The Crucible Act 1 Summary

In chapter 8 just as we thought Ethan had given up on the idea of running away with Mattie, because he had no money he came up with a plan to deceive the hales in order to get an advance on the lumber money to fulfill his plan. His plan included taking advantage of Andrew Hale’s kindness and using his sick wife’s illness as a lie “suddenly it occurred to him that Andrew Hale ,who was a kind-hearted man , might be induced to reconsider his refusal and advance a small sum on the lumber if he were told Zeena’s ill-health made it necessary to hire a servant” (Wharton chapter 8). As he was making his way to the Hale’s home he saw Andrew’s wife and their son driving the sleigh. They stopped to talk and Mrs. Hale began to explain her sympathy for

In the crucible there has been a character and or characters that were afraid to admit they were wrong. In certain situations I have gone through the same situation before, so I can relate to that. First, with the crucible, Rev. John Hale would be afraid to admit that he was wrong. John Hale is a witch expert from Beverly, he comes to Salem to check out what is going on as far as witchcraft. He thinks he knows everything and is very arrogant about it. He has not seen anything like this before. Things are happening in Salem such as people going into a coma, and people going against each other.

Elizabeth sits by the window. Her chair is turned away from the rising sun. She sits still.

Betty Parris’s considerable power throughout the first act is observed by her ability to single-handedly initiate chaos and hysteria within the town for her own personal benefit. This power is first witnessed following Susanna Walcott’s explanation concerning the possibility of a supernatural cause to Betty’s illness, leading Abigail to advise her Uncle about “the rumor of witchcraft [that] is all about: [She] thinks [he'd] best go down and deny it [himself]. The parlor’s packed with people, sir” (10). This is the first hint that others in the town believe in the presence and of the beginnings of the hysteria that follows. Betty started this rumor in the town by pretending to act sick so that she would not get punished for dancing in the woods.

“The Crucible” is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play starts in the woods, the characters Abigail, Betty, Tituba, Mary Warren, and Mercy Lewis were casting spells in the forest. Samuel Parris catches them in the woods and Betty passes out. They go to the Proctors house to make sure Betty is okay. Parris is contemplating on what the town will think of him when they find out what has happened. He tells Abigail to tell him what happened in the woods. Abigail tells him they were dancing.

To start off I felt this was a good movie overall. One scene I felt that had stood out was when the black man was showed the pattern on the cloth showing that there was a house he can escape to with his daughter. This scene kind of gave us a hint that many people probably knew about the house but was too scared to escape in fear of being caught. I felt that the black man was very determined to get his daughter away safely no matter what so much that he went in to unknown water just to hide from the slave masters. I was a little confused at the begging because I thought slave work consisted of picking cotton or some other hardship. There was a scene that stood out to me on a personal note. The scene were the black man was hanged and his daughter was watching as this occurred.

The play begins in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter, Betty, lays ill. Parris lives with his daughter and his seventeen-year old niece, Abigail Williams, an orphan who witnessed her parents' murder by the Indians. Parris has sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, believing his daughter's illness stems from supernatural explanations. Betty became ill when her father discovered her dancing in the woods with Abigail, Tituba (the Parris' slave from Barbados) and several other local girls. Already there are rumors that Betty's illness is due to witchcraft, but Parris tells Abigail that he cannot admit that he found his daughter and niece dancing like heathens in the forest. Abigail says that she will admit to dancing and accept the punishment, but will not admit to witchcraft. Abigail and Parris discuss rumors about the girls: when they were dancing one of the girls was naked, and Tituba was screeching gibberish. Parris also brings up rumors that Abigail's former employer, Elizabeth Proctor, believes that Abby is immoral.

In Act II, we see quite a bit going on, and it seems to be the climax of the story. We see Torvald belittle women once again when he says " is it to get about now that the new manager has changed his mind at his wife's bidding." We learn that Torvald expedited Krogstad's dismissal, and thus we see Nora acting really out of sorts as she tries harder and harder to maker sure Torvald never learns her secret- even going as far as to pretend she has no clue how to do the Tarantella to stop Torvald from reading the letter that Krogstad left. Finally, the Act leaves us with Nora stating "Thirty-One" hours to live- so us as readers are left wanting to know- is she going to commit suicide? Will Krogstad kill her? Or is it hypothetical- that she believes

Abigail’s uncle caught the girls in the forest and when provoked, Abigail only admitted they were dancing around a fire for fun. The town became concerned after one girl, Betty, went into a coma-like state, and another, Ruth, began walking around in an unresponsive state. Allegations began flowing, stating that one girl flew over a barn and landed light as air, and another girl scampered naked through the forest the night it all happened. When pressed harder, Abigail eventually declared Tituba and Ruth were the only ones to perform witchcraft that night (Miller).

I feel that extremism is dangerous because it can lead to intolerance, lying and hurting others.

People in Salem thought that there was witchcraft going on when people were acting weir. One piece of evidence that the people of Salem used to prove that there was witchcraft was Mr. Collins saw Betty fly over the barn. “Mrs. Putnam glancing at Betty: How high did she fly, how high?” Page 12. Word about Betty flying over the barn spread through the town. The Revere is worried that people will think that his daughter Betty will be accused of witch craft. Abigail was caught dancing with Tituba by her uncle. “Abigail: Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it and I’ll be wiped if I must be. But they’re speaking of witch craft. Betty not witched.” Page 9. The people of Salem are blaming people of witch craft if they are acting

Act 3 takes place in the church, which had been turned into a courtroom for the witch trials. Mary testified that they were only pretending to be afflicted by the witchcraft. Proctor was questioned about his religious beliefs. Judge Danforth arrested Giles for not giving him the name of the man who gave him information on the witchcraft, because he didn’t want to give away Putnam. Abigail was then sent on trial, and denied Mary’s testimony. The girls accused Mary of bewitching them with a cold wind and that she was responsible of the witchcraft. When Abigail accused Mary, Proctor called Abigail a whore and confessed his affair with her. He explained that Elizabeth fired her when she discovered it. He claimed that Abigail wanted Elizabeth to

Betty then immediately faints in fright at being discovered, and will not wake. As word got around, people started to question whether there was witchcraft involved. A crowd gathers at Parris's house while Mr. Parris questions Abigail about what the girls were doing in the forest. Abigail insists they were just dancing. Later on, Tituba confesses to trying to conjure dead spirits, and Abigail then follows her lead.

Hysteria and Fear The rise of hysteria and fear seems to build and evolve and it has a huge impact on the way things are viewed in the world today. The relevance of the theme hysteria in The Crucible does relate to modern society in different ways. In the crucible mass hysteria can have a massive impact on any community and the results can be devastating.

When Abigail accused her of witchcraft, Tituba dined all of the accusations. Unlike Abigail, Tituba did not have a plan to defend herself. She was also not able to control the girls and make them tell the truth. When Tituba was threatened to be hanged, she changed her mentality on the situation. Instead of dining what she had done, she confessed her sins. During her confession, shame affected what she revealed to the others. Tituba said that the devil had control of her, and wanted her to kill Reverend Parris. This was Tituba’s way of admitting that she had thought about killing Reverend Paris. Tituba also took the center of attention off of herself by