Summary Of ' The Crucible ' Essay

Act one begins with Reverend Parris praying over her daughter, Betty Parris, who lies unconscious on her bed. Through conversations between Reverend Parris and his niece Abigail Williams, and between several girls, the audience learns that these girls, including Abigail and Betty, were engaged in occultic activities in the forest lead by Tituba, Parris’ slave from Barbados. Parris caught them and jumped from a bush startling the girls. Betty fainted and had not recovered. During this session, Abigail drank chicken blood to kill Elizabeth Proctor. She tells the girls that she will kill anyone who mutters a word about what happened. The townspeople do not know exactly what the girls were doing but there are rumors of witchcraft.

Abigail’s uncle caught the girls in the forest and when provoked, Abigail only admitted they were dancing around a fire for fun. The town became concerned after one girl, Betty, went into a coma-like state, and another, Ruth, began walking around in an unresponsive state. Allegations began flowing, stating that one girl flew over a barn and landed light as air, and another girl scampered naked through the forest the night it all happened. When pressed harder, Abigail eventually declared Tituba and Ruth were the only ones to perform witchcraft that night (Miller).

​​​This I feel is the start of the whole Salem witch trials. People start to murmur about how they've seen Rev. Parris' daughter, Betty and his niece, Abigail dancing which they think is some sort of witchcraft. ​To Rev. Parris' witchcraft isn't just horrible and a sin but it could ruin him, mainly because of his job ​as a reverend. The best way to do this, so he thinks is by denying it. This shows ​​Parris' femininity side because he tries to hide and deny it instead of standing up for himself some other way. So to speak, Abigail herself seems to be hiding information ​by the way she's defending herself and Tibuta. Since witchcraft is a religious sin in Salem, Abigail gets fired from her job at Elizabeth

Reverend Parris found also even found a frog in the pot. After these acts Betty seems to fall ill. This is when the initial panic starts, Reverend Parris confronts her and at first she says “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it - and I’ll be whipped if I must be. But they’re speakin’ of witch-craft. Betty’s not witched.”(Miller 10) She at first denies it but then Betty wakes and speaks of the devil. Abigail avoiding her own possible demise confesses to having seen the devil. She then has to say with whom did she the devil walk with, she tells them that Tituba walks with the devil. Tituba then “confesses” to conjuring spirits and frames other people. It then opens into full hysteria where nobody is safe accept the

The play opened with the girls doing something considered taboo in Puritan society, dancing in the woods. The girls involved in this were Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, Ruth Putnam, and a few others. Tituba, Reverend Parris’s slave from Barbados was also with them. All of the girls involved were caught by Reverend Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem. When Reverend Parris catches the girls dancing in the woods, his daughter Betty Parris becomes

Mary adds that the girls must inform the town of what they did in the forest: dance and cast charms. However, Abigail does not want her actions revealed and threatens the other girls, “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam 's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (1.353-9). Abigail knows that she committed witchcraft by drinking blood in order to curse Elizabeth Proctor. the wife of the man with whom she is infatuated; therefore, she threatens to kill Mercy and Mary if they make any attempt to tell anyone that they did anything in the forest except dance and witness Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris, conjure the dead sisters of Ruth Putnam, daughter of Thomas Putnam, a land-greedy townsman of Salem, thus protecting herself from it being leaked that she practiced witchcraft. For all of that, hysteria is created, as Abigail will not let the truth of the girls’ activities in the forest be leaked, so false lies will flood the town. Next, Reverend John Hale, a well-known expert on witchcraft, has been called upon by Parris to determine whether or not the cause of Betty’s unconscious, unresponsive state is indeed witchcraft. Abigail,

“Both of you stop it right now! I can’t focus on driving when you two are fighting with each other in the backseat!”

In the first act of The Crucible, Abigail Williams, a strikingly beautiful girl, is the biological niece and adopted daughter of Parris. She is ‘the vehicle that drives the play’. She carries the most responsibility for the girls meeting with Tituba in the woods, when Parris catches her, his biological daughter Betty, and their friends dancing in the forest “Parris: Abigail, I cannot go before the congregation when I know you have not opened with me. What did you do with her in the forest?”(p.9). He fears they were engaged in some practice of witchcraft.

When Rev. Parris caught the group dancing in the woods, Betty, Parris’ daughter, could not move anymore as if she was bewitched. Rev. Hale was called to Salem by Rev. Parris to see what was happening with Betty and another girl. Rev. Hale and Rev. Parris were questioning Abigail about what happened that night, Abigail claimed, “Why-common

Rumors were flying that Betty had flew over a barn and landed softly. People in the town tried to cover it up. When Betty had flew she had put into a coma like state because she was in the woods with Abigail Williams and some other girls caught dancing with Tituba. Tituba is Rev. Parris’s slave and when Rev. Parris asked about what happened in the woods the girls had lied and said nothing, just dancing, knowing that it is not allowed. Susanna tells Rev. Parris that the doctor can't find a cure for Betty and thinks they should call an a witch expert. Rev. Parris tries to cover it up because he doesn't want his name smeared all over town so then he would lose his reputation. But Mr. and Mrs. Putnam come in asking all sorts of questions trying

In Salem, Massachusetts 1692, Betty the daughter of Revered Parris lies unconscious in bed. The night before she was discovered by Parris dancing in the woods along with Abigail his niece, and Tituba , his slave. After the local physician cannot determine her illness, Mr. and Mrs. Putnam appear and say that their daughter Ruth is also unconscious. The Town stirs up with talk of unnatural causes for the sick girls. Later Abigail warns the others involved not to reveal that they were actually with Tituba trying to conjure up dead people. Betty wakes up to find Abigail threatening the other girls about what she would do to them if they mentioned that Abigail drank blood and cast a spell to try and kill Goody Proctor. This causes Betty to go

Act 1 begins in Reverend Samuel Parris house, in the room of his daughter Betty. Betty lies ill in bed after being discovered by her father in the woods. Five other girls were in the woods with Betty summoning spirits and dancing including his niece Abigail, and his slave from Barbados, Tituba. Rumors are spreading that Betty's coma-like state is due to witchcraft but, Parris tells Abigail that he cannot admit that he found

Reverend Parris found his niece, some of her friends, and his maid dancing in the wood. Back then, dancing was forbidden. Abby, his niece, denied everything. Abby was also fired from Goody Proctor's house, due to Abby sleeping with her Husband. Goody Proctor never says what Abby did, but tells the whole town that Abby is a bad seed. After finding the girls dancing in the forrest, Betty and some other girls grow sick, and the doctor cannot seem to heal them. Reverend Parris starts to think it’s a spiritual illness instead of a physical one, so he asks Reverend Hale to come visit. Because Parris was thinking that witchcraft is real, and that it was the source of Betty’s sickness, the people began to think that too. It didn’t help that Abby and

Abigail Williams - Niece of Reverend Parris, she is leader of the girls in town and has had affair with John Proctor.

Reverend Parris of Salem, is a man with many grievances, and a strict minister who didn’t allow music or dancing, as described by Miller. One night while in the forest, he caught his daughter Betty, niece Abigail, and other girls “dancing like heathen in the forest” (Miller 9) doing what he suspected to be witchcraft. Rumors went around the small town of Salem that Parris caught these girls conjuring spirits in the forest. His daughter, Betty fainted after they were caught in the forest causing rumors to circulate that she was bewitched. Being the leader of Salem, Parris was nervous that these rumors that would ruin his reputation. He believed that his enemies would go after him and try to drive him out of town. Parris tried to question his niece about what he saw in the forest.