The Crucible
description
Transcript of The Crucible
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Updated: Summer 2013
THE CRUCIBLE
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THE PURITANS
• The play is set in the time and place of the Puritans – Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
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THE PURITANS
• Pre-Revolutionary War. (Pre-United States)
• No United States congress, no president, no democracy.
• The society in which The Puritans lived was a theocracy.
• Theocracy - A system of government in which religious figures, not a separate government, makes the laws and punishes crimes.
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THE PURITANS
• You ate
• You slept
• You worked
• You prayed.
• Anything else was the devil’s work.
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THE PURITANS
Sins:
• Pre-martial sex
• Excessive alcohol
• Gambling
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THE PURITANS
Sins:• Dancing
• Toasting
• Wearing bright colors
• Christmas
• Works of fiction
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THE PURITANS
God The Devil
The Puritans lived in a world of pure black and white. You were either a good Christian or in league with the devil – there was no middle ground.
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THE PURITANS
They believed they lived on the very brink of the war with the devil – the American forest was full of heathen Native Americans who worked for Satan. They were far away from the safety of Christian Europe.
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THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
• Fear of witch craft had come from Europe.
• King James had written a book on the subject – Demonologies. This was part of the reason Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth.
• Witch hunting was seen as an intellectual pursuit.
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THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
• Over 100 “witches” had been tried and hanged in Europe during the 1600s.
• The mentally challenged, homosexuals, and other people who did not fit into the norms of society.
• Witches were a very real part of their lives.
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THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
• In 1692, after a group of young Salem girls had been discovered dancing in the woods, Salem began to grow hysterical about the possibility of secret witches in their mist.
• Because of their very real belief in the dangers of the devil, The Puritans were very afraid of witches invading their town.
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THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
• When the town began to grow afraid of witches among, some of the more clever members of the society began to take advantage of the fear.
• The Royal Charter had been revoked – without any set rules on who owned what land, the people of Salem began accusing their neighbors of being witches in hopes they could steal their property.
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THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS • From early spring to September 1692, 150 “witches” were taken
in custody.
• 19 people and two dogs refused to confess to witchcraft and were killed by hanging.
• 4 died in jail.
• 1 man was pressed to death by stones.
• Massachusetts did not formally apologize for murdering for 24 people FOR NO REASON until 1992.
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SALEM TODAY
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THE CRUCIBLE
• Arthur Miller wrote the play in the 1950’s.
• The Crucible is his fictionalized
account of what happened in Salem.
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MAJOR CHARACTERS
• John Proctor – a sensible farmer in Salem who holds a dark secret. John Proctor’s firing of his former maid Abigail Williams is what sets the events of the play in motion. John Proctor hates the town preacher Reverend Paris – he thinks Paris is more interested in money than God.
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MAJOR CHARACTERS
• Abigail Williams – A seventeen year old girl. Her parents were killed by Native Americans while she watched – she has been taken in by her uncle, Reverend Paris. She becomes the ring leader of the girls who are accused of witchcraft.
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MAJOR CHARACTERS
• Reverend Paris - the town preacher in Salem. He is convinced there is a group of townspeople who have a conspiracy to get him fired and he believes John Proctor is the leader.
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MAJOR CHARACTERS
• Judge Danforth – the head judge of the witch trials. He embodies the black and white mentality of the puritans: you’re either “us” or you’re “them.” He is stern and serious with little patience.