The Crucible Study Guide

Instructions: Answer the questions below on a separate sheet of paper. Use textual evidence when needed.
This assignment is due on Monday, October 31st. It is worth a quiz grade. If you are unable to finish in class, a
PDF of the text can be found online.

1. Why has Reverend Parris sent for a doctor as the play begins?
a. His daughter Betty is afflicted with a disease and will not wake up or move out of bed.
2. In Salem, an excellent public reputation is essential if one is to be accepted in the community. In the
beginning of the play, what clues are there that Abigail's reputation has become questionable?
a. Parris asks her if her reputation is clean, he informs us that she has been fired for
questionable reasons from the Proctor’s service, we hear her conversation with John
Proctor to know that there was something going on between them.
3. Describe Mr. Putnam. Why is he a bitter man?
a. Mr. Putnam is an argumentative, hostile, angry man whose daughter is similarly
afflicted like Betty. He is bitter because his choice for town reverend was overlooked
and he wants to acquire more land.
4. Who does Abigail accuse of conjuring spirits?
a. She accuses Tituba of conjuring spirits.
5. Who are all the girls that are involved in the incident?
a. The girls are all friends of Abigail’s. The main ones are Betty, Abigail, Mercy Lewis,
Ruth Putnam, and Mary Warren
6. What does Betty Parris reveal about what really happened in the woods?
a. She informs us that they were dancing in the woods and Abigail was the ring leader of it
all, wishing Goody Proctor to be dead and drinking chicken blood around the fire.
7. What threat does Abigail make to the other girls?
a. She warns them that if she is going to get into trouble for their dancing, they all were
going to be blamed and be disciplined along with her.
8. In your own words, describe John Proctor.
a. John Proctor is a hard-working, guilty man who resents his involvement with Abigail
and really only wants to do what is best for his wife and family.
9. Who is Elizabeth Proctor? How does Abigail feel towards her?
a. Elizabeth Proctor is John’s wife and Abigail’s former employer. Abigail wants her dead
or out of the picture so that she can be with John again.
10. What do you think about Abigail? What kind of a person is she?
a. Answers may vary – generally she isn’t a very good person
11. What gift did Mary give Elizabeth?
a. Mary gave Elizabeth the Poppet that she made while sitting at court.
12. What was the "evidence" against Sarah Good?
a. That she “sent out her spirit” in the court and nearly choked all the girls looking in on
the proceedings. She eventually confesses to being a witch and is only sentenced some
jail time as they also discover that she is pregnant.
13. Why does Elizabeth think Abigail wants to kill her?
a. She thinks that Abigail must want her dead because she is still hung up on the affair
with John and wants him for herself, which is only possible if Elizabeth is dead and out
of the picture.
14. Why did Hale come to Proctor's house?
a. He realizes that what is said in court cannot always be trusted, so he comes to their
house to investigate the issues for himself.
15. What things are "suspicious" about Proctor and his family?
a. They haven’t attended church in many months, their youngest child has not yet been
baptized, and he continues to work through Sunday’s.
16. Hale asks Elizabeth if she believes in witches. What is her reply?
a. She replies that if she is being accused of being a witch, then surely none exist.
17. Explain the significance of the needle in the "poppet."
a. There was a needle found in the stomach of her poppet, and earlier in the day Abigail
had been complaining about pain and pulled a needle out of her own stomach.
18. What will happen to Proctor if he tries to discredit Abby?
a. He will also have to discredit himself as he was the one involved with her.
19. Why doesn't Mary want to testify about the doll?
a. She is terrified of Abigail and knows that more trouble will come from Abigail if she
speaks out than from John if she doesn’t. She doesn’t want Abigail to have any reason
to draw her further into trouble.
20. What happens when people seem to criticize the court’s proceedings?
a. They find themselves in trouble with the court and often are found guilty in contempt of
court. As Danforth explains, you are either with the court or against it.
21. What two pieces of evidence are brought out against Proctor in regard to his Christian nature?
a. He farms on Sunday’s when they should be resting and observing the holy day, and he
has not been to church in many months because he does not like Reverend Parris. He
also struggles to recall his ten commandments.
22. What news does Danforth tell John Proctor about Elizabeth? What deal does he try to make with
him?
a. He tells Proctor that she is pregnant and he tries to convince Proctor to confess to the
“truth” so that he can stay alive for his unborn child.
23. What paper did 91 people sign? What is going to happen to them?
a. It was a petition claiming that all of the women on trial for being witches were really
good people in the village and had never done anything bad before. All of the people
who signed the petition are being called into court as well.
24. “…a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.”
Explain the importance of Danforth’s statement.
a. In the time of Salem, the court held all of the power. If you went against what the court
ruled or what the court deemed correct, you yourself were tried and found guilty.
25. What happens to Giles Corey? Why does this happen?
a. Giles was pressed under rocks. He claims that he was told that Mr. Putnam is having
his daughter convict others in the village of witchcraft because he wants their land, but
when asked to tell the court who it was that told him this information, he refuses to give
up the name.
26. Hawthorne thinks of a test for Mary. What is it? Can she do it? Why or why not?
a. Hawthorne states that if she could pretend to faint before then she should be able to
pretend to faint and turn cold in the court. She is unable to do it because she knows that
they may not find her cold, but she also knows that doing so would paint her as a liar
from before.
27. Proctor calls Abigail a whore, and he confesses his lechery. Why does he do that?
a. He does it because he is fed up with her lies as he knows that she has lied about their
affair before. He knows that this is the only chance they have at showing her lies, and if
it means they will finally see the truth he no longer cares about keeping his name clean.
28. Who is called to back up John’s testimony? What happens?
a. They call in Elizabeth to back up his testimony, as they think she would have known
what was going on in her house. This is the one time we see her lie, as she says that John
was always faithful to her, because she doesn’t know that the court already has heard
his side and the truth, and she thinks she is protecting him.
29. Why does Mary Warren reverse her position?
a. Mary realizes that Abigail and the other girls are going to make her look like a liar even
if she is telling the truth, so she switches her position to protect herself.
30. What do you think John Proctor means when he says, "God is dead!"?
a. He means that there is no longer a God in the village if they are willing to prosecute
innocent men and women who are telling the truth. They believe what they want, not
the word of God.
31. Compare Reverend Hale now to how he was at the beginning of the play. Explain how he has
changed?
a. Answers may vary. Hale at first was sure there was something afoot in the village with
witchcraft and was there solely to get the devil out of the village. By the end he wants
John to lie because he realizes that they don’t care about the truth and lying is the only
way to save John’s life.
32. Explain Reverend Parris’s motivation throughout this act.
a. Reverend Parris is concerned with having people punished for the crime of witchcraft
now that neighboring villages have heard about the incidents because he doesn’t want
anyone questioning his power or revolting against Salem. He wants Betty and the girls
to get off so that his name stays clean.
33. What explanation does Cheever give for Parris' "mad look"?
a. Cheever says that he is upset because there is now so much chaos around the village
because so many people are in jail or being hung that their farms and animals are
running around untamed. This is ironic because Parris has had a large hand in causing
this issue to begin. He says that “Contention makes him weep.”
34. What happened to Abigail?
a. She stole all of Parris’ money and ran away.
35. Explain Danforth's reason that a pardon would not be just.
a. He states that a pardon would not be just because they have already killed 12 people for
the same reasons, and that just isn’t fair to those already dead. Injustice is breeding
from injustice.
36. Why has Hale come back to Salem?
a. Hale has come back to Salem to try and convince John to just confess so that his life will
be spared. He can’t stand to see an innocent man die.
37. What does Hale want Elizabeth to do?
a. He wants Elizabeth to convince John to confess so that he can be around to help raise
the baby. Despite what she may want personally, she tells John to do what his conscious
tells him.
38. What did Proctor do after he signed the confession? Why?
a. He rips it up instead of allowing it to stand and be put on the church door because he
can’t stand having his name blackened in the village. To him, having an honest and
clean name is worth more than having his life.
39. "I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" Explain.
a. He means that he has already told the truth in front of God, and he is already ashamed
enough at that, the least they can do is leave a good name for his children to look up to
and for the village to remember him by. He is already destroyed, the least they can do is
let him go down with dignity.
40. "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" What does Elizabeth mean? 
a. She means that he has made his peace with his end, but he has also come to peace with
his conscious and his deeds in life. The least she can do is let him die with his head high
instead of making him feel guilty for leaving her and the children behind.