THE CRUCIBLE: Arthur Miller's account of the REAL single greatest witchhunt in American history.
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I am a very young-looking actress. I'm often cast to play quirky, sweet, and shy teenagers. But I love it when I get the chance to use my youthful appearence in a super twisted way. That's what I'm doing today.
THE CRUCIBLE
By Arthur Miller
Although Abigail Williams may look sweet and innocent, she is anything but. She's a kid who got rejected for the first time in her life. She's hurt, and she's angry. So, she makes an accusation. Suddenly, she becomes the most powerful person in Salem.
This intimate look at the Salem Witch trials is not completely historically accurate. The historical facts that were changed are noted at the beginning of the play. Arthur Miller created these characters from trial records and letters. The play takes place in 1692 and it was written in 1953, when "witch hunting" was happening in America again- this time, the fear this time was communism. Miller himself was questioned by The House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities. The original production received bad reviews, but still went on to win the Tony, and to become a classic of the American Theatre.
Reverend Parris' young daughter, Betty lies motionless. He begs Abigail Williams, a seventeen-year-old orphan and friend of Betty's, to tell him what she and his daughter were doing in the woods before Betty got sick- he suspects witchcraft, curtousey of his maid Tituba, who was also in the woods that night. Abigail denies everything. Other young girls arrive, including Mary Warren (seventeen, a "subservient, naive, lonely girl"). We learn that they did dance and practice witchcraft that night, although Mary Warren claims she only looked. Abigail drank blood- a charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail violently threatens the girls so that they promise not to say anything.
Enter John Proctor. (Husband of the woman that Abigail tried to kill.) All of the girls except for Abigail quickly leave. Abigail attempts to seduce John Proctor- they've slept together before. John vows that he never will again, but Abigail is distraught- how dare he show her a whole new part of the world and then deprive her of that?
Fear is spreading throughout Salem. Children are dying and the people want answers. Abigail gives them the scapegoat they are looking for. Abigail is so cunning and manipulative that she gets Tituba to confess to witch craft. Betty rises from the bed with "a fever in her eyes." The act ends with Abigail and Betty accusing over a dozen women.
Act 2 begins with John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth (an amazing two-person scene.) Elizabeth catches John in a lie about Abigail, and loses all trust in him. Mary Warren enters to tell John that he must go back into Salem- thirty-nine women are now accused, and some of them will be hanged. She also reveals that Elizabeth has been accused. Abigail is trying to get rid of Elizabeth and take her place with John.
Mary Warren had given Elizabeth a puppet that day and when Elizabeth is questioned, the puppet is discovered to have a needle in its stomach. Ealier that night, Abigail had been having dinner. All of the sudden, she screamed and fell to the floor. When he went to help her, the Reverend discovered a needle plunged two inches into Abigail's stomach. Elizabeth is immediately arrested. End of Act 2.
Act 3 begins with the witch hunt spreading beyond Salem. Four hundred women are in jails and seventy-two are condemned to hang. The officials believe that because they've seen people choked and possessed with their own two eyes then it must be the truth. Mary Warren is brought into court. She breaks down, and admits that she has been lying. The rest of the girls are brought in. Abigail refuses to confess. Mary Warren is asked to prove that they were lying by pretending to faint the same way she did when she was "possessed." She cannot do it. But then Abigail says "A wind, a cold wind has come." And all the girls are freezing.
In the chaos, John admits that he slept with Abigail. In another room, his wife is being questioned. She is asked if John has ever slept with Abigial. To protect John, she says no. The count assumes that John is lying. Elizabeth is taken away, John is arrensted and sentanced to hang. Elizabeth visits John (another fantastic two-person scene) and he asks her if he should confess. She says it does not matter- it is his soul, not hers and she believes that he is a good man. The play ends when John is taken away to be hanged.
A WILD THING MAY SAY WILD THINGS. BUT NOT SO WILD, I THINK. I HAVE SEEN YOU SINCE SHE PUT ME OUT; I HAVE SEEN YOU NIGHTS.
I HAVE A SENSE FOR HEAT, JOHN, AND YOURS HAS DRAWN ME TO MY WINDOW, AND I HAVE SEEN YOU LOOKING UP, BURNING IN YOUR LONLINESS. DO YOU TELL ME YOU'VE NEVER LOOKED UP AT MY WINDOW?
I KNOW YOU, JOHN. I KNOW YOU. I CANNOT SLEEP FOR DREAMIN'; I CANNOT DREAM BUT I WAKE AND WALK ABOUT THE HOUSE AS THOUGH I FIND YOU COMIN' THROUGH SOME DOOR.
I LOOK FOR THE JOHN PROCTOR THAT TOOK ME FROM MY SLEEP AND PUT KMNOWLEDGE IN MY HEART! I NEVER KNEW WHAT PRETENSE SALEM WASS, I NEVER KNEW THE LYNG LESSONS I WAS TAUGHT BY ALL THESE CHRISTIAN WOMEN AND THEIR COVENANTED MEN! AND NOW YOU BID ME TEAR THE LIGHT OUT OF MY EYES? I WILL NOT, I CANNOT! YOU LOVE ME, JOHN PROCTOR, AND WHATEVER SIIN IT IS, YOU LOVE ME YET!
JOHN, PITY ME, PITY ME!
