The Crucible

What is John Proctor’s main reason for not attending church under the leadership of Reverend Parris?

• Proctor is too busy cleaning his land to travel the five miles to church

• Proctor has a guilty conscience over his relationship with Abigail

• Proctor is not a religious man and does not believe in God

• Proctor thinks Parris talks too much about money, mortgages, and hell

What does John Proctor believe is the underlying cause of hysteria in Salem?

• God’s wrath about his son

• Vengeance

• Illness from bad grain

• Too much religion

As stated by Judge Danforth, why are only the victims and the accused allowed to testify?

• The courtroom will be too crowded if others are allowed to testify

• The only witnesses to witchcraft are the victims and the witch, so no one else is needed

• The character and motives of other townspeople have been called to question

• The crowds may influence the children who have been afflicted

Which event illustrates situational irony?

• Abigail’s actions have landed her lover in jail

• Elizabeth’s defending her husband’s honor with a white lie

• John Proctor’s admission of lechery

• Abigail’s pretense of seeing a bird that tries to attack her

Mary Warren abandons her effort to tell the truth because

• She has a grudge against the Proctors

• Elizabeth has threatened her

• She wants to save her life

• She is possessed by the devil

The methods of the judges suggests that they are concerned chiefly with

• Strengthening Salem’s landowners

• Discovering the truth

• Defeating the devil

• Their own power

In Act 4, what reason does Judge Danforth give for refusing to reprieve or pardon those who will not confess?

• Doing so will make people doubt whether those who were executed were actually guilty

• He has evidence that they signed a pact with the devil

• Doing so will call his authority as a judge into question

• Doing so would be akin to defying the word of God

Why does Reverend Hale state that he has returned to Salem to “do the devil’s work”?

• He has been infected by the witchcraft and wants to claim more souls for the devil

• He has renounced his religion; therefore, anything he does is against God

• He is trying to get the accused to lie and say they are witches to save their lives

• He is following through with the court’s decision, even though he no longer believes it

It could be said that Samuel Parris is most concerned about

• God

• His job

• Witches

• Right and wrong

What factor(s) contributed to the witch hunts in Salem?

• Resentment among neighbors

• Theocratic leadership of Salem

• Social instability

• All are factors