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The Crucible

When goodly Puritans go badly.

  • Course Length: 3 weeks
  • Course Type: Short Course
  • Category:
    • English
    • Literature
    • High School

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When someone says "17th-century Puritan village," you probably think bonnets, buckled shoes, a church on every corner, and a whole lot of praying.

But you could fill a whole book with what that rosy-eyed conception of the goodly Puritans of yore is missing.

In fact, it did fill a whole book. Well, a whole play, to be precise.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a dramatized account of the Salem Witch Trials. There's false accusations, mass hysteria, an execution on every corner, and yes, a whole lot of praying.

But The Crucible doesn't just capture one of the darkest, most morbidly fascinating moments in American history. It's also an allegory for the moral panic and media witch-hunts that still take place today—most specifically, the moral panic and media witch-hunt that was McCarthyism. If you're interested in the power of suggestion, group psychology, and the terrible influence of fear, this is the course for you.

And if the prospect of reading a play about murderous teens, forbidden love, and (feigned) demonic possession doesn't thrill you to the bone, this course also covers

  • the difference between dramas and other genres of literature.
  • universal themes, like power's corrupting influence, jealousy and revenge, and Shmoop's personal fave, moral ambiguity.
  • literary devices, including setting, character, irony, and symbolism.

So what are you waiting for? The witching hour is upon us.

Unit Breakdown

1 The Crucible - The Crucible

In this course, we'll examine witch hunts throughout history, the psychology behind labels, and the unthinkable trials humans subject each other to. Best of all, we'll be reading one of the most riveting plays of all time. (…The Crucible; duh.) Grab your old-timey butter churns and broomsticks, and let's get going.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.10: I Think, Therefore, I'm Right

A black and white photograph of an old courtroom
"You're out of order! The whole trial is out of order!"
(Source)

The next section includes this doozy of an exchange:

HATHORNE: Martha, will you not admit you are a witch?
MARTHA: I am not a witch. I don't even know what a witch is.
HATHORNE: Well, if you don't know what a witch is, how can you be so sure you aren't one?
MARTHA: What the what?

Okay, so we paraphrased a tad. Our point is, not only are these judges banking the lives of hundreds of people on the word of a half dozen naysayers, refusing to pay any heed to real evidence, and getting moody every time someone tries to point out the error of their ways…they're also not playing fair. Sure, they'll use logic (uh, sort of), but only when it plays into what they've already chosen to believe.

We'd like to point out that the court proceedings are all taking place inside a church. If that's not a perversion of religion, we don't know what is.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.10: Your Logic is Terrible and Your Breath Smells, Too

The claims that authority figures make in The Crucible are often contradictory, sort of like how Tituba and Abigail couldn't keep their stories straight in the beginning. That's how you know that they're making all of this up as they go along.

Remember in Act I when Hale tells Parris that the Devil may be targeting his house because he likes to go after the most important targets, like ministers? And then, just minutes later, he assures Betty that she's safe with him because the Devil can't overcome a minister?

Truly, Hale, you are of great genius.

But it's not just contradictions that lend humor—a very dark sort of humor—to this play. There's also levels upon levels of irony.

You probably already have a strong grasp of what irony entails, but what the hey. A recap never did anyone any harm.

Except that one time. Shmoop doesn't like to talk about that.

Irony comes in three main forms, most of which entail a contradiction (because we didn't have enough of those already) between literal meaning and actual meaning.

There's verbal irony, which has to do with the tension between what is said and what is really meant. Verbal irony is a lot like sarcasm, the only difference being that sarcasm is meant to be mocking, and verbal irony isn't necessarily.

Then there's situational irony, which plays on the difference between expectations and reality, or intention and result. If your dentist got a cavity, that would be situationally ironic.

Finally, there's dramatic irony, which is when the audience knows something the characters don't. Think Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. She doesn't know that the man she's been mooning after has been right in front of her all along. But we do.

As you read through the rest of Act III, make a note of any ironies or contradictions that stand out to you.

After you're done, feel free to cross-examine Shmoop's testimony on Act III.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.10a: Identifying Irony

  1. Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

    Good. Because we're going to put your understanding of irony to the test.

    Take a look at the following moments from the play, and explain, in 20–30 words each, why they are ironic.

    1. Near the end of Act I, Abigail declares that, though she wrote in the Devil's book, she "[goes] back to Jesus" now, and she follows this up by naming a number of her neighbors as witches.

    2. In Act II, when Hale asks him to recite the Ten Commandments, Proctor forgets only one—that regarding adultery.

    3. In Act III, John Proctor encourages Mary Warren to offer her testimony, telling her to "do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee."

    4. When Elizabeth Proctor is asked, on the stand, why she dismissed Abigail Williams as a servant, she lies to protect her husband.

    5. After Mary confesses to lying in her past accusations, Danforth declares:

      "I will tell you this—you are either lying now, or you were lying in the court, and in either case you have committed perjury and will go to jail for it."

    6. In Act III, after Mary Warren turns on John Proctor, the stage directions say, "Abigail, out of her infinite charity, reaches out and draws the sobbing Mary to her."

    7. Goody Osborne has been sentenced to death, but Sarah Good has been pardoned.

    8. People are conducting a witch-hunt in order to defeat the Devil.

  2. Now that you've examined and responded to these various instances of irony, tell us this: what do you think is the impact of this literary device on the play? Would the play be as strong without it?

    For instance, Shmoop might say that irony was a great way, on Miller's part, to expose and explore the rampant hypocrisy of many of the characters in this play. Hypocrisy, like irony, is based upon contradictions. In hypocrisy's case, it's the contradiction between what is said and what is done.

    Type up a 100 – 150-word reflection below, and feel free to use one of the examples of irony we listed in order to make your argument.

Expository Writing Rubric - 15 Points

OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
Evidence / Support

All support is clearly and logically connected to the topic. Examples, evidence, and details are thorough and relevant with effective explanation.

(6)

All support about the main topic is relevant. Examples, evidence, and details are explained.

(5)

Most support is related to the topic. Examples, evidence, or details are given.

(5)

Insufficient examples, evidence, or details. Support may be irrelevant.

(4)
Content Understanding

All content is accurate and analysis is interesting and sophisticated.

(6)

All content is accurate.

(5)

May contain minor errors.

(5)

Major errors.

(4)
Style

Language is clear and interesting. Enhances presentation of information. No errors.

(3)

Language is clear and appropriate to topic. Minor spelling or grammatical errors.

(3)

Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Frequent spelling/grammar errors that do not impede comprehension.

(2)

Language use makes writing very difficult to understand. Frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension.

(2)

Sample Lesson - Activity

  1. What does Danforth first say about Giles Corey's deposition?

  2. John says that his wife, Elizabeth Proctor,

  3. In Act III, Hale gradually begins to realize that

  4. When Abigail and the girls join Mary in the courtroom, they

  5. At the end of Act III John Proctor is

  6. Who says the following line? "…I dare not take a life without there be a proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it."

  7. Abigail first defends herself against Mary Warren's claims by

  8. When he says "there might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it," John Proctor is referring to

  9. Danforth asks Mary Warren to prove her story by

  10. Who says the following line? "I say-I say- God is dead!"