The Crucible Act 1

In this scene, Abigail, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, and Betty discuss how they are going to talk themselves out of trouble: whether they should tell the truth, stretch the truth, lie, or try some other method. Her personality was shown through her actions when she quickly jumped to conclusions and readily accepted the half-brained rumors and explanations as to why their child was sick. This scene helped me to understand the story that was being developed in this play by showing me who believed what, who disliked whom, and how the characters handled it. This scene helped me to understand the story that was being developed in this play by showing me that the girls were only trying to have some fun in this dreary, austere existence. I think that in this scene Miller was trying to develop the relationships and boundaries between the characters, and show more clearly the personalities of the characters. I think that Miller was trying to show that Abigail was the root of the problem, the mastermind. This scene helped me to understand the characters by showing how they reacted to their situations and how they jumped to conclusions. The most basic concern under discussion in this scene is whether or not the Devil is involved and if he is, who did it and how? The characters that were most involved in this scene is Reverend Hale, Abigail, Parris, Giles, and Rebecca Nurse. This scene helped me to understand the characters and their personalities in this play through what lies they made up, how easily they agreed with Reverend Hale, and how desperate they were. The character whose personality was most clearly revealed was Abigail, when she explained the situation to the other girls and gave them the gist of how she thought they should get out of this situation.