A TEACHERS GUIDE TO THE PENGUIN EDITION OF
ARTHUR MILLERS
THE CRUCIBLE
By RANDEANE TETU
A Teachers Guide to Arthur Millers The Crucible
NOTE TO THE TEACHER:
The questions, exercises, and assignments on these pages are designed to guide students reading of the literary work and
to provide suggestions for exploring the implications of the story through discussions, research, and writing. Most of the
items can be handled individually, but small group and whole class discussions will enhance comprehension. The
Response Journal should provide students with a means, first, for recording their ideas, feelings, and concerns, and then
for reflecting those responses in their writing assignments and class discussions. These sheets may be duplicated, but
teachers should select and modify items according to the needs and abilities of their students.
INTRODUCTION
The witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 1690s have been a blot on the history of America, a country which
has come to pride itself on the concepts of free speech and justice as well as on its religious principles. Guilt by association,
unexamined testimony, judges blinded by their biases, and individuals determined to use the system of justice when no
evidence of a crime existedthese kinds of social or political problems did not go away with the completion of those trials.
U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthys relentless determination to find unAmerican citizens and communists in all areas of
American life in the early 1950s prompted Arthur Miller to write The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials which
has similarities to McCarthyism. The play no doubt prompted the House Committee on Un-American Activities in
1956 to call Miller for questioning, but Miller refused to cooperate when asked to identify writers who had once been
communists. Richard H. Rovere calls Miller the leading symbol of the militant, risk-taking conscience of that time.
Although the play does not parallel the McCarthy investigations exactly, Miller, as a socially conscious writer, is clearly
making a statement about conscience and political morality relevant to the McCarthy periodor any period.
P R E PA R I N G T O R E A D
1.
Review what you know about Massachusetts in the colonial period of early American history. What religious period and
political values held Massachusetts together? What is a theocracy?
2.
What were the beliefs and attitudes about witches and witchcraft held by many people in the New England colonies in
the late seventeenth century? What characteristics did witches supposedly manifest? How were they identified? How were
they punished?
3.
Salem, Massachusetts did not have a speedy system of communication with other towns, and the wilderness was not far
from its borders in 1692. How did this isolation affect activities and attitudes in the town?
4.
Describe the political climate of the 1950s. Why did Senator McCarthy become a powerful figure? How did he influence
politics in the fifties?
5.
Why is it easier to relinquish responsibility for your actions when you are part of a group?
6.
As you read through the play, stop occasionally to record your thoughts, reactions, and concerns in a Response Journal.
Your journal may be a separate notebook or individual sheets which you clip together and keep in a folder. Include
statements about the characterswhat you learn about them, how they affect youand about the key issues and events
which the play explores. Also, jot down questions you have about events and statements in the play which you do not
understand. Your Response Journal will come in handy when you discuss the play in class, write a paper, or explore a
related topic that interests you. Because this play contains several unusual words (e.g., diabolism) and expressions (e.g.
strike hard upon me), you may want to keep a list of some of those words and their meanings in your journal.
U N D E R S TA N D I N G T H E S U R F A C E S T O R Y
ACT ONE
1.
Why did the Salem settlement need a theocracy? Why had the settlers begun to turn toward individualism?
2.
How does Miller characterize Parris? How does Parris feel about his parishoners?
3.
Why is Thomas Putnam willing to speak of witchcraft? How does Mrs. Putnam know what Ruth was doing in the woods?
A Teachers Guide to Arthur Millers The Crucible
4.
Why does Abigail admit that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring spirits? Why is Abigail afraid the others will confess what
they were doing in the woods? How does Abigail treat the other girls? How does she treat her uncle?
5.
What are Abigails feelings towards John Proctor? Why is she antagonistic toward Elizabeth Proctor? Why has she been
asked to leave her home? Why does she tell John what happened to Betty?
6.
Why do Proctor and Rebecca speak out against Hales coming? Why has Proctor set himself against Parris? How does
Rebeccas departure affect those waiting at the bedside?
7.
Why does Abigail accuse Tituba? Why does Hale believe Abigail rather than Tituba? How does he lead Tituba into naming
names? Why do Abigail and Betty name names?
ACT TWO
1.
Why doesnt Proctor go to Salem to report what Abigail has told him? Why does Elizabeth want him to go? Why does
Elizabeth mistrust him?
2.
How does Proctor feel about the court and Mary Warrens part in the proceedings? How has Mary Warren changed?
3.
How has Hale changed since his arrival in Salem? Why is he testing Proctor and Elizabeth? Why hasnt Proctor been in church?
4.
Why is Cheever looking for a poppet? What is the significance of the one they find?
5.
Hale says: Maryyou charge a cold and cruel murder on Abigail. What does he mean?
6.
Why does Proctor insist that Mary Warren testify in Elizabeths defense? Why does Mary Warren refuse?
ACT THREE
1.
Why is Giles Cory expelled from court? Why wont Danforth hear his evidence? Why is Cory arrested?
2.
Why is Mary Warren in court? What does she tell Danforth? Why is Danforth suspicious of her and of Proctor? Why
does Proctor remind her of the angel Raphael?
3.
How does Parris nullify Proctors testament? How is Giless deposition turned against him?
4.
What is the professed purpose of the court? Why doesnt the court need witnesses? What does this suggest about the proceedings?
5.
Why does Proctor confess lechery? Why does he think Danforth and Hathorne will believe his confession? Why dont
they believe him?
6.
How is Elizabeths testimony used against Proctor? Why is this an unfair test of Elizabeths word against Johns?
7.
How does Abigail turn the court against Mary Warren?
8.
Why does Hale denounce the proceedings? What should have been the effect of his denunciation? Why is it not?
ACT FOUR
1.
What is the effect of Sarah Goods and Titubas talk about flying south? Why does Miller include it?
2.
How has Parris changed? Why doesnt the news that Abigail and Mercy have left town affect the decision of the court?
How is Danforth a victim of his own logic?
3.
Why has Hale returned? How has he changed? Why has he changed?
4.
Why does Danforth allow Elizabeth to speak to John Proctor? How has she changed toward her husband? Why doesnt
she take Hales advice?
5.
How and why does Giles die? Why wasnt he hanged?
6.
Why does Proctor confess? Why will he not name names? Why will he not let Danforth have his signed paper?
7.
Why does John Proctor choose to hang? What does he thereby accomplish?
A Teachers Guide to Arthur Millers The Crucible
DIGGING DEEPER
1.
What is a crucible? How is it used? Justify Millers use of The Crucible as a title for his play.
2.
What is an overture? Why does Miller use on in The Crucible? Why is Echoes Down the Corridor an appropriate
afterword?
3.
...Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the Devils last preserve... How is the forest used to personify the Devil?
How else is the Devil personified?
4.
How is Abigail responsible for starting the whole scare about witches in Salem? Is she lying? insane? possessed? If Abigail
had not been caught dancing, would the witch trials still have been held? What makes you think so?
5.
How do Hales preconceptions influence his interpretation of events? How does his interpretation change? What are the
implications of his conversion?
6.
As a representative of the state government, is Danforth neutral and fair? How would his statement, Do you know, Mr.
Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children?
be received in a court today? Why was it received as valid in Salem in 1692?
7.
Them that will not confess will hang. Explain the major irony of that kind of confession.
8.
How have Elizabeth and John Proctor come to terms? Explain the irony in their reconcilement. Why wont Elizabeth be hanged?
9.
Why does Danforth rejoice when Proctor confesses? What does this imply about the purpose of the trials? What does it
imply about Danforth? Why must Danforth hang Proctor?
10. What is the purpose of Millers comments and explanations throughout the play? How would your understanding be
affected if those had not been included?
11. How does Act Two, Scene 2 clarify or change the meaning of the play? Miller says that scene was eliminated from the
stage version because it seemed to deflect the tempo of the play. If you were directing the play, would you include that
scene? Why or why not?
12. In staging the play, Laurence Olivier said a drumbeat starts during the play and continues to the end. How does Miller
create this feeling of tension? How does he create the oppressive atmosphere?
13. Arthur Miller has been quoted as saying The tragedy of The Crucible is the everlasting conflict between people so
fanatically wedded to this orthodoxy that they could not cope with the evidence of their senses. What does he mean by
this orthodoxy? What is the evidence of their senses? Do you agree that this is the basic conflict?
14. In a morality play, characters are intended to dramatize Good and Evil. In what ways is The Crucible a morality play?
15. As a socially conscious writer, Miller intended this play as a comment on McCarthyism. What are the parallels between
the incidents Miller dramatizes and the acts of Senator McCarthy in the 1950s?
16. You might have utilized notes from your Response Journal as you reacted to some of the questions above. Now select one
specific unanswered question from your journal, and see if your classmates can shed some light on that issue.
WRITING RESPONSES
1.
Explain why Proctors knowledge that the childrens sickness had naught to do with witchcraft did not stop the witch
hunt and court proceedings.
2.
Proctors summation of the trials is that Vengeance is walking Salem. Is he right? Support your position with evidence
from the play.
3.
Proctor calls Hale Pontius Pilate. Explain the allusion and argue whether it is or not an appropriate allusion.
4.
Give specific examples of how Abigail influences the proceedings, and then give your reason(s) for why she continually succeeds.
5.
Miller said, The form, the shape, the meaning of The Crucible were all compounded out of the faith of those who
hanged. Explain what he means and how his meaning is evident in the play.
A Teachers Guide to Arthur Millers The Crucible
6.
Herbert Blau (Counterforce I: The Social Drama) says the adultery of John Proctor and Abigail Williams dissipates the
force of the public terror which it was Millers intent to convey. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
7.
Describe how Miller used the symbol of fire throughout the play and explain what it represents.
8.
Choose one of the ironies in the play (for instance, Elizabeth Proctor lies to protect John Proctor and thereby convinces
Danforth that John has lied to save Elizabeth) and explain how the irony enhances the drama of the play.
9.
If audience sympathy were not with John Proctor in the matter of his adultery, we might be able to see Abigails side of
the story. Write an account of Abigails feelings before she was caught dancing in the forest.
10. Write a one-act play in which a student is caught breaking the school code of ethics and must face a court of his or her
peers. Make clear in your scene which rights the student has and which he or she does not.
EXPLORING FURTHER
1.
Research habeas corpus. Explain how this right, guaranteed by the Constitution, might have influenced the proceedings
at the Salem witch trials.
2.
Research the Puritan idea of predestination and the elect. How does an understanding of those concepts influence an
interpretation of this play?
3.
Read Joseph R. McCarthys McCarthyism: The Fight for America or articles by Senator McCarthy. What were his tenets?
What was their influence on the thinking of certain Americans in the 1950s? What appeal do they have today?
4.
Read Bernard Shaws Saint Joan (also available from Penguin), a play with themes similar to Millers. Note the similarities
and differences.
5.
Read Millers Death of a Salesman. The play has been performed successfully in China partly because of the common experience
available to both cultures. What would be some of the difficulties in presenting The Crucible to an audience in China?
6.
Read Millers 1950 adaptation of Ibsens An Enemy of the People (also available from Penguin). How are the moral values
of that play related to those in The Crucible?
7.
Create an advertising campaign for a new presentation of the play. Include posters, news releases, radio and TV spots.
8.
Stage an interview with Miller in which the class asks questions and Miller responds.
9.
Set up a Today Show in which Abigail, Proctor, and other characters appear to recount the events which made them famous.
10. Using the list you made of unusual expressions used in the play, rewrite some of Millers lines as they would be said by
teenagers today.
11. Three Sovereigns for Sarah, a television drama starring Vanessa Redgrave, examines the same Salem witch trials by
focusing on one familys harrowing involvement. After viewing the three-part program, compare this more historical
approach with Millers more dramatic and symbolic approach.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THIS GUIDE
Prepared by RANDEANE TETU, Coordinator of Developmental Language Skills, Middlesex Community College,
Middletown, Connecticut.
FREE TEACHERS GUIDES
A full list of Teachers Guides and Teachers Guides for the Signet Classic Shakespeare Series
is available on Penguins website at:
www.penguin.com/academic
TEACHERS GUIDES
Animal Farm Anthem Beloved Beowulf The Call of the Wild Cannery Row City of God The Country of the
Pointed Firs and Other Stories The Crucible Death of a Salesman Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dubliners Ethan Frome
The Fountainhead Girl in Hyacinth Blue The Grapes of Wrath A Journey to the Center of the Earth The Jungle
The Life of Ivan Denisovich Looking Backward Lysistrata Main Street Of Mice and Men The Mousetrap and
Other Plays A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Nectar in a Sieve 1984 The Odyssey
The Passion of Artemisia The Pearl Persuasion The Prince and the Pauper A Raisin in the Sun The Red Pony Redwall
The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Pimpernel Silas Marner A Tale of Two Cities The Time Machine Up from Slavery
The Women of Brewster Place Wuthering Heights
TEACHERS GUIDES FOR THE SIGNET CLASSIC SHAKESPEARE SERIES
Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It Hamlet Henry V Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Measure for Measure
A Midsummer Nights Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Richard III Romeo and Juliet The Taming of
the Shrew The Tempest Twelfth Night
Visit the Penguin Group (USA) web site at www.penguin.com to browse all Signet Classic paperback editions
and www.penguin.com/scessay for information about the Annual Signet Classic Scholarship Essay Contest
