History Theatre / TheCrucible

** Likely this would be Abigail from real life. Though she has been noted to be one of the first girls to make accusations, she was not the BigBad ringleader that the play portrays. Ann Putnam (Ruth Putnam in the play) was more infamous for her accusations, though she did make a show of repentance afterward.
*** Her motives, and really all of the girls' motives, are also a bit more ambiguous in real life. While no one really knows why the Salem girls did what they did, it's unlikely that one of them cooked up the entire scheme as a revenge plot. In fact, not everyone even agrees that it was deliberate; some historians and scientists believe that medical and/or psychological factors may have played a role, such that some or all of the girls might have actually believed the stories they told.

The play is a semi-fictionalized account of the Salem witch trials of 1692-93 in Massachusetts, although Miller takes real people and puts them alongside his own fictitious characters for dramatic purposes and because not much is known of the actual personalities involved.

In Salem, 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 same Puritans who escaped religious persecution in England enforce it here.

''The Crucible'' was written in response to the activities of Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=], who became notorious for his excessive zeal in rooting out supposed communist sympathizers. Miller [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the irony in the fact that [[BlackAndWhiteMorality the dichotomy between good and evil]], throughout history, transcends religion and manifests itself into various ideas, including the {{red scare}}.

The non-related Korean film, ''Film/{{Silenced}}'', was based off of a novel named ''The Crucible'', which was itself titled after the Arthur Miller play.

* TheTheTitle: The title of the play is ''The Crucible''.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Proctor, Martha, and Rebecca are hanged, Giles is pressed to death, and their loved ones are left behind. Tituba, Sarah Good and Mary are driven to madness. Hale fails to save a single life and blames himself for each one taken, and Abigail, who caused the whole mess in the first place, [[KarmaHoudini gets away with everything]]]]. Not exactly the happiest ending. Though this could be seen as a {{bittersweet ending}} as well, since Proctor ultimately [[TheAtoner redeems himself]] and the text version ends by stating that the power of the theocracy that made this possible was effectively broken by the aftermath. If you go by the epilogue, you'll see that karma eventually caught up with [[spoiler: Abigail - who had to prostitute herself to survive and die before she reached eighteen]].

** Abigail's plan. She wants to kill Elizabeth so that she can with Proctor again. When she turns on Mary for testifying against her, Mary accuses Proctor of witchcraft. This leads to his death.

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 Samuel Parris' 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. Soon, [[MaliciousSlander every girl blames someone she dislikes, claiming she saw Satan]]. Deputy Governor Danforth, Reverend John 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.

If you were looking for the non-related Korean film translated to ''The Crucible'', [[Film/{{Silenced}} click here]].

If you were looking for the non-related Korean film titled ''The Crucible'', [[Film/TheCrucible click here]].

* ShownTheirWork: The people whom Abigail and Betty name as being seen with the Devil at the end of Act 1 are all people who were executed during the trials in real life.

*** Her motives, and really all of the girls' motives, are also a bit more ambiguous in real life. While no one really knows why the Salem girls did what they did, it's unlikely that one of them cooked up the entire scheme as a revenge plot. In fact, not everyone even agrees that it was deliberate; some historians and scientists believe that medical and/or psychological factors may have played a role, and that some or all of the girls might have actually believed the stories they told.

* NewEnglandPuritan: Being set in colonial New England, during the Salem Witch trials, this trope is naturally in play. The play examines the Puritan society of the time and how [[TheFundamentalist religious fundamentalism]] was used to advance personal agendas.

* {{Gaslighting}}: Happens quite often during when characters are forced to confess.

* FragileFlower: Mary has a ''very'' high tendency to break down weeping.

** Yes, she was 12, but the entire relationship between her and John Proctor was invented for the play. Whatever her reason for making the accusations, that almost certainly wasn't it.

** In real life, some of the participants, including some jurors and accusers, came to regret their part in the trials.

** The real Abigail and some of the jurors later repented for their part in the trials.

* PyrrhicVillainy: Abigail's plot to [[spoiler:MurderTheHypotenuse backfires; she ends up condemning Proctor and Elizabeth, and runs away, to become a nameless prostitute. Ironically Elizabeth survives the events due to carrying a child, and the witch trials ending before she can be executed. Not to mention that in real life, Salem was permanently dogged by its reputation as a WitchHunt town. Ruth Putnam was more or less excommunicated for her part as an accuser, suffered poor health, had to raise all of her siblings after her parents died, and had to make a public confession of forgiveness to be welcomed back into the church]].

* TheSociopath: Abigail Williams, who manipulates her town into mass executing people for witchcraft because one guy broke off his affair with her.

* TheSociopath: Abigail again. Given her past, it isn't too surprising she'd be completely messed up in the head.

* BigShutUp: Judge Danforth does this to Reverend Parris when he's about to question Mary Warren.

* BreakTheCutie: In the beginning, Reverend Hale is full of exuberance and intellectual glee, which fade significantly when he realizes that the accusers may not be completely innocent. This is shattered completely by [[spoiler:Proctor's death]]:

* GreaterScopeVillain: Danforth. Even [[WordOfGod Miller himself]] thought so.

* HappilyMarried: The Nurses. The Coreys seem to be as well, despite Giles' [[NiceJobBreakingItHero innocent accidental accusation of witchcraft against his wife.]]

** Averted with Giles, as he really did die in real life as the play portrayed, allowing his sons to keep the land that he would leave to them. By confessing or denying the accusation, his land would have been forfeit, but instead he kept silent, never confirming or denying the accusations, only asking for more weight to be pressed on him, until he was crushed to death.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Danforth is a composite of several judges, while ironically the one actually named Danforth fell more on Hale's side of things and helped to ''stop'' the witch trials.

** As noted above, the Puritans were doing the same religious persecutions in Salem that caused them to leave England in the first place.
** Elizabeth is put on the stand after she has been touted as someone who never lies. [[spoiler: When asked about John's affair with Abigail, she lies in the hopes of saving his good name. In lying she ends up damning him]].
* IWontSayImGuilty: Elizabeth attempts to do for John, claiming that he [[spoiler:didn't have an affair with Abigail.]] This plan backfires when she learns that [[spoiler:he had already confessed prior to her taking the stand.]]

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Parris gets his whole life savings stolen by Abigail and is voted out of office in the epilogue, which for him is a pretty substantial punishment. [[spoiler: As for Abigail, permanent exile from Salem sounds like a minor punishment. On the other hand, it is implied in the play that Abigail prostituted herself and didn't live to see the age of 18. The real Abigail was very young and died at a young age.]]

* LoopholeAbuse: Giles knows that he will be put to death if he confesses, and that if he pleads innocent, he will not be believed. Therefore, he refuses to plead at all, knowing that he will die regardless, and that by refusing to plead, his land will not be forfeit, and instead his sons can inherit.
* LoveTriangle: Between Abigail, John Proctor, and Elizabeth Proctor. [[spoiler: Tragically it ends with Proctor dead by hanging and Abigail fleeing from town. Elizabeth is the one only left alive in the play, saved from hanging due to her becoming pregnant.]]

* ManipulativeBitch: Abigail.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: Abigail ultimately wants to kill Elizabeth so she can have John all to herself, even going so far as to drink chicken blood in an attempt to do so. When that doesn’t work, she tries to use the trials to convict Elizabeth of witchcraft. [[spoiler: It doesn’t go well, as John ends up dying instead.]]

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Hale after Proctor's "God is dead" line.

* TheTheTitle
* TortureIsIneffective: [[spoiler: Giles is tortured to death by having stones piled onto him but refuses to give either a plea or a confession, meaning that his property would pass to his children.]]

** Proctor definitely qualifies. At the start of the play, despite his affair with Abigail, he is regarded as a morally-upright and respectable man who doesn’t pick sides in disagreements. [[spoiler: However, by the end, Proctor is a broken man, and his downfall is finally cemented due to his pride. Proctor refuses to give up his name to the court when it’s all he has left and is hanged.]]
** Hale as well. [[spoiler: He starts off as an optimistic intellectual, but his naïveté and belief in the trials leads to immense guilt and failure to save anyone from death. He comes to Salem enthusiastic to finally utilize his studies to help people, and leaves cynical and with completely different views on religion and human life.]]

* WithUsOrAgainstUs: The attitude of the court.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original play, although he is the GreaterScopeVillain in there as well, Danforth comes off as a conflicted {{well intentioned extremist}} who only refuses the pardons because he believes it would cause a panic and lead to anarchy, and upholding the law is of the utmost importance to him. In the film, however, he's a psychotic {{knight templar}} {{hanging judge}} who blatantly enjoys sending people he ''knows'' are innocent to their deaths, and openly insults anyone who questions him or sympathizes with the people he murders. In this case, it is due to his characterization [[CompositeCharacter being merged with that of Judge Hathorne from the original play]], whose personality was like that. Although Hathorne is in the film as well, he is a total nonentity since his characterization has been taken on by Danforth.

* DefiantToTheEnd: Unlike the play, the film shows the deaths of Rebecca, Martha, and Proctor; they go out reciting the Lord's prayer.

** Betty Parris begins as this, having been struck ill from the guilt and horror she had witnessed during the rituals, as have some of the other girls.

* TheUnreveal: Subverted in a scene where Abigail accuses the governor's wife of witchcraft. This scene does not exist in the play. The play strongly implies it is Abigail who named her, but it does not outright confirm it.