History Theatre / TheCrucible

* KarmaHoudini: Abigail
** [[spoiler: Debatable. She is forced to leave Salem forever and it is implied in the play that Abigail prostituted herself and didn't live to see the age of 18. Though the real Abigail was very young and died at a young age.]]

* BigShutUp: Judge Danforth to Samuel Parris when he's about to question Mary.

* BigShutUp: Judge Danforth.

Abigail and Elizabeth, however, both refuse to corroborate his testimony, and [[spoiler: Proctor is convicted of witchcraft after being accused by his servant, Mary Warren]]. [[WellIntentionedExtremist In an attempt to justify the means of his trial]], Danforth strikes a deal with Proctor [[spoiler: that if the man confesses and accuses others, he will be freed; after all, Proctor is a respected man, and his words carry much weight.]] In the climax of the novel, [[spoiler: Proctor rips up his confession and opts instead to be sent to the gallows; [[HeroicSelfDeprecation he has truly begun to see himself in an unholy light]] and rather than receive the judgment of the hypocritical Danforth, Proctor wants to receive the divine judgment of God. [[MartyrWithoutACause Proctor is hanged at the end of the novel.]]]]

One night, some girls, led by Abigail Williams, sneak out into the woods to engage in witchcraft. The girls are caught in the act, and when one goes into shock after the whole ordeal, Abigail is cornered; she, consequently, blames Reverend Parris's slave, Tituba, for perpetrating the acts. Tituba catches on to Abigail's ruse and blames a bunch of townspeople in order to save her own skin, and soon, [[SharedMassHallucination every girl blames someone he or she dislikes, claiming she saw Satan]]. Deputy Governor Danforth, Reverend Hale, and Judge Hathorne, all of whom are respected men in Massachusetts, are called to try those indicted for committing the crimes and to purge the evil of Satan within the town.

One night, some girls, led by Abigail Williams, sneak out into the woods to engage in witchcraft. The girls are caught in the act, and when one goes into shock after the whole ordeal, Abigail is cornered; she, consequently, blames Reverend Parris's slave, Tituba, for perpetrating the acts. Tituba catches on to Abigail's ruse and blames a bunch of townspeople in order to save her own skin, and soon, every girl blames someone he or she dislikes. Deputy Governor Danforth, Reverend Hale, and Judge Hathorne, all of whom are respected men in Massachusetts, are called to try those indicted for committing the crimes and to purge the evil of Satan within the town.

Abigail Williams additionally blames Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, [[spoiler: a respected man in the town whom Abigail once slept with]], out of envy and spite. John Proctor considers himself a fraud for [[spoiler: committing the adultery]], which is known only to his wife and Abigail herself, and cannot bear to see his wife convicted. During the [[KangarooCourt unjust trial]], during which numerous people are convicted unless they provide names of other witches, Proctor finally admits [[spoiler: that he slept with Abigail]] and sacrifices his good name to save others- his intention is to prove that Abigail's accusations are a scam.

Abigail and Elizabeth, however, both refuse to corroborate his testimony, and [[spoiler: Proctor is convicted of witchcraft after being accused by his servant, Mary Warren]]. [[WellIntentionedExtremist In an attempt to justify the means of his trial]], Danforth strikes a deal with Proctor [[spoiler: that if the man confesses and accuses others, he will be freed; after all, Proctor is a respected man, and his words carry much weight.]] In the climax of the novel, [[spoiler: Proctor rips up his confession and opts instead to be sent to the gallows; he has truly begun to see himself in an unholy light and rather than receive the judgment of the hypocritical Danforth, Proctor wants to receive the divine judgment of God. Proctor is hanged at the end of the novel.]]

In the epilogue, the author remarks that the Salem witch trials were eventually condemned as severe atrocities, and the theocracy in Salem fell apart.

''The Crucible'' was likely written in response to the activities of Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=], who became notorious for his excessive zeal in rooting out Communist sympathizers. Miller [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the irony in the fact that the dichotomy between good and evil, throughout history, transcends religion and manifests itself into various ideas, including the Red Scare. Miller says that he has no doubt that people practiced witchcraft in Salem; however, much like the fear of Communism, mass hysteria is perpetuated through propaganda and turned into something worse than what it really is.

Abigail Williams additionally blames Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, a respected man whom Abigail had once slept with, out of envy and spite. John Proctor considers himself a fraud for committing the adultery, which is known only to his wife and Abigail herself, and cannot bear to see his wife convicted. During the [[KangarooCourt unjust trial]], where numerous people are convicted unless they provide names of other witches, Proctor finally admits that he slept with Abigail and sacrifices his good name to save others- his intention is to prove that Abigail's accusations are a scam.

Abigail and Elizabeth, however, both refuse to corroborate his testimony, and Proctor is convicted of witchcraft after being accused by his servant, Mary Warren. [[WellIntentionedExtremist In an attempt to justify the means of his trial]], Danforth strikes a deal with Proctor that if the man confesses and accuses others, he will be freed; after all, Proctor is a respected man, and his words carry much weight. In the climax of the novel, Proctor rips up his confession and opts instead to be sent to the gallows; he has truly begun to see himself in an unholy light and rather than receive the judgment of the hypocritical Danforth, Proctor wants to receive the divine judgment of God. Proctor is hanged at the end of the novel.

In Salem, Massachusetts, the villagers' way of life is deeply rooted in Puritan ideals, and the townspeople firmly hold to the conviction that anyone who opposes them is Satanic and must be purged of the devil. (Ironically, the Puritans who escaped religious persecution in England enforce it here.)

One night, some girls, led by Abigail Williams, sneak out into the woods to engage in witchcraft. The girls are caught in the act, and when one goes into shock after the whole ordeal, Abigail is cornered and blames the Reverend Parris's slave, Tituba, for perpetrating the acts. Tituba catches on to Abigail's ruse and blames a bunch of townspeople in order to save her own skin, and soon, every girl blames someone he or she dislikes. Deputy Governor Danforth, Reverend Hale, and Judge Hathorne are called to try those indicted for committing the crimes.

Abigail Williams, in particular, blames Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, a respected man whom Abigail had once slept with. John Proctor considers himself a fraud for committing this indiscretion, known only to his wife and Abigail herself, and cannot bear to see his wife convicted. During the unjust trial, where numerous people are convicted without evidence unless they provide names of other witches, Proctor finally admits that he slept with Abigail and sacrifices his good name to save others.

Abigail and Elizabeth, however, both refuse to corroborate his testimony, and Proctor is convicted of witchcraft after being accused by his servant, Mary Warren. [[WellIntentionedExtremist In an attempt to justify the means of his trial]], Danforth asks Proctor to confess and to supply names of people who have committed witchcraft; after all, Proctor is a respected man, and his words carry much weight. In the climax of the novel, Proctor rips up his confession and opts instead to be sent to the gallows; he refuses to work with Danforth and instead opts to receive the final judgment of God.

''The Crucible'' was likely written partly in response to the activities of Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=], who became notorious for his excessive zeal in rooting out Communist sympathizers.

The central characters are John and Elizabeth Proctor, a simple farmer and his wife, and Abigail Williams, their former servant with whom John previously had an affair. Initial accusations of witchcraft leveled at the local preacher's daughter snowball into a witch-hunt that engulfs the whole town as Abigail and others use the trials as a way of seeking revenge for old wrongs and acquiring property from rivals.

** Or {{Yangire}}, depending on interpretation.

* ItGotWorse: And how.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Danforth and the judges start out this way, and [[ItGotWorse it all goes downhill from there]]...

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Abigail sticks a needle in a poppet (doll) and tells Mary to give it to Elizabeth to frame her for using witchcraft (though Mary's involvement is left ambiguous). She goes a far as to ''stab herself with a needle'' to make it believable. More broadly, the whole affair is one giant giant version of this with shades of ThanatosGambit, XanatosGambit, BatmanGambit, and, of course, GambitPileup thrown in.

** To make it more awesome, his ThanatosGambit broke the XanatosGambit of his accussers. If he confessed then as a witch his property is confiscated but if he denied then his 'lie' still losses his property. [[TakeAThirdOption his third option]] exploits a loophole. He didn't break it entirely because he still died but he destroyed the main goal.

* KnightInSourArmor: [[spoiler:John Hale]] by the end of the play. Starting off intellectuvotal change from idealistic to completely cynical. In the end, [[spoiler:he attempts to convince Goody Proctor to persuade John to abandon his moral ideals so that he may live, reflecting Hale's own change in paradigms from valuing religious law to simply valuing that a human being makes it out alive, regardless of the moral cost. It doesn't work.]]

* ATasteOfTheLash: In the movie adaptation, used on Tituba in front of Abigail and others.
* AGodAmI: Abigail refers to herself as "God's Finger."

* [=~I Won't Say I'm Guilty~=]

* ChewbaccaDefense: When a feeble, elderly man incapable of walking without sticks is accused of climbing into a girl's room and performing witch craft, he states that would be impossible to do in his health. The court then states he could have very well sent his ''spirit'' into the room using witch powers. The old man has no idea how to respond to that, which they claim proves his guilt.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Several examples. The Proctors' house is depicted not only in the film but in the original script as being far too big for a family on their income of the time.