Friday, November 9, 2012

What type of "evidence" is being collected from those that are suspected of wrongdoing in the play The Crucible?

In Act Two, Ezekiel Cheever arrives at the home of the Proctors in order to arrest Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft.  She's been accused by Abigail Williams, who pulled a needle out of her stomach earlier that day and claimed that Elizabeth's spirit had pushed it in.  Cheever, therefore, asks Elizabeth to turn over any "poppets" or little rag dolls in her possession, and when he sees the poppet Mary Warren, her servant, had made and given to her, he is appalled to find a needle pushed into its belly.  This is considered very compelling evidence against Elizabeth, despite the fact that Mary Warren admits to placing the needle there for safekeeping.  


Further, Hale asks about John Proctor's spotty church attendance, citing the fact that he's been there only 26 times in 17 months, as well as the fact that his youngest child is unbaptized.  Hale also asks the Proctors if they can list all Ten Commandments; Elizabeth answers with certainty, John wavers.  When he forgets one, Hale says that "Theology [...] is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small."  Such things could very well be held against the Proctors in court, and so Hale advises them to go to church and get their son baptized.


In addition, the biggest piece of evidence the court has against Martha, Giles Corey's wife, is her husband's statements about how much she likes to read, the fact that she puts her books away when he asks about them, and his claim that he could not pray when she was in the house.


Finally, Mary Warren tells the Proctors about how Sarah Good claimed in court that she wasn't cursing when she was turned away empty-handed by Mary Warren; she said she was saying her commandments.  However, when she was asked to recite them, she could not name one.  This is also taken as evidence of her guilt in witchcraft.

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