The Crucible Summary Act 1

The Crucible starts off with Paris at Betty’s side. Betty is sick in bed, she won't eat, move, or respond, and she fell sick after Paris found them dancing in the woods. There have been rumors going around town saying that there is witchcraft in the town and that young girls have been “witched”. They've also said that the girls can fly and that the devil has stolen there soul.

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

Arthur Miller wrote the play, The Crucible, in 1952 and the movie in 1996. The story is historical fiction depicting the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692-1693. The movie and the play have obvious differences, however the movie does not stray too far from the original play. The main character, Abigail, in an attempt to steal the love of John Proctor, weaves a web of lies and leads the community to believe that there are witches among them. Ultimately this leads to the trials and hangings of several good people in the village, including John Proctor. The main differences between the movie and play are displayed in plot, setting, and characterization.

The Crucible starts off with Reverend Parris praying over his daughter, who lies unresponsive on her bed. Reverend Parris questions his niece, Abigail, about what has happened that night in the forest. Rumors spread over town talking about witchcraft going on in the Parris household. A crowd gathers inside Parris house amongst them are the Putnam's who are very concerned for their own daughter who is also sick. Parris wants to root out the rumors of witchcraft so he decides to send for an expert Reverend Hale. Abigail gets questioned by Parris about what she was doing that night in the forest, but she confesses dancing and nothing more. Abigail threatens the other girls and also mentions that she kill anyone who speaks a word about it. Not only was she dancing, Abigail also drank chicken blood as part of a spell to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail blames Tituba by saying that she forced them to drink the chicken blood. Afraid of being hanged, Tituba accuses two women of making deals with the devil. Out of nowhere, Abigail confesses to having seen the devil with other townspeople and Betty and the other girls also confess.

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

“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.

Arthur Miller’s play named “The Crucible” is based originally upon the Salem witch trials that occurred in the late 1600’s

The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller written in the 1950’s. It was set in the 1690’s in Massachusetts. The play is about the witch trials and how something like a group of girls in the woods could lead to about 200 people being hanged and accused of witchcraft. The people of Salem were new to Massachusetts as they were puritans who went off to America to set up a new religious colony . The people were new to their surroundings had the Native Americans as enemies because they took their land. Although the Crucible is about the witch trials, it is thought to be a metaphor for the McCarthy Communist trials

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.

During his trial, the Yankee makes a false claim that the man he assaulted struck him first, and that he was only trying to defend himself. When he returned to his quarters, he found his master's body dead on the floor. He soon found out that the king had escaped, and so his master began beating the other slaves and they revolted against him. All the slaves were sentenced to death, and in an effort to save himself and the king, the Yankee contacted Clarence. Clarence then sent a rescue team to London.

The Crucible is a play about the Salem Witch Trials that took place during 1692, wrote by Arthur Miller. In the beginning of the story, a young girl danced in the woods. During the Salem Witch Trials, anything out of the ordinary was considered witchcraft. She blames her dancing in the woods on older women who then got into trouble with the court for witchcraft.

As the play is going on during Act 1, the girls start accusing the people in Salem of witchcraft. Betty Parris is ill and Ann also thinks that her daughter Ruth has the same illness, so they think that something happened in the woods that caused this. Hale comes to the town to find out what is happening. He talks with Reverand Parris and Abigail and they talk about what is happening. Abigail and Hale talk about what happened in the forest. Abigail says,”I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…”, Abigail accuses Tituba of causing sickness to the children. She says that she is in contact with the devil. They go to see Tituba and Hale wants her to tell him if she ever came in contact with the devil. She later on goes and starts naming other people

The stage lights illuminate Shylock’s home, initiating Act 2 scene 5. Shylock is seated on a couch tying a black tie around his neck. Lancelot is standing nearby.