Transcript The Crucible - Village Christian Schools

The Crucible
Themes
Structure
Characters
What is a theme?
A fundamental and often universal idea
explored in a literary work.
 It’s what lets us identify with the story,
even if it takes place in a setting we are
unfamiliar with.

Theme 1: Intolerance

What is it?
 Unwillingness
or refusal to tolerate or respect
contrary opinions or beliefs, persons of
different races or backgrounds, etc.
 Seeing your way as right no matter what;
won’t even consider that other ways could be
valid.
Theme 1: Intolerance
The Crucible is set in a theocratic society
(the church and state are one).
 In Salem, everything is either good or evil,
right or wrong, of God or of Satan. There
is no “gray area” or “in between.”
 Anyone who doesn’t follow the religious
rules is considered a threat.

Theme 1: Intolerance
Disobeying God’s laws isn’t just unlawful,
it’s considered Satanic / evil.
 The witch trials are the ultimate
expression of intolerance. Social deviants
(those who don’t go along with all of
Salem’s rules and beliefs) are braded
“witches” and “devil-worshipers” and are
cast out of the good Christian community.

Did you get it?
What is intolerance?
 How is Salem an “intolerant” society?
 In Salem, what kinds of people are “good”
and what kinds are “evil?”
 Which characters are intolerant and why?

Theme 2: Hysteria

What is it?
 An
uncontrollable rush emotion or fear, often
characterized by irrationality
 People freaking out because other people are
freaking out and then making bad decisions
based on inaccurate (and often imaginary)
information.
Theme 2: Hysteria
Hysteria overrules logic and enables
people in Salem to believe their neighbors
are committing absurd and unbelievable
crimes.
 The townspeople accept the witch hunt
hysteria not because they love God or
genuinely care about conquering evil, but
because it allows them to act on long-held
grudges.

Theme 2: Hysteria

Examples of people who benefit from the
hysteria:
 Abigail:
uses the situation to accuse Elizabeth
and have her sent to jail
 Parris: strengthens his shaky position in the
village by putting blame on people like Proctor
who question his authority
 Thomas Putnam: gains revenge on Francis
Nurse by getting Rebecca accused of
murdering his wife’s babies
Theme 2: Hysteria
Hysteria only thrives in Salem because
people benefit from it.
 Hysteria suspends the rules of daily life
and allows the acting out of every dark
desire and hateful urge.
 It allows people to feel justified when they
hurt others and act selfishly.

Did you get it?
What is hysteria?
 What does hysteria allow the townspeople
to do that they wouldn’t normally have
been able to do?
 Why does the hysteria continue to grow?
 Who benefits from hysteria and how?

Theme 3: Reputation

What is it?
 The
way other people view you.
Reputation is very important in Salem,
because the way you behave in public
says everything about your “Christian”
character.
 Various characters base their actions on
the desire to protect their reputations.

Theme 3: Reputation
Parris: fears that Abigail’s questionable
actions will cost him respect and maybe
even his job
 Proctor: could have stopped the girls’
accusations early in the play, but hesitated
because he was afraid of hurting his
reputation. In the end, his desire to keep
his good name and go to his death
innocent redeems his earlier bad choice.

Did you get it?
What is reputation?
 Why is it particularly important in Salem?
 Which characters are worried about their
reputations? What actions do they take to
protect their reputations?

Theme 4: Empowerment

What is it?

To give power or authority to; authorize, esp. by legal
or official means
The witch trials empower those who were
previously powerless.
 In Salem, women occupy a low social rung,
being dominated by men (only men can lead in
the church and the church controls the society).
They have few options in life (mother or
servant).

Theme 4: Empowerment
The trials allows the single servant girls to
become powerful. People see them as “saints”
and overlook their sins, taking their word to be
an expression of “God’s will.” They can now
control and manipulate even the most powerful
men in town (ex: Abigail threatens that Danforth
will be accused next if he doubts her).
 Even lower in Salem society than women are
African slaves. The trials enable Tituba to get
out of trouble (at first) by accusing others.

Did you get it?
What is empowerment?
 Who is empowered by the trials and how?
 Why was Salem the perfect place for the
witch trials to happen? What conditions
needed to exist for all the craziness to
take place?

Structure
The Crucible has the structure of a
classical tragedy.
 Classical tragedy originated in Ancient
Greece.
 It has 3 major components:

 Hamartia
 Hubris
 Catharsis
Structure: Hamartia
A fatal flaw
 Greek for “missing the mark”
 A tragic mistake made by the main
character; an error in judgment

Structure: Hubris
Overweening pride
 Greek for “ruin, folly, delusion”
 The main character’s hubris leads to
his/her downfall or death

Structure: Catharsis
An emotional climax that results in a
revelation
 Greek for “purification or cleansing”
 Catharsis involves feelings of great sorrow,
pity, regret, etc. that lead to the main
character’s restoration or renewal

Characters: John Proctor
The Crucible is structured as a classical
tragedy, with Proctor as the play’s tragic
hero.
 He is basically a good person: honest,
upright, blunt, and remorseful of his
mistakes.
 He has a secret, fatal flaw: his lust for
Abigail.

Characters: John Proctor
Proctor is worried his reputation will be ruined if
he tells the court Abigail is lying. His hubris
prevents him from stopping the girls’ hysteria in
the beginning and everything quickly snowballs
out of control.
 When he finally realizes how bad things have
gotten, he redeems himself by refusing to admit
to witchcraft, even though it means he will
hang.

Characters: John Proctor
Proctor almost wavers in his resolve to do the
right thing (he signs the confession), but has a
cathartic moment when he rips it up.
 Elizabeth confirms his redemption by saying, “He
have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from
him.”
 In the end, Proctor is more concerned with
doing what’s right than with having a good
reputation in Salem.

Characters: Abigail Williams





Orphan who lives with her uncle, Parris.
The villain of the play.
Kills innocent people to a) get out of trouble for
dancing and b) kill Elizabeth so she can be with
John.
She is motivated by JEALOUSY and a desire to
get REVENGE on Elizabeth Proctor for firing her.
She is character modeled after the Biblical
archetype of Jezebel: a wicked woman
motivated by sexual desire and a lust for power.
Characters: Reverend Hale
Intellectual, naïve witch-hunter from neighboring
town of Beverly.
 Called in to assess the situation when Betty falls
ill after getting caught dancing in the woods.
 In the beginning, he is the force behind the
witch trials, probing for confessions and
encouraging people to testify.
 He transforms over the course of the play (more
than any other character) and eventually
denounces the trials.

Characters: Reverend Hale
His catharsis comes too late, though, and his
faith in God and in the law are broken. He begs
the accused to lie and save themselves rather
than die innocent.
 He gains the audience’s sympathy but not its
respect, since he is weak (unlike characters like
Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey, and Proctor). He
surrenders to evil instead of defying it. He insists
that survival is the highest good, even if it
means accommodating injustice – something
truly heroic characters can never accept.
