The Crucible - How are the aduience prepared for the rest of the play from act 1 - page 3
Keywords: How are the aduience prepared for the rest of the play from act 1
By ollyccfc on 17/11/2008
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 3 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
the audience that later in the play people will be accused of witchcraft. This is because we know he is an important figure within the village which means he will be a powerful influence when accusations of witchcraft start. Because of his influence in act 1, the idea of witchcraft is carried on through the play. If seven of his children hadn’t died and his remaining daughter wasn’t ill then the thought of witchcraft might have stopped. However because of Putnam’s power in the village, his views that witchcraft are the cause get noticed and therefore he helps to build the hysteria in Salem.
Abigail Williams is one of the most important characters in the play. In history she was 12 at the time but Miller changes it to 17 to make the plot more believable. Miller does not give us an introduction for her but the audience quickly learns that she is two faced, manipulative and a liar. We first see her in Act1 which tells the audience that she will be an important character in the play. She is speaking with reverend Parris and he is asking about them dancing in the woods. When he claims to have seen a girl naked she says “you must be mistaken uncle.” The audience learns that Abigail is a good liar and also disrespectful to her elders. She happily lies to her uncle and talks badly of Elizabeth Proctor “, a cold snivelling woman.” We also see how Abigail is ruthless and vicious. She threatens her friends by saying “, if you breathe a word, or the edge of a word then I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” This shows how ruthless Abigail is and the fact that she is independent. When talking to Betty, who is in bed sick, she smacks her round the face after Betty says “, you drank blood Abby,” and “, you drank a charm to kill goody proctor.” This would shock the audience at how much Abigail hates Elizabeth and it prepares the audience for what Abigail does in the rest of the play and also the way she acts with John Proctor. When Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft later in the play, the audience can understand Abigail’s motives. We realise that she is in love
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