A Closer Look at the Overture to “The Crucible”

Within the opening pages of The Crucible, Miller states: Salem Within the opening pages of The Crucible, Miller states: “They believed that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world” The name “Salem” is short for Jerusalem; the name reflects the Pilgrims’ conviction that they were the chosen people sent on a holy mission to establish a New Jerusalem in the North American wilderness. They believed they held a truth that all should follow.

After reading the overture to The Crucible, What do you know about Reverend Samuel Parris? What kind of man is he?

Act One: The Overture A. Reverend Parris: Believed he was being persecuted wherever he went A widower with no interest in nor talent with children

How would you characterize the Salem community How would you characterize the Salem community? What were the lives of its citizens like?

B. Salem Information: Had been established hardly 40yrs before the beginning of the play To Europe, the whole province was a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics They did not celebrate Christmas They had a “predilection for minding other people’s business”---nosy, gossipy

What did the townspeople of Salem believe about the forest that surrounded them?

It was full of mystery; it stood, dark and threatening, over them C. The forest wilderness: It was full of mystery; it stood, dark and threatening, over them Reverend Parris had members of his congregation who had lost family to these heathen The Salem folk “believed that the virgin forest was the Devil’s last preserve, his home base and the citadel of his final stand”

E. What does Miller say the purpose of the witch hunt was? D. What type of government did the people of Salem have? Theocracy: a combination of state and religious power, whose function was to keep the community together E. What does Miller say the purpose of the witch hunt was? an outlet for panic among all classes in response to greater individual freedoms an opportunity for everyone to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims

What were some of the townspeople’s motivations for accusing others of witchcraft?

F. Motivations for the accusations: Long-held hatreds of neighbors Desire for land (previously expressed in disputes over boundaries and deeds) Settling of old scores Suspicions and envy of the miserable toward the happy and prosperous -- and everything could be expressed under the cover of the holy battle between Lucifer and the Lord. One could condemn his neighbor and feel morally justified.