The Crucible is a historic play based on the Witchcraft trials at Salem. The story takes place in 1692 in a small Puritan villiage of Massachusetts. It is a suspence filled with evils and the trials of personal concience.

The play begins in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris where he lives with his daughter Betty, his neice of 17, Abigail, and their slave, Tituba. His daughter Betty has fallen sick. Parris has called for the help of Reverend Hale, believeing the cause of her illness to be of a supernatural explanation. Betty's sickness arose when Paris caught her, Abigail, and a few of the other girls from the village dancing in the woods. They were dancing over what seemed to be a coldrine in which Tituba was brewing a develish potion. Abigail admits to the dancing but fervently denies that it had

After Elizabeth's jail setence, her husband, John Proctor, takes action. He, along with many other villiagers whose loved ones have been accused, immediately goes to the court house and demands to be heard. He explains to the judges that Abigail and he had had an affair and that Abigail readily admitted to him that Betty's sickness had naught to do with witchcraft. He then goes on to say that his servant, Mary Warren, admitted that the girls were indeed making up the accusations and that none of it was indeed the truth. Mary Warren then admits this to the judges. The judges are shocked, and it seems as if Proctor has indeed won his case when Abigail and the rest of the girls present begin to throw fits, claiming that Mary Warren is throwing her spirit on them. Scared that she would be hanged, Mary Warren claims that the accusations are false and begs the girls for forgiveness in stating otherwise. The judges then assume that John Proctor is indeed working hand and hand with the Devil and therefore have him thrown in jail along with the others accused of witchcraft.

Months go by, and still the girls continue to make accusation after accusation. Many people admit to the accusations to keep from being hung, but already over 30 people have been executed. Finally, after yet another false hope of the witchcraft trials coming to an end, John Proctor along with many other characters in the play are unjustly hung. Eventually the trials did come to an end, but not

Some topics in this essay:
John Proctor, Reverend Hale, Ruth Putman, Mary Warren, Rev Hale, Pulitzer Prize, Samuel Parris, John Procter, Betty Abigail, Proctor Abigail, mary warren, witchcraft trials, john proctor, dancing woods, warren mercy lewis, abigail admits, denies witchcraft, betty's sickness, woods dancing, abigail girls, mary warren mercy, mercy lewis,