing in the woods, his daughter Betty Parris becomes

Reverend Parirs -The minister of Salem’s church he is paranoid about his home being invited by a witchcraft and is power hungry

However, the way that these young women were acting terrified people of the community, one of which who is Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris was one of the most powerful people in the town of Salem. He constantly tried to keep up his act to make people like him and give him more power. Parris’ daughter, Betty, was one of the girls who was caught dancing in the woods.