Crucible Act IV Quiz

1.Act IV of the play shows themes of guilt and revenge and these themes have an impact on the characters. There are a few examples of the themes I would like to show and the effect they had on the characters. My first one would be Abigail. After Act III Abigail knows that Hale knows that she is lying about the people she accused and now she wants revenge on him and tries to accuse Mr. Hale's wife of witchcraft. Abigail also begins to feel the guilt come upon her and she runs away to Barbados with Tituba. Another example would be Elizabeth and John Proctor. Both of them begin to feel guilty for one another's series of unfortunate events. Elizabeth feels that if she would not have runned a cold house(she was sick and miserable) John would not have cheated on her. John feels he has been an unloving and greedy husband and now he feels the guilt of Elizabeth's accusation. Both of them feel they are the reason for one another's accusation. The themes of Act IV truely impacted the characters and create the conclusion for the play.

2. Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" is an extended metaphor of the Red Scare in America during the 1950's. The Crucible could also be an extended metaphor to 9/11. The Crucible basically represents the effects of mass hysteria and 9/11 has brought about mass hysteria in America. Citizens of the United States are now afraid of terroists and what might happen in the future and now everybody in this country looks at everybody with a little bit of fear because it is possible they might be a terroist. Another thing The Crucible shows is the revenge people have on others and this can also be tied in with 9/11. After 9/11, President Bush sent our troops to the middle east to find weapons of mass destruction. The only thing with that is there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Could the reason for sending troops over was because of revenge and to show them how powerful the U.S. is? Also now the government has enabled the Patriot Act which enables them to basically spy on anybody who they think is a terroist. Just like the Crucible 9/11 has brought about mass hysteria and if power ends up in the wrong hands things could get worse.