The c ru c ib l e

REVEREND PARRIS- Minister in Salem. He believes a faction plans to force him to leave Salem, so he attempts
to strengthen his authority through the witch trial proceedings.
Parris: The Persona
Parris is revealed to be vile in numerous ways in "The Crucible," some of which are based on real-life events. This
local preacher thinks of himself as a devout man, but he is only motivated by self-interest.
Many of Parris' parishioners, including the Proctor family, have ceased going to church on a regular basis, and his
hellfire and damnation lectures have sent many Salem citizens away. Many Salem residents believe he is being
persecuted because of his unpopularity. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam, for example, are supporters of his stern view of
spiritual authority.
The Reputation of Parris
One of Parris' primary worries throughout the play is his reputation. When his own daughter becomes unwell, his
primary concern is not for her health, but for what the village would think of him if they accuse his home of
witchcraft. When Mary Warren testifies in Act 3 that she and the girls were merely pretending to be affected by
witchcraft, Parris dismisses her testimony, preferring to prolong the trials rather than deal with the controversy of
his daughter and niece being labeled liars.
Greed of Parris
Parris is motivated by selfishness as well, albeit he hides his deeds under a veil of sanctity. He had desired gold
candlesticks for his church, for example. As a result, John Proctor claims that the reverend only preached about
the candlesticks until he had them.

Furthermore, Proctor claims that none of Salem's past preachers ever possessed land. Parris, on the other hand,
is insistent on receiving the title to his home. This is also a power move, since he is concerned that the town's
citizens would expel him, therefore he wants a formal claim to his property.
BETTY PARRIS -Parris' daughter. Her father discovers her dancing in the woods, and she later accuses
individuals of practicing witchcraft.

In the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, Elizabeth was one of the main accusers. Betty Parris, a little girl at the time,
looked to be possessed by demons and claimed to have visions of the devil, accusing numerous local women of
witchcraft. Betty's claim sparked a chain of events that resulted in the arrest of 185 persons, the filing of official
charges against 156, and the hanging of 19 Salem Village inhabitants.
Tituba

Tituba was an enslaved Native woman who lived in Salem Village, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s. Historical
records do not contain any information about her early life, or how she came to be enslaved. In 1692, Tituba lived
and worked in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village. She helped Samuel’s wife and
daughters do all the work necessary to keep their home running.

In January 1692, Samuel’s daughter Betty and his niece Abigail Williams became mysteriously ill. A doctor brought
in to examine the girls worried that someone was performing witchcraft to punish the minister and his family. A
concerned church member told Tituba to make a witch cake to reveal the identity of the person who was
tormenting the girls. Tituba followed the church member’s instructions. She mixed the girls’ urine with rye meal to
make a small cake, and then fed it to the family dog. When she was finished, the girls revealed that it was Tituba
tormenting them. Tituba was now an accused witch.

Tituba was interviewed by Samuel and his most trusted advisors. She denied being a witch, and swore that she
had done nothing to hurt the girls. Betty and Abigail were too young to be witnesses in a legal case, and Samuel
might have suspected that they were lying. So, Tituba was not arrested, but Samuel punished her anyway. Many
years later, she revealed that Samuel beat her for weeks until she confessed to being a witch. These beatings
would have dire consequences for the entire community of Salem.
Abigaill

Abigail is the least complicated of the main characters. She is definitely the play's villain, more so than Parris or
Danforth: she lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and ultimately murders nineteen innocent people.
Throughout the frenzy, Abigail's objectives appear to be limited to basic jealously and a desire for vengeance
against Elizabeth Proctor. The play's vocabulary is virtually biblical, and Abigail appears to be a biblical person—a
Jezebel type, motivated solely by sexual desire and a desire for power. Nonetheless, there are a few background
elements worth mentioning that, while not absolving Abigail of her guilt, help to explain her conduct.

Abigail is an orphan and an unmarried girl, and she consequently belongs to a lower social class in Puritan
Salem (the only people below her are the slaves, like Tituba, and social outcasts). The minister and other male
adults in Salem are God's earthly ambassadors, according to the young girls, and their power comes from on
high. The trials, in which the girls are able to act as if they have a direct line to God, therefore strengthen Abigail,
who was before helpless. Abigail, who was formerly despised and reviled by the respectable villagers because of
reports of her romance with John Proctor, suddenly discovers that she has influence and uses it to her
advantage.A mere accusation from one of Abigail’s troop Bicycisleenough to incarcerate and convict even the most
well-respected inhabitant of Salem. Whereas others once reproached her for her adultery, she now has the
opportunity to accuse them of the worst sin of all: devil-worship.
Susanna Walcott

Susanna Walcott

Susanna works for Doctor Griggs and is described by Miller as "a little younger than Abigail, a nervous, hurried
girl" (p. 8). Eventually, she joins in with Abigail, Betty, Mercy, and Mary as the "afflicted girls" who accuse others of
witchcraft.

Act 1: Susanna tells Reverend Parris that Doctor Griggs is concerned Betty’s illness is supernatural in origin (p.
9).

Act 2: Susanna has become part of the group of accusers; is one of the people Mary Warren says would’ve
witnessed Mary sewing the poppet in court (p. 72).

Act 3: Susanna joins in with Abigail and Mercy in accusing Mary Warren of bewitching them via Mary’s
bird-shaped spirit (p. 107).
Ann Putnam

Crucible?
Ann Putnam is a 'death-ridden' woman who dwells on the loss of seven children. She loves gossip and is eager to
sensationalize ordinary things to achieve whatever end she has in mind. Her character provides examples of the
ways in which the Salem Witch Trials were able to reach the frenzied pitch they achieved.

Beside this, who is Mrs Ann Putnam related to?

Ann Putnam Wife of Thomas Putnam. She believes that a witch is responsible for the deaths of her seven infant
children. Her jealousy of Rebecca Nurse leads her to accuse Goody Nurse of being a witch. Thomas Putnam A
greedy landowner in Salem.Likewise, what does Mrs Putnam fear in the crucible? Mrs. Putnam mentions that she
always feared Goody Osburn and that her "babies always shriveled in her [Goody Osburn's] hands!" Therefore,
Mrs. Putnam blames Goody Osburn for the deaths of three of her children.

Besides, what happens to Ann Putnam in The Crucible?

In many respects, Ann Putnam is the catalyst for much of what happens in the play. It is her false accusations of
witchcraft against Rebecca Nurse that starts off the whole sorry process and unleashes a destructive wave of
mass hysteria upon the town of Salem.
THOMAS PUTNAM

Thomas Putnam is a character in The Crucible who instigates the Salem witch trials for his own personal gain. When Reverend Parris's daughter
and Thomas Putnam's daughter become afflicted with the same mysterious illness on the same day, Putnam is able to convince Mr. Parris that
the illness is a result of witchcraft. Betty Paris and Ruth Putnam recover from their affliction and begin to name people as witches. Thomas
Putnam encourages the witch hunt and even asks Ruth to name particular people. In Act 1 of The Crucible an excerpt explains, "it is not
surprising to find that so many accusations against people are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam."
Thomas Putnam is a character in The Crucible who instigates the Salem witch trials for his own personal gain. When Reverend Parris's daughter
and Thomas Putnam's daughter become afflicted with the same mysterious illness on the same day, Putnam is able to convince Mr. Parris that
the illness is a result of witchcraft. Betty Paris and Ruth Putnam recover from their affliction and begin to name people as witches. Thomas
Putnam encourages the witch hunt and even asks Ruth to name particular people. In Act 1 of The Crucible an excerpt explains, "it is not
surprising to find that so many accusations against people are in the handwriting of Thomas Putnam."
Vindictive
In Act 1 Thomas Putnam gets angry with John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Rebecca Nurse. By Act 4, Giles has been pressed to death and Proctor
and Rebecca are hanged. Anyone who crosses Thomas Putnam becomes a target for the witch trial.
Rude
Thomas Putnam often interrupts other characters or simply ignores what they say in order to get his own points heard. When Mr. Parris says that
he is hesitant to jump to conclusions about the nature of Betty Parris's affliction, Thomas Putnam interrupts him and tells Mrs. Putnam to explain
to him what she knows about the girls dancing in the woods. Throughout The Crucible, Thomas Putnam cuts off other character's speech.
Selfish
Even though Thomas Putnam is rich, he is always looking for ways to get more land for himself. In Act 3, Giles Corey tells the judge that a friend
of his overheard Thomas Putnam tell his daughter, Ruth, to accuse George Jacob. When Jacob was arrested, Putnam told Ruth that she had
secured him a nice piece of land. Thomas Putnam is so selfish that he is willing to have a man put to death in order to be able to buy his land.
Divisive
Thomas Putnam sows division in the community in order to make Mr. Parris more dependent on him. He knows that Mr. Parris is not popular, so
he uses that against him. The more divided Salem becomes, the more power Thomas Putnam wields.
Mercy Lewis
Mercy Lewis was one of the afflicted girls of the Salem Witch Trials and a servant in Thomas Putnam’s home.

Lewis, the daughter of Phillip Lewis, was born in Falmouth, Maine in 1675. On August 11, 1676, one-year-old
Mercy Lewis and her parents barely escaped an attack by the nearby Wabanaki Indians that resulted in the death
of her grandparents, cousins and many other members of the community.

Seeking refuge, the Lewis family fled to an island in Casco Bay along with the other surviving members of the
community, including Reverend George Burroughs.

After the attack, the Lewis family moved briefly to Salem, Ma where Lewis’ uncle, Thomas Skilling, died a few
months later, possibly from a wound he suffered during the attack. Mercy Lewis and her family then moved back
to Casco Bay in 1683.In the summer or fall of 1689, the Wabanaki attacked again, this time killing both of Mercy
Lewis’ parents.

After their deaths, Lewis was briefly sent to work as a servant in Reverend George Burroughs home. She later
moved to Salem village, where her married sister lived, and became a servant for Thomas Putnam, who is
considered to be one of the ringleaders of the Salem Witch Trials accusers.
Mary Warren

Mary is the Proctors’ servant after Abigail was let go. She’s a weak person, prone to hysterics and drawn to
drama. She moves back and forth between the pack of lying girls and the Proctors, drawn by the girls but knowing
the Proctors are innocent. She knows that the girls are lying and that there is no witchcraft in Salem. She realizes
that Abigail intends to use the ruse of accusing Elizabeth of being a witch to get Elizabeth executed so Abigail can
marry John, and she knows that Elizabeth has never done anything wrong. For much of the third act, Mary tries to
help, despite her intense and justified fear of Abigail and the girls. Yet she is not strong enough to stand up for
what is right, and eventually gives in to the girls, going so far as accusing John of being a witch, too.
JOHN PROCTOR/ shameless man/Every bad character trait

John Proctor is a tormented individual. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably damaged him in the
eyes of God, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. True, Proctor did succumb to sin and commit adultery; however,
he lacks the capacity to forgive himself. Unsurprisingly, his relationship with Elizabeth remains strained
throughout the majority of the play. He resents Elizabeth because she cannot forgive him and trust him
again, but he is guilty of the same thing. In fact, his own inability to forgive himself merely intensifies his
reaction to Elizabeth's lack of forgiveness.

In addition to struggling with the weight of his sin, the fact that he must reveal his transgression torments
Proctor. His best possession is his good name and the respect and integrity associated with it. Once he
acknowledges his affair with Abigail, Proctor effectively brands himself an adulterer and loses his good
name. He dreads revealing his sin because guilt and regret already overwhelm him. Proctor believes a public
display of his wrongdoing only intensifies the extent of his sin, thereby multiplying his guilt.

Proctor's decision to tell the court about his affair ironically demonstrates his goodness. He willingly
sacrifices his good name in order to protect his wife. Only through his public acknowledgment of the affair
does Proctor regain his wife's trust. At the end of the play, Proctor refuses to slander himself by allowing the
court to nail his false confession to the church door. This action further exemplifies Proctor's integrity.
Proctor knows that he will damn himself, yet again, if he agrees to confess. Although he wants to live,
escaping death is not worth basing the remainder of his life on a lie. This realization, along with Elizabeth's
forgiveness, enables Proctor to forgive himself and finally regain his good name and self-respect. As the
court officials lead him to the gallows, he finds peace for the first time in the play.
“A child’s spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it; you must stand still, and, for love, it will
soon itself come back.”Rebecca Nurse
Saintliness
The most noticeable quality about Rebecca is her saintly demeanor and her moral superiority to the other
characters in the play. Miller makes this clear from the beginning, writing “Gentleness exudes from her” (p. 24) into
the stage directions. When Rebecca is accused of witchcraft (a decidedly ungodly crime), the only justification
Hale can come up with is that God has been fooled by seeming purity before:
“Man, remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.” (Act 2, p. 68)
Rebecca also displays high moral character through her interactions with other characters over the course of the
play. She...
urges Proctor not to quarrel and “break charity” with Parris, since no matter the man’s shortcomings he is still
minister and thus should be respected (Act 1, p. 29).
is shocked and horrified when she finds out that Goody Ann sent her daughter to consort with spirits (Act 1, p. 36).
is the only one who bothers asking if Hale’s procedures will hurt Betty (Act 1, p. 37).
won’t stay to see witchcraft hunted out ("REBECCA: I wish I knew. She goes out; they feel resentful of her note of
moral superiority." Act 1, p. 37).
has her good name attested to by 91 people, who signed their good opinion of her in a petition (Act 3, p. 86-87)
Powerful
Rebecca is one of the few women to have authority pre-witchcraft trials. We know this because Parris appeals to
her to help figure out what’s wrong with Betty and she is able to calm him (“I think she’ll wake in time. Pray, calm
yourselves” Act 1, p. 25). She is also able to get John to not completely lose it (at least temporarily):
Giles corey

Giles is a noble character in the play. He represents strength of will to the other characters, who end up looking up
to him or feeling cowed by him, depending on how they have acted themselves. Early on the play, Giles sees the
possibility of witchcraft in town as intriguing, and he asks Rev. Hale why his wife seems to be able to stop him
from reading just by being in the room. But by the middle of the play, when his wife has been arrested for
witchcraft, Giles realizes his mistake and joins John in approaching the court to tell Danforth he’s wrong. Giles is
also smart enough to realize that Putnam is using the accusations of witchcraft as cover to try to take back
property they’ve fought over for many years. He refuses to confess to witchcraft, even when he is tortured. In a
town where many people lie to save their own skins, and accuse their neighbors rather than speak up for what is
right, Giles stands apart as a truly noble and brave man.
JOHN HALE

Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his
brute disguises. Here are all your familiar spirits – your incubi and succubi; your witches that go by land, by air,
and by sea; your wizards of the night and of the day. Have no fear now – we shall find him out if he has come
among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!
The arrival of Rev. Hale to the Parris home towards the end of Act 1 reveals him to be a smug, if intelligent, man
who calmly explains to the residents of Salem that he can easily identify a witch. His self-assurance will soon
crumble, but here Hale represents a warning that some things are less clear than they may initially seem, and that
even very smart people can be wrong.
I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. There is blood on my
head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!
By Act 4, Rev. Hale is a changed man. He’s no longer certain of anything, except the fact that the Salem witch trials
have condemned and killed innocent people with his help. He tells Danforth that he is trying to get the innocent
prisoners to confess to witchcraft in hopes of saving their lives, his duty for helping to condemn them.
Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it. I beg you,
woman, prevail upon your husband to confess. Let him give his lie. Quail not before God’s judgment in this, for it
may well be God damns a liar less than he that throws his life away for pride. Will you plead with him? I cannot
think he will listen to another
.In Act 4, Rev. Hale pleads with Elizabeth to try to get John to confess to witchcraft, which would save his life. Hale
has arguably gone through the most drastic change over the course of the play. Once a smug young pastor who
thought he understood morality, he is now reduced to begging people to lie to save themselves.
Elizabeth no last name
Readers first encounter Elizabeth through the words of Abigail, who describes Elizabeth as a “bitter woman, a lying, cold,
sniveling woman.” When Elizabeth enters the action of the play in the second act, we immediately see that Abigail is the
liar: Elizabeth is anything but bitter and sniveling. She is solicitous of her husband, John, as well as deeply caring and
sensitive, if still hurting from what has happened to her. John had an affair with Abigail when she was a servant in the
Proctors’ household. Elizabeth was ill after giving birth to a child when the affair happened. Now, Elizabeth and John are
trying very hard to repair their broken marriage. But Elizabeth is human: she doesn’t trust John yet. She senses that he
wants to do all he can to make up for his mistake, but she isn’t ready to fully love him without reservation again. Her pride
won’t let her.
The revelation that John has talked to Abigail alone changes Elizabeth. Her fear and anger about John’s affair come out.
She is colder to him, because as much as she loves him, his weakness towards Abigail is a major flaw in his character,
which Elizabeth sees clearly even though John does not. She tries to explain to him why he must tell the town authorities
that Abigail confessed to him that she and the girls were lying, but he’s flustered and upset. Before they can discuss their
problem much further, the Rev. Hale arrives to try to discern whether the Proctors are a good Christian couple. Elizabeth
impresses him; she really does practice the Christian principles of charity, kindness, and self-control that she professes to
have. She also accepts being taken off to jail stoically. When John comes to the court to try to free Elizabeth, she faces her
most difficult choice in the play. I feel the tension that this character goes through, as she lies in an attempt save John.At
the end of the play, Elizabeth has used her time in jail to contemplate the way she’s lived her life, and she confesses to
John that she did keep a cold home. She is one of just a handful of characters who seem to have grown from the
experience of what happened in Salem. She is a wiser and better person at the end of the play, though she ends the play
even sadder than at the beginning, because she becomes a widow. Elizabeth’s character represents the idea of goodness,
and the way a person who thinks herself to be good (and is, in fact, overall a good person) can still have fatal flaws. Her
character also reminds readers how overwhelming the Salem witch trials were; it’s easy to think we might not have gotten
caught up in them, but almost everyone was, even good people who lived calm and orderly lives.
Francis nurse
A wealthy farmer and landowner in Salem and the husband of Rebecca Nurse. Francis Nurse is generally
considered by the Salem community to be a good man, but many people resent his recent rise to wealth. He's had
arguments over land with Putnam that have risen even to the level of physical fights. Families related to Francis
Nurse were involved in refusing to allow Putnam's wife's brother-in-law to become the minister of Salem, a slight
that Putnam has not forgotten.
Cheever was originally an “honest tailor” (p. 69) but by the time of his appearance in the play (in Act 2) has
become “a clerk of the court” (p. 68). Elizabeth that he "knows [John Proctor] well" (p. 50), but by the time of the
trials it is clear that he is no longer held in quite as high esteem ("You'll burn for this, do you know it?", p. 69).

Act 2: Cheever comes to arrest Elizabeth Proctor on orders from the court; he is convinced of her guilt when he
finds a poppet with a needle stuck in it (p. 70), and isn't willing to believe other explanations for it, even though
Mary Warren clearly states that she's the one who made the poppet and stuck the needle in it.

Act 3: Cheever testifies about his experience with Goody Proctor and John Proctor in the previous Act (finding the
poppet after Elizabeth denied keeping them, John ripping up the arrest warrant); though he prefaces his testimony
with an apology to Proctor
Herrick is the marshal for the court system in Salem, which is to say that he is the person sent to gather up
prisoners, stop people from leaving the court and from attacking other people in the court, and lead convicted
witches to be hanged.

Act 2: Along with Cheever, Herrick comes to the Proctors' house to take Elizabeth Proctor away to the jail, as per
orders of the court.

Act 3: Herrick vouches for John Proctor’s character (p. 86) and acts as the arm of the court (he stops Proctor from
attacking Abigail, stops Abigail from leaving when she’s accused of whorishness, and is asked to take Proctor and
Corey to jail).

Act 4: Herrick drunkenly clears Sarah Good and Tituba out of on cell of the jail to make way for the judges’
discussion with Parris and Hale. He also shepherds the prisoners (Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor, and Rebecca
Nurse) back and forth between the cells, the main room, and (ultimately) the gallows.
Judge Hathorne

Judge Hathorne is a Salem judge presiding over the witchcraft trials. Described by Miller in the stage directions as
“a bitter, remorseless Salem judge” (p. 78), Hathorne lives up to that depiction in both word and deed – he shows
no mercy to the accused witches or their families and is always willing to believe the worst of people. Judge
Hathorne appears in Acts 3 and 4 of The Crucible.

Act 3: Hathorne is very concerned with all civilians showing the proper respect to the court and the law (although
he's less shrill about it than Parris is).

Act 4: Hathorne comes to the jail to confer with Danforth; he is confused by and suspicious of why Hale is back,
disapproves of Parris’s increasingly “unsteady” and wishy-washy demeanor (p. 115), and seems to think everyone
is filled with “high satisfaction” (p. 117) at the hangings of the witches.

Fun fact: The character of Judge Hathorne is based on the historical Hathorne who was so reviled that his
descendant, author Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter, House of the Seven Gables), changed the spelling
of his last name to avoid being associated with him.
Deputy Governor Danforth

At the time of the events in the play, Danforth is the Deputy Governor of the entire Province (of Massachusetts).
Danforth oversees all of the court proceedings in the play as the highest legal authority. He is described by Miller
as "a grave man in his sixties, of some humor and sophistication that do not, however, interfere with an exact
loyalty to his position and his cause" (p. 79). While no one in the play seems to like him, exactly, he does
command respect from most of the characters, at least at first - as the play continues and it becomes clear that
Danforth is more concerned about procedure than justice, characters (including Giles Corey and John Proctor)
vocally display their loss of respect for Danforth.

Act 3: The audience first sees Danforth in his position as the presiding court judge for the witch trials. Danforth is
not swayed by emotion but is swayed by the girls’ demonstrations of witchcraft (perhaps because he can see it
with his own eyes, feel their clammy skin, etc). The combination of his dispassionate questioning and his belief in
witchcraft means that what logically follows is him ordering the arrests of everyone who signed the petition
affirming the good characters of Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey, holding Giles in contempt of court, and
ordering Proctor’s arrest.

Act 4: Danforth fills the audience in on what has been going on in Salem between Acts 3 and 4. He continues to
lack detectable emotions and base his decisions on legality (e.g. it wouldn’t be fair to postpone the hangings of
these witches because we already hanged others) instead of morality (we should avoid killing people unless
absolutely necessary and unless all other avenues have been exhausted). When he senses that John Proctor
might not be entirely aboveboard in his confession, he warns that if Proctor is lying about being a witch, then he
can't stop Proctor from hanging; when Proctor rips up his confession, Danforth feels no qualms about sending him
to the gallows
Sarah Good

The first woman to be accused of witchcraft in Salem, Sarah Good is described by Elizabeth Proctor as “Goody
Good that sleeps in ditches” (p. 58).

Act 1: Thomas Putnam floats her name as a possible witch (p. 43); Tituba then picks up on this priming and
names her as a co-conspirator (p. 44), followed shortly by Abby (p. 45)

Act 2: Mary Warren reports that Sarah Good confessed to attacking the girls supernaturally and so won’t hang;
also, Sarah is pregnant at age 60.

Act 4: The first (and only) time Sarah Good appears onstage is at the beginning of this act: she is hanging out with
Tituba in the jail, acting a little crazy, and seeming to see the Devil. It's unclear whether she thinks the Devil is real
or if she’s just playing along at this point because she doesn't have anything to lose and won't be hanged since
she's confessed and is pregnant.
Hopkins

A guard at the Salem jail who helps Herrick clear Tituba and Goody Good out of the room to make way for
Danforth in Act 4. Hopkins doesn’t even get a first name, and only has one line (p.113) - he's mostly there to
announce Danforth's arrival.