Crucible/Scarlet Letter Essay Matt Linton Crucibles in Salem “I am only wondering how I may prove what she [Abigail] told me, Elizabeth. If the girl’s a saint now, I think it is not easy to prove she’s a fraud, and the town gone so silly. She told it to me in a room alone—I have no proof for it.”-Act 2, Page 53. The word “crucible” means a severe test or trial. The quote above shows how during the witch trials, it was close to impossible to give proof of someone being a witch. That you could not show the court hard evidence of the “supernatural occurrences” of the devil’s doing to support your side of the story in court. Which relates to the definition of the word “crucible” by showing that there were severe trials going on in the play which relates to the meaning of the title. To help better explain how the title relates to the play, the text includes trials which characters are put through to prove their innocence of not signing their name to the devil. …show more content…
Proctor. In the play Mr. Proctor is visited at his house by Reverend Hales. Hales asks if the family knows their 10 commandments. After Goodie Proctor says she has no doubt in knowing them he turns to John. John gets through 9 of the 10 commandments and then gets stumped. His wife quickly notices and jumps in to remind him of the last one, as if he had drawn a blank. Along with this test, Mr. Proctor is put through a trial in front of the judges of the town. During this trial the judges ask Mr. Proctor a series of very challenging questions to see if he is guilty of practicing witchcraft in the town of Salem. These events, which include Mr. Proctor going through tests and trials are examples which connect to the title of the play “The Crucible”, which again means a severe test or