 Hello and welcome. Now in this video we'll be going over a revision summary of Arthur Miller's infamous play, The Crucible. Now this video is really useful if you're studying this play as part of your course worker exams, so let's get started. Now in this video we will discuss a summary of the plot, so let's begin with the events of Act 1. Now set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible begins in the sparsely furnished bedroom of Reverend Samuel Paris' daughter Betty, who's an acoma. His West Indian slave Tituba asks after Betty but is sent away. Paris, who spied Betty and her friends in the woods the night before, worries about how his parishioners will react to rumours that witchcraft is afoot. He questions his niece Abigail Williams and insists they were only dancing. Now Abigail, who has insisted that they were just dancing, was actually dismissed from the proctor's service to the proctor family under very suspicious circumstances. However Abigail Williams asserts her innocence saying that Elizabeth Proctor, the wife, is spreading lies about her. We also learned that Anne and Thomas Putnam's daughter Ruth is also acting strangely and they arrive to the father and mother to raise additional suspicions. Insisting that witchcraft is afoot, they encourage Reverend Paris to lead the town's people outside in prayer. He agrees to do this as the Putnam's are really important in the community and he wants to say in the favour. Meanwhile, we learn more about what happened in the woods from a discussion between Abigail and two other servant girls who arrive called Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren. Now, Mercy was dancing naked and Abigail was involved in a spell to harm Elizabeth Proctor while Mary had watched from behind the trees. When they do forcefully wake Betty, she tries to fly out of the window. She then is threatened by Abigail not to reveal the truth. Now, John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor's husband, then arrives to find out what's going on and send his servant Mary home. Now, John Proctor is left alone with Abigail and she admits the girls were playing games in the woods but they were not involved in witchcraft. She also speaks to him and complains about his neglect and it's clear that she believes he still has feelings for her. He insists that they'll never be together again. But he then screams and the others return along with two elders, Rebecca Nurse and Giles Quarry. Rebecca calms Betty while Proctor antagonizes Paris by accusing him of stirring up unfounded suspicions. Proctor states his dislike of Paris' authority and Putnam gets drawn into an argument over property. Reverend Hale, who has been sent for by Paris, tries to interrogate the people of Salem. Reverend Hale rather pompously takes charge and Proctor leaves unhappy with the idea of a witch hunt, warning Hale to be really circumspect. Anne then confesses that she'd sent her daughter to Tituber to ask her to conjure up the dead to find out why Anne Putnam has lost seven children in childbirth. Rebecca really dislikes this superstitious conversation and thus leaves. Giles asks Hale about his own wife's tendency to read books, explaining that it disturbs his praying. Hale and Paris question Betty, who doesn't respond. They then question Abigail further about events in the woods and she blames Tituber, saying that Tituber, the slave, made her drink blood and tempted her to ally herself with the devil. Tituber, however, denies she's had any contact with the devil but when Paris declares, you will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death. She becomes fearful for her life. Tituber then confesses and is led by a questioner's to name Sarah Good and Goodie Osburn as conspirators. Then Abigail and Betty add more names and Act 1 ends with the adults scurrying to arrest the accused. Act 2 occurs eight days later at the Proctor's house and we see evident tension between Elizabeth, the wife, and Proctor her husband as she's hurt over his affair with Abigail and he feels really guilty. He's tried to make amends with her and is really annoyed by her lack of forgiveness but she suspects that he still harbors feelings for Abigail. Mary, the servant girl, has become an official of a court organised to try the witches and 14 people are in jail. Elizabeth urges Proctor to proclaim what Abigail has said about the girl's only playing games, however Proctor is really fearful as he will not be believed, that's what he fears, and he grows angry at Elizabeth's continued suspicion of him. Mary, the servant, then returns and gives Elizabeth a puppet, a homemade doll, which she sew whilst she was sitting in court. She then informs them of the escalation of arrests and threatened hangings saying that even Elizabeth has been named as a suspect. She then insists that she spoke in Elizabeth's defence but recognising her newly acquired power, she then stands up to Proctor when he threatens her before going to bed. Realising his wife's life is now in danger, Proctor then agrees to go to town and at this point Reverend Hill arrives. Now Reverend Hill is really uncertain about the girl's latest accusations but he's sure that evil is at work. He's just come from Rebecca Nurse whose name has also been mentioned and he questions a couple about their religious adherents asking why they don't regularly attend church and why their youngest son is not baptised. This is when Proctor admits that he actually dislikes Paris but has done many things for the church. Then when Reverend Hill asks him to name the 10 Commandment Proctor significantly forgets adultery until his wife Elizabeth reminds him. At Elizabeth's prompting Proctor shares his doubts about Abigail's veracity, her truth telling but Hill is really unsure. Then Frances Nern, Nurse and Gals arrive to announce that their wives have also been arrested. Hill is really shaken but he insists that the court will be fair a belief he reasserts as the marshal arrives to arrest Elizabeth who's been denounced by Abigail. They take the poppet as proof that Elizabeth has been involved in questionable activities. It's got a needle in its stomach and Abigail behaved in court as if someone was stabbing her in the stomach. Although Mary, the servant insists that she made the poppet and gave it to Elizabeth as a gift Elizabeth's violent response to Abigail's accusation insisting that she must be ripped out of the world convinces them that she needs to be cross-examined. Although Proctor angrily tears the warrant, his wife does agree to go. The husbands then urge Reverend Hill to act but as he insists that the town must be guilty of something for this whole witchcraft have happened, Proctor falls silent, evidently thinking about his own sin. Left alone with Mary, Proctor insists that she must help him clear his wife's name but Mary is really fearful of Abigail. Proctor then asserts preparedness to confess his own adultery to destroy the court's faith in Abigail and this is where Act 2 ends. Now Act 3 occurs in an anti-rumour outside the courtroom where we hear Judge Haythorn cross-examine Martha Quarry. Gals disrupts the proceedings to defend her and he's then brought before the court by Governor Danforth Now in charge, Francis, his wife Rebecca has been condemned, also comes forth to insist that the girls are lying. Though threatened with contempt of court, he endures stand firm. Proctor then arrives with Mary as a witness for he's convinced her that she must testify against Abigail. Danforth fears that Proctor is trying to undermine his court rather than just save his wife. Elizabeth has also declared herself pregnant and Proctor insists it must be true as his wife is incapable of lying. Pointing out that they won't hang a pregnant woman, Danforth suggests Proctor drop his protest but Proctor refuses as other innocents are involved. Danforth is shown a list of people who feel the wives are wrongly accused but to the horror of the husbands he orders everyone on the list to be arrested for questioning. Gals accuses Putnam of prompting his daughter to cry witchery on people in order to get their property but when he refuses to name his source he's arrested. Hell is becoming concerned about these really high-handed responses. His doubts evidently on the rise and he suggests a lawyer be engaged to deal with Mary but Danforth insists on continuing his investigation himself. Danforth harshly questions Mary but with encouragement from Proctor, she stands firm. Danforth then has Abigail and the girls brought in to defend themselves and Abigail tries to deflect the charges but Proctor's insistence on her bad character begins to make Danforth unsure. Proctor gets Paris to confess to seeing Abigail dance in the woods to help build his case. To reassert control, Hawthon asks Mary to illustrate how she pretends to faint in court when she can't they decide she must be lying. Abigail then leads the girls to act as if Mary was sending a spirit against them and Mary panics. Proctor then pronounces Abigail to be a whore and confesses his own adultery with her. Since Abigail denies it, Elizabeth is thus brought in as Proctor's wife to confirm the charge as Proctor does say that she knew. However Elizabeth doesn't know that her husband has confessed so she lies to save his reputation and declares that no adultery took place. So despite Hell's claims that it was a natural lie to tell, Danforth still refuses to believe that adultery took place. As the girls reassert the Mary spirit that is attacking them, Mary breaks down and thus accuses Proctor of being in league with the devil. All the judges accept Hell who now starts to feel like he needs to denounce the proceedings are convinced by this performance and thus they have Proctor arrested. When asked to confess, Proctor actually declares that God is dead and this scene ends with him accusing all the judges of being damned for the part in such events. Now we get to the final act, Act 4 which is the final and climactic act. Now by this act, 3 months have passed and Seragood and Tituba, the slave of Paris, who confess themselves witches, sit languishing in jail. A drunken martial herrick moves them to a different cell as they call to the devil for release. Danforth and Harthorn, having had 12 people hanged or at least 7 more, including Proctor, Rebecca and Martha. Hell is advised in prisoners to just confess in order to avoid death and they feel that Paris is becoming unhinged by the pressure. They hope to get someone to confess to make their case valid and Paris suggests delaying the executions. We also learn that Abigail and Mercy have absconded the runaway with Paris' savings and he's fearful that the rumoured rebellion in nearby Andover will spread to Salem. Reverend Hell also enters to admit his failure in getting Rebecca to confess and demands that those awaiting execution be pardoned. However Danforth insists that they must continue to justify the case against those who had already been hanged. They decide to ask Elizabeth Proctor to encourage her husband Proctor himself to confess and although she suspects that there's trickery, she agrees to speak with him. Now left alone with her husband, we see by their physical descriptions that they've both really suffered in jail. Elizabeth relates how Giles had died under torture and Proctor confides his decision to confess not feeling worthy enough to die beside Rebecca and Martha. Elizabeth then insists on his worthiness and she shoulders the blame over his adultery because of a form of coldness. She leaves him to make his own decision but wanting to live for her sake, Proctor announces that he will give them the confession they want. The judges then return excited about his confession to which they bring a horrified Rebecca as a witness. To Proctor's growing discomfort, they have Cheever write it down for him to sign. However Proctor refuses to name anyone else's accomplice and although he signs a confession, he refuses to hand it over for public display knowing it's going to be used against the others. Admitting his confession is a lie, he tears it apart. Proctor recognises the dignity of his moral stance and chooses to die beside the others. Danforth then orders the hangings to proceed and Proctor and Rebecca are taken outside. First Paris, then Hill, plead with Elizabeth to intervene but honouring her husband's decision she refuses. This final act ends as the curtain falls to the sound of the drums heralding the executions. So that's all when it comes to a summary of what's happened in all four acts of The Crucible. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to our channel. And of course, if you do need any additional information, do visit our website www.firstretutors.com but also sign up to our course where we go over The Crucible in far more detail. Thank you so much for listening.