The crucible was set in the 1500`s in a town called Salem where all the towns people go to church and live by the 10 commandments, also they are not aloud too have much fun. An audience today would probably be shocked by some of the dramatic moments that happened in the Salem witch trials. There are many dramatic moments in the crucible, such as when Elizabeth Proctor is called a witch by Abigail because she had an affair with her and breaks one of the 10 commandments. The opening moment is dramatic because the audience don’t know what is going on or if Betty is alive or dead.
Also I think that the audience Thinks that Abigail is sweet and is sorry for what she has done and now understands what she has done and is really worried about Betty. For example: “I would never hurt betty I love her dearly. ” Parris also makes this moment dramatic because he dos not want too lose his job as vicar in Salem. Proof of this is when he says too Abigail: “surely my enemies … will ruin me with it. ” Parris is feeling angry because he might lose his job so he shouts at Tituba. At this stage in the play the audience might think that he is really worried about Betty. He says: “dear child.
Will you wake, will you open up your eyes. ” The second dramatic moment is where Abigail and proctor met up. Proctor and Abigail had an affair and Abi wants him to tell her that he loves her: “give me your word john. ” But proctor says no he dose not want to play around with her any more. He says: “I’ll cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. ” This shows that Proctor seriously wants to stop their relationship because he wants to be loyal to his wife Elizabeth. However, Abi is desperate for John to come back to her and leave his wife: “she is a cold snivelling woman, and you bend to her! this means that john will do anything for his wife.
The audience don’t know who to be most sorry for – they might feel sorry for Proctor because Abi is insulting his wife. On the other hand the audience might sympathise with Abi because she is crying when she is begging proctor to love her, and also as proctor is shaking her violently. The result of Proctors decision is that Abi accuses him and his wife of being witches. The third dramatic moment is where Proctor accuses Abi of being a whore. He does this to make the judges doubt Abi’s word: “how do u call heaven! Whore! Whore! this shows that proctor is really angry with Abi, and he also grabs her by the hair. The audience feels most sympathetic to Proctor here because he is losing his reputation by admitting to adultery: “A man will not cast away his good name. ” He would not throw away his name for no reason. If Abi is found guilty then they will all go free, because Abi was the one making the claims that they are witches.
Danforth tries to test Elizabeth by asking her in private if she knew that her husband was sleeping with Abi. When Elizabeth questioned says: “in agony my husband is a goodly man sir. She doesn’t really know what to say, but she wants to defend her husband. She tries to avoid the question by saying that he is a good man. The audience might realise that whatever she says it will end up dreadfully, if she says yes then proctor might go to prison and the family will get a bad name and get bullied. If she says no then Proctors’ friends will be hung for being witches. Proctor is put under a lot of pressure in the crucible when he is called up to court and accuses Abi of being a whore, he does this to try to stop the judge from taking her word about Proctor’s friends from being hung.
Also Elizabeth is put under pressure when the judge asks her privately if her husband Proctor has had an affair, and she does not know what proctor wants her to say. I think this is related to the title of the play “the crucible”. I think this because the word crucible has two main meanings the first is “a vessel for melting a substance at very high temperatures”. I think the story relates to this because Proctor is put under extreme pressure.
The second meaning for the word is “a severe test”; I think it is a test for Proctor and Elizabeth’s relationship because of all the trials but they seem to come out of it better than they started. It is tragic that Proctor gets hung at the end of the play; this happens because he refuses to give up his name by signing a document which will be hung on the church and everyone will know that he confessed that he is a witch. Proctor says: “because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! ” In conclusion proctor is a good man and he regretted having an affair with Abi.
