Arthur+Miller


 * //The Crucible//

Summary of each Act:

Act I-** The play takes place within the Puritan New England town of Salem, Massachusetts, and this act opens with Betty Parris lying lifeless on her bed. Reverend Parris is leaning over her, pleading her to open her eyes. Abigail, Parris's neice, is in the room with them. On the previous day, Betty, Abigail, Tituba, along with other girls go dancing and singing in the forbiddin woods. Reverend Parris sees the girls dancing and singing around a shaking pot--rattling from a leaping frog, **addmitted** Abigail. While they were in the woods, Betty became entranced of something that she saw, sending her to the ground and placing her in a coma-like state. In the room, Reverend Hale questioned Abigail about what happened in the woods. Reverend Hale, a specialist of witchcraft, holds unique knowledge of the underworld. Reverend Hale questions Abigail because the villagers think the girls are using witchcraft within the woods. A prodigious answer from Abigail strikes Hale, announcing that she witnessed Tituba calling the Devil in Barbados. Reverend Hale asked Reverend Parris to call up Tituba for questionings. When Tituba entered the room Hale started asking her questions, and Abigail and Tituba started to argue over what happened in the woods. When Tituba and Abigail started explaining who they saw with the Devil, Betty raised from her bed and started to say who she saw in the woods with the Devil, too.


 * Act ll-** This act takes place at Proctor's house. Elizabeth, Proctor's wife, and Proctor are downstairs having a conversation when Mary Warren enters and goes and gives Elizabeth a poppet. Mary Warren sewed the poppet while in court and all day for her. Only minutes later Hale stood in the doorway, there to speak with them on how Elizabeth is mentioned in the court as well as being charged for witchcraft. Ezekiel Cheever, Corey Giles, and Francis Nurse enter their house now. Ezekiel Cheever asks Elizabeth if she owns any poppets. Elizabeth tells him no, but Cheever saw the one Mary made for her on the fire place. Cheever asked for the poppet and looked up its skirt, and he found what he was looking for--a needle in the poppet. The characters wonder why the needle was so important--this is because while Abigail was at Reverend Parris's house that night, she **unexpectingly** fell to the floor. When Parris was trying to help her, he drew a needle out of her belly, just like it was in the poppet. Elizabeth and Proctor explained that Mary made it for her today, and she had nothing to do with it but Cheever asked Elizabeth to come with her, and he had to chain her up, and they were gone.


 * Act lll-** During this act, Proctor is trying to free his wife from being hanged. Judge Danforth is listening to him on why he should let his wife be free. But Cheever, and Parris are not helping Proctor save his wife. Judge Danforth is surprised on what he is hearing. Also since Proctor and Parris don't like each other, Parris is trying to make him look bad in front of Danforth. When Mary is in the room, Proctor makes her speak to Danforth, and tell him about the poppet on how she had sewn it in court, and that Abigail was watching her. Danforth then asked Cheever to bring Abigail, and the other girls-- Susanna Walcott, and Mercy Lewis. Mary and Abigail have dissagreements with each other infront of Danforth, and he doesn't know which one is lying. **Unexpectingly**, Abigail and the other girls that entered with her began to mimmick every word Mary would say to Danforth. Danforth thinks that Mary has special powers to control them, but Mary admits she has none. Abigail then says that Mary changed into a different shape and now looks like a bird. The girls are repeating on what Mary says, and sees her as a bird. Mary couldn't take it any more under everything and breaks, and tells Judge Danforth the truth. Mary tells Danforth on what Proctor said to her, and how he said he was going to murder her if his wife gets hanged. Than Proctor says to Danforth that he thinks God is dead, and that he is pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore. Danforth tells the Marshal to take him and Corey to jail.


 * Act lV**- In this final act, Danforth asks Herrick for Elizabeth to come into the court room. When she enters, it has been three months that have passed and Hale is waiting for her. Reverend Hale told Elizabeth on how he can save her husband, Proctor. Elizabeth cannot be hanged because she has been pregnent for six months. Danforth then asks Herrick to go get Proctor, so he and Elizabeth can talk alone. When they are alone, they dont speak at first. He asks her simple questions about how well her baby and boys are doing. Then Proctor asked Elizabeth about Giles, and Elizabeth told him that he was dead--not hanged--that people press him. Then Proctor asked her on what she would do if she was in his position. She wants him alive, but when he asks her for his **forgivness** she says that she cannot forgive him if he cannot forgive himself. So he tells Hathorne that he is going to confess. When everyone comes back into the court room, Danforth begins to ask Proctor questions about the Devil, and if he saw him or not. After this he had to sign a paper saying to the towns people that he **confessess**. Proctor wouldn't sign the paper however--saying that everyone around him witnessed on what he said--but that wasn't good enough for Danforth. Proctor had to sign or he would be hanged when the sun **rised**. Proctor eventually signed the paper, but thereafter, he wouldn't let anyone have it. Danforth tried to get the document from Proctor but he wouldn't release it. Danforth asked him why, and Proctor confessed that he signed himself to lies, and that it is his name and won't have another in his life. So Danforth asked him if it was a lie or not, and Proctor tears the document and crumbles it. He knows he will be hanged, and more importantly knows he was a good man.

Refleciton**:** This play has a direct relationship with the events of Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism. Joseph McCarthy was a man who lived during the same time as Arther Miller. He was a senator at the time, whos anti-communism beliefs played a huge role in adding an anti-Communist enthusiasm during these first tense years of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. As within the play, many **accusaions** were made during McCarthyism, as he accused people for being commun**ist even t**hough many were **truely** not. McCarthyism affected Miller personally, targeting the liberal entertainment industry, in which he worked. Although some coop**erated; othe**rs, like Miller, refused to give in to questioning. Those who were acknowledged, falsely or legitimately, as Communists, and those who refused to incriminate their friends, saw their careers suffer, as they were blacklisted from potential jobs for many years afterward. //The Crucible// nevertheless is nothing but an allegory, portraying the events of a single time period through the text of another time period; the idea is the same but slightly **tweeked** a little bit-- for there were no actual witches or devil-worshipers in Salem. However, there were certainly Communists in America during the 1950 s.
 * Joseph McCarthy**

Act IV- Pg.138 ** "//Proctor, with a cry of his whole soul//: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" Correlation: John Procter by virtue of his name represents care-taking and mentoring of others. However, his weaknesses and frailties have placed him in a difficult situation that negates everything his name stands for. Despite this in the face of adversity John confesses his sin**s orally yet will no**t compromise his character by signing a document that is not true, demonstrating strength of character in the face of adversity. This act requires great strength and courage to follow through. This was also prevalent in Martin Luther King Jr's work as a Civil Rights Activist. MLK went against the moral rights of his time period, standing up for African American people and disregarding segregation--striving to achieve equality for all. Receiving much abuse and maltreatment from many who disbelieved he was morally right, he was eventually assassinated for his beliefs as a Civil Rights Activists.
 * Exert - WRONG WORD!

"Proctor, //his eyes full of tears:// I can. And there's your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs. //Elizabeth, in a burst of terror, rushes to him and weeps against his hand.// Give them no tear! Tears pleasure them! Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink the with it! //he has lifter her, and kisses her now with great passion."// Correlation: This is saying that no one can tell him what he has to do anymore, and that he is finally doing what he think is right, and now he believes that now he shows goodness to himself. Also, he knows what he is doing is risking his life, and that his wife is telling him not to cry because he wants him to show that he's not afraid of what he is doing, and that his wife is proud of him for that.

Act I- Pg 23 Abigail: //I cannot sleep for dreamin'; I cannot dream but i wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through some door. Proctor: Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But i will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby// Correlation: This can show how religion was a much larger influence at the time than it is today. In today's society, many men would be proud to admit they had an affair with another woman; few would think of it as a reputation destroyer and a devastating sin. It also showed the confusion that circled around religion. People never think that they are actually being possessed by the devil and following Lucifer's ideas.

Austin, This is absolutely excellent work.