Common Module - Texts and

Human Experiences
The Crucible

Rubric:
● represents individual and collective human experiences
● represent human qualities and emotions associated with experiences
● challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally
● insight into anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies

Anomalies: behaviours outside the norm (one off) → irregularities

Paradoxes: 2 things that shouldn’t exist but exist → contradictions

Inconsistencies: someone acting out of character (one off) → discrepancies

1. Individual 2. Collective 3. Human Qualities 4. Emotions

Experiences Experiences (behavioural traits)

- societal oppression - the court system - ambition - fear

- theocratic - determination - nervous
- self-discovery
government
- strength - anxious
- self-redemption
- dysfunctional society
- courage - anger

5. Anomalies, paradoxes, inconsistencies 6. Behaviours 7. Motivations

- authoritative/theocratic figures not acting for - defiance - power

the best interest of the community
- self-sacrifice - values
- courtroom prevents justice instead of
- acceptance
promoting it - morals
- manipulate
- security
Crucible:
● allegory towards Red Scare and rise of McCarthyism
● compares: disruption of social hierarchy and balance of power to Mccarthy and his party

Salem - 1692 McCarthyism - 1950

Threat witches and devil consuming the communist spies

people of Salem

Approach accusing people of witchcraft accusing people of being communist

sympathisers

Trial strange behaviour, being an outsider preference for modern art - aligning with
or personal vendetta communist ideals

Consequence hanging (imprisonment and loss of reputation, job prospects,

execution) imprisonment

Setting
● escalation in events from personal to political
● restricted time frame for each act = intensify awareness of how quickly and dangerously
interpretations of human activity can escalate in a community

Act Setting Significance

1 Betty Paris’ bedroom close to home - centred around one family/setting

2 Proctor’s house 8 days later severity of issues expands, includes more peoples
and grievances

3 Courthouse for Martha Corey’s courthouse = communal area. Hysteria and

trial controversy has grown to include the community

4 Prison, several months later Symbolic of the suppression of freedom. Ironic as

prisons are means to seclude evil and hysteria,
however no longer determine good and evil

Human Experiences
Hysteria / Miller deepens awareness of the flaws of society and individuals through the
Fear representation of the human tendency to fall into mob psychology when faced with
challenges and the shared human experience of fear.

● displays suppressed resentment and anger because of strict Puritan society

● people losing individuality due to innate human emotion of fear

Context: expands on fear of communism through allegory of witch trials: reflected

in Abigail and hypocrisy of townspeople

Salem as place where “there are wheels within wheels and fires within fires”
○ metaphor
○ one problem leads to another
○ Miller critiques how fear leads to scapegoating → reflect in the unjust
accusations during McCarthy era

“theology is a fortress”
○ illustrates fear and anger suppressed by strict Puritan society
○ metaphor
○ collective hysteria → Christian values threatened, resulting in breakdown
of society

“on their ecstatic cries” - end of Act 1

○ stage direction
○ represents impact of hysteria on society
○ symbolise Miller’s fear that American society would fall like curtain

“I saw Goody Sibber with the devil! I saw Goody Hawkins with the devil! I saw
Goody Booth with the Devil!” - Abigail
○ accusing people of witchcraft and causing mass hysteria in Salem, with
people screaming and crying
○ possessing authority over town for personal benefits

change of season: “in the spring” and final act in fall

○ reflective of decline in morality of town
○ pathetic fallacy
○ signifies loss of innocence

Reputation Miller highlights the different lengths individuals can go to maintain their
reputation.

Context: reflect Miller’s own experience of McCarthyism as name and reputation

was blackened by society

false repentance to “light of God” and “sweet love of Jesus” - Abigail

○ biblical allusion
○ make use of broken system
○ testify false witness against innocent citizens
 ○ represents how individuals can go to extreme lengths to preserve
reputation

“my name is good in the village!” - Abigail

● uses selfish ambition to maintain reputation by discounting lives of others
● contradicts Proctor’s ‘my name’

“a man will not cast away his good name” - John Proctor
○ when proctor admits to adultery with Abigail, this exposes Abigail as being
not as innocent as she claimed to be
○ metaphor -- “casting away”: reputation not name but crucial part of
identity and social standing

"I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" - John Proctor

○ personal pronouns
○ ironic: lives in Puritan society so soul should be first priority, but it is not
○ his plea to protect his name signifies the intricate nature of personal
integrity
○ struggle between societal expectations and one's own moral compass,
where Proctor prioritises preserving his reputation and identity

Resistance Miller encourages readers to stay true to one’s values in times of crisis, even if it
comes at a great cost to the individual.

John Proctor
● undergoes self-redemption arc
● tragic hero: possess virtuous traits, but meets with defeat
● suffers from his hamartia of adultery
- unfavourable death = sympathy, individuals feel empowered to the
right thing when confronted with injustice

“even-tempered” and “not easily led.” - Act 1

● highly respected
● represents the moral integrity of individuals amidst chaos

underneath his facade of virtue, self control, and “quiet confidence” he regards
himself as a “fraud”

‘a cry of his whole soul’ to “leave me my name… Because I cannot have another in
my life” - Proctor - Act 4
● pleas to Danforth
● end of self-redemptive arc
● motif of name: insistence of keeping name to reflect the importance of
reputation

“tear the paper” and “crumple it.”

● stage direction
 ● rejects court’s attempt to remove his honour
● visual imagery → symbolise destruction of ideas, relationships or identity
● reflect how Miller is prompting audience to reject societal pressure even if
they have to destruct their personal relationships

“have his goodness now” - Elizabeth

● death rewards himself, and town
● undermines authority of court/Church and pardoning innocent victims
● strong emotional appeal - reflects how Proctor has redeemed himself
● Miller encourages us to choose the path of justice, as it can be rewarding

Empowerm The human need for belonging results in hysteria and pack mentality when this
ent and need is prioritised over moral principles, logic, rationality, and personal values.
Disempow
erment Mary Warren
● motivated by fear of authoritative figure (Proctor + Abigail)
● gives into Abigail’s intimidation to have social validation and protection

cracks under “weight of truth” and “weight of authority”

○ metaphor
○ can’t handle societal and internal pressures
○ her anxiety obscures rationality

all girls “run to one wall, shielding their eyes” / Mary “as though infected, opens
her mouth and screams with them” - when girls deceives court that bird is
attacking them
○ stage direction
○ metaphor “though infected” - relates courtroom’s gullibility and proneness
to hysteria with spread of disease
○ foreshadows lives to be lost due to naivety of collective

arrest of Rebecca & Elizabeth

○ irony
○ upright are made powerless by ignoble (Abigail)
○ accusers of witchcraft: holy
○ most spiritual being suspected: influenced by devil

Abigail Williams
● antagonist: motivated by hunger for love, freedom and vengeance
● paradoxical character: becomes victim, but perpetrator
○ words taken for the truth, and is seen as victim/saviour of Salem
○ shown when she first accuses Tituba
○ Abigail is an orphan, no one believes she is capable of such
extensive lies and deception, so therefore she is trusted
● appreciates status as reformed Christian, offers position of power she
would not have as unmarried woman
 audience knows her motives
○ dramatic irony

facade of “innocence, vulnerability, piety”

○ contrasts with anger and manipulation
○ duplicitous
○ nature

“open” to “sweet love of Jesus” and becomes “enraptured” in her accusations

○ pace and poetic rhythm
○ portrays acceleration of hysterics

“I saw” - Abigail
○ anaphora
○ before every accusation: create distinctive pace, readers imagine
observations being caught in exaggeration of event
○ reflective of wild and fast-spreading nature of fear

the poppet
○ symbolism
○ corruption of childhood innocence
○ treats townspeople as ‘toys’ that are teased and manipulated to suit
desires

Unfairness/ the poppet

Injustice ○ theme of ambiguity of evidence
○ represents the unjust evidence used within the HUAC trials to falsely
accuse the innocent individuals

“It’s a sort of testament. The people signing it declare their good opinion of
Rebecca, and my wife, and Martha Corey.” / “they’ve known the women many
years and never saw no sign they had dealings with the Devil.” - Proctor
○ despite the evidence, the petition was not effective

“we are desperate, sir; we come here three days now and cannot be heard” -
Francis to Danforth
○ loss of freedom of speech
○ Disregard for truth in court
○ symbolise corruption

“...the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common
vengeance writes the law!” - Proctor
○ common sense argument not heard amongst hysteria
○ biblical language (kingdom) appeals to theocratic authority

Weaponising of court procedures

● disempower people
● approval in eyes of court ends up legitimating vengeful behaviour
 summon 91 people to question - Danforth
○ supposed to be used to exonerate people

“Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land!” - Giles - Act 3

● Putnam to increase lang holding

“That bloody mongrel Walcott charge her” - Giles - Act 2

● Walcott accused Martha Corey of Witchcraft as the pig she sold to him 4
years ago died and she wouldn’t give him money back

Love Miller reveals how love can affect people’s abilities to make decisions, and how
love can counter someone’s integrity.

3 main types of love:

→ self-love: Parris cares for himself
→ love for others: John sacrifice for Elizabeth
→ obstructive love: Abigail loving John one-sidedly

love for religion and faith - driving factor for Puritan society

“There be no love for Satan in this house” - after John reads the 10
commandments and forgets adultery

“I will not, I cannot! You loved me John Proctor and whatever sin is you love me” -
Abigail to John, hinting at their affair

“You loved me then and you do now” - Abigail

○ motivated by illicit feelings for Proctor that still remains
○ delusional pursuit of love rejected by Proctor

“whore’s vengeance” - John

○ John does not reciprocate Abigail's feelings

Good vs Salem is constructed by Miller as an extended allegory on the conflict between

Evil good and evil within humanity, demonstrating how events seen can divide the
masses to act out to reveal their true nature. He critiques the ability of evil that
manifests in a man to corrupt their morality, making it difficult to decipher,
recognise, or preserve the good in humanity.

Juxtaposition - Elizabeth/Rebecca Nurse vs Abigail

● contrasts to reveal the choice individuals must make during times of
societal “chaos” - succumb to and perpetuate hysteria or fight against the
majority and uphold one’s integrity
● allows the audience to see the severity of the Witch Hunt when provided
with the contrasting image of people who have remained immune to the
fears in the community
Elizabeth & Rebecca often labelled as “good”, “goody”, “goodwife” → reflective of
being good women

“I am a covenanted Christian woman” / “that woman will never lie” - Elizabeth

○ seeks to please John as per gender norms of Puritan society
○ victim of vengeance, personifies grace, honour, loyalty and Christian
virtues
○ postmodern audience admires her persistence in time of disempowerment

“goodness” / “moral superiority” / “very brick and mortar of the church” - Rebecca
○ not immune to injustice of witchcraft accusations
○ refuses to confess → dies in true loyalty to God

liar with “endless capacity for dissembling” / a “marvellous pretender” - Abigail

○ described with harsh adjectives
○ identifies with ‘fallen woman’: lost innocent and fallen from grace of God
because of affair and immoral nature

Juxtaposition - John Proctor vs Thomas Putnam

● both have power, influence and importance
● John has integrity, honour and regarded as ‘good’
● Thomas: represents evil as he attempts to manipulate hysteria of
weakened community for his own gain

“This society will not be a bag to swing around your head” - Proctor
○ critisises Putnam for autocratic approach and manipulative nature
○ metaphor: refers to society as bag being thrown around

“corruption” / “fraud” / “vengeance” = signs of darkness threatening to engulf

Salem
“honesty” / “goodness” = heroic characters
○ repetition
○ emphasise allegorical struggle between good and evil

forest
○ symbolises unfettered evil that lies waiting for humankind if they stray
from the established path of God
○ play begins with the girls being discovered dancing naked in the forest

dancing - “she thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!” - John

○ motif - repeated 23 times
○ seen as irreligious, and threat to teachings/codes of behaviour for women
○ linked with evil and “witchcraft” as it was a forbidden pleasure
representing temptation and sin

“Lucifer” / “Satan” / “old boy”

○ biblical imagery
○ emphasis on devil and threat
○ reinforce communal belief in evil