The Crucible
| The Crucible | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Arthur Miller |
| Characters | Abigail Williams Reverend John Hale Reverend Samuel Parris John Proctor Elizabeth Proctor Thomas Danforth Mary Warren |
| Date premiered | 1953 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Tragedy, Drama |
| Setting | Salem, Massachusetts |
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The play was adapted for film twice, once by Jean-Paul Sartre in the 1957 film Les Sorcières de Salem and nearly forty years later by Miller himself, in the 1996 film The Crucible, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder; Miller's adaptation earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay based on Previously Produced Material, his only nomination. The play was also adapted by composer Robert Ward into an opera, The Crucible, which was first performed in 1961 and received the Pulitzer Prize. The Crucible is generally regarded as one of the best plays of the modern era, due to its deep and captivating plot.[citation needed]
The play has also been presented several times on stage and television. One notable 1967 TV production starred George C. Scott as John Proctor, Colleen Dewhurst (Scott's real-life wife at the time) as Elizabeth, and Tuesday Weld as Abigail.
Act One
Setting: Salem, Massachusetts. The play begins in the bedroom of Betty Parris, the daughter of the despised local preacher Samuel Parris. She has fallen ill and into a mania. It is soon discovered that Betty was found with some local girls who were dancing and chanting around a fire in the woods with Parris's slave, Tituba. Panic spreads through the village as people believe that witchcraft is afoot. Reverend Parris sends for the Reverend John Hale, an authority on witchcraft, to investigate what is going on. Reverend Parris questions the manipulative Abigail Williams, who is the unofficial leader of the group of girls, regarding what took place in the forest. Abigail denies any witchcraft and claims she and the girls were simply dancing. Abigail then threatens the other girls to prevent them from revealing what really happened in the forest the last night. John Proctor enters, and Abigail confronts him, alluding to her having an affair with him. When Parris and Hale interrogate Tituba, she confesses to witchcraft after Parris threatens to whip her to death. She accuses Sarah Good and Goody Osborne, and she is only sentenced to a short term in prison. Betty and Abigail take Tituba's cue, confess witchcraft, and start accusing almost all of the women from town.
Act Two
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Act Three
Act Three takes place 33 days after the events in Act Two, set in the Salem court house. Mr. Corey and Mr. Nurse have come to disrupt the proceedings so that the judges can be presented with evidence that the girls are lying. Judge Danforth, the lead judge in the trials, has little patience for them and dismisses them quickly. Soon, however, John Proctor and Mary Warren arrive to dispute Abigail's claims. Danforth questions Mary and Proctor, revealing that Elizabeth has been found to be pregnant, and decides to investigate the situation further, calling in Abigail and the other girls. The resulting actions result in Corey being arrested for contempt of court and warrants issued for several citizens that had supported the claims of Mr. Nurse. While examining Mary further, Parris and others try to get Mary to demonstrate how she and the other girls would faint. She cannot, and Abigail and the girls start to make accusations against Mary. To attempt to break the hold that Abigail has, John admits to his infidelity with Abigail. In order to determine if John is telling the truth, they call Elizabeth into the courtroom. Despite John's assertion that Elizabeth never lies, she does not admit to any belief that John has ever strayed, in an attempt to save his name. This results in Mary and John's claims being dismissed. Abigail and the other girls then go into violent fits, accusing Mary of dark witchcraft. Mary becomes completely desperate and turns on John Proctor, saying that he is in league with the Devil. John states that if these events can occur, than "God is dead." The courtroom erupts into chaos and the act ends.
Act Four
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Major characters
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- Abigail Williams - Williams is Parris’s niece. She is 17 years old in the play and during the trials. Abigail was once the maid for the Proctor house, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail hI like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!vas her uncle's slave, Tituba, lead the local girls in love-spell rituals in the Salem forest over a fire. Rumors of witchcraft fly, and Abigail tries to use the town's fear to her advantage. She viciously accuses many of witchcraft, starting first with the outcasts of society and gradually moving up to respected members of the community. Finally, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor, most likely out of spite. She is manipulative and dramatic, as well as darkly charismatic. She resists anyone who stands in her way (i.e. Mary Warren, Mrs. Proctor). She later flees Salem during the trials and, "legend has it", becomes a prostitute in Boston. Although in real life, Abigail Williams was actually accused and tried for witchcraft, the speculation about her affair with John Proctor was not true, as she was only 12 years old, and he was 60.
- Reverend John Hale - Hale is a well respected minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Reverend Hale is called in to Salem to examine the case, and Parris’s daughter Betty, who has fallen into a mysterious illness after being discovered participating in the suspect rituals. He originally believes that there are witches in Salem and advocates the trials, but later realises the widespread corruption and abuse of the trials and struggles to get accused witches to confess rather than die.
- Elizabeth Proctor John Proctor’s wife, a resident of Salem. Elizabeth fired Abigail when she discovered that her huI like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!sband was having an affair with Abigail. She forgives her husband and earns Abigail's accusations of witchcraft for taking him away from her. She is saved from hanging by a pregnancy.
- Reverend Samuel Parris - Parris is the poorly respected minister of Salem’s church. He is disliked by many Salem residents because of his greedy, dominating nature. The man is more concerned about his reputation than of the well being of his sick daughter, Betty. He is also less concerned about his missing niece, Abigail Williams, and the lives of the dead and condemned on his conscience and more about the money taken. He is related to the history of Salem where in real life his niece and daughter were the first to be accused of witchcraft.
Sub Characters
- Giles Corey - Giles is a friend of John Proctor, who is very concerned about his land, he believes Thomas Putnam is trying to take it and other people's land by getting the girls to accuse Giles' wI like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!ife of witchcraft. Giles gains this information from an anonymous man whom he will not name as he knows the man would be put in prison. Instead of telling them he lets his interrogators kill him under the weight of rocks stacked on his torso.
- Thomas Putnam - Thomas Putnam is a man who lives in Salem village and owns a bit of land close to Giles Corey, Giles accuses him of trying to steal it when he says Putnam got his daughter to accuse Giles' wife of witchcraft.
Film adaptations
The film has been adapted in theatrical film versions:
- In a French and German version known as Les Sorcières de Salem, in 1957. It starred Mylène Demongeot as Abigail, Yves Montand as John and Simone Signoret as Elizabeth.
- In a TV version in 1967, directed by [I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!v[Don Taylor]], and another TV version in 1980.
- The latest version, was in 1996 and starred Winona Ryder as Abigail, Daniel Day-Lewis as John and Joan Allen as Elizabeth. For the article on this adaptation, see The Crucible. Miller was nominated for an Oscar for his screen adaptation, with Allen also receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
References
See also
- The Crucible - 1996 Film based on the play
- L.S.D. (...JUST THE HIGH POINTS...) by The Wooster Group (1984), a theatre piece deconstructing The Crucible iI like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!I like to move it move it!!!ntercut with contemporary references
- Good Night, and Good Luck. - 2005 film also dealing with the McCarthyite era
External links
- McCarthyism and the Movies
- Arthur Miller's The Crucible:Fact & Fiction by Margo Burns
- Study resource for writing about The Crucible
- "The Crucible" Literature Study Guide at SparkNotes
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