List of Characters in The Crucible with Descriptions
June 22, 2024
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1953) is a thrilling depiction of American religious paranoia. This article will provide a detailed list of the characters in The Crucible with descriptions. Once you’re familiar with the characters, you’ll be better able to read and understand Miller’s biting social commentary.
All page numbers reference the 2015 edition of the text from Penguin Classics.
For summaries of each Act of The Crucible click below
Click here to read the 4 Most Important Themes in The Crucible.
The Crucible Characters (in order of appearance)
Reverend Parris
Like many of the characters in Miller’s The Crucible, Reverend Samuel Parris is based on a historical figure. In his secondary narration, Miller describes Parris as “cutting a villainous path” (13). According to Miller, Parris believed that “he was being persecuted wherever he went” (13). It is in this context that the reader meets this character, praying over the bed of his daughter, Betty.
While the conditions that allow for the events of The Crucible are complex and multifaceted, Parris really does bear most of the responsibility for starting the witch-panic. While he initially resists the belief that witchcraft is to blame for his daughter’s spell, he becomes an enthusiastic backer of the accusations in act three. However, as the play progresses, he begins to have his doubts. Eventually, he begs Deputy Governor Danforth to pardon the remaining prisoners. The last we see of Parris is him pleading for the life of John Proctor.
Betty Parris
Betty is Parris’ daughter and the catalyst for the events in the play. When the play opens, she, along with Ruth Putnam, has taken ill. Though Reverend Parris would deny it, there are those in the village who believe her sickness to be caused by witchcraft. The previous night, Parris caught Betty dancing in the forest with Abigail and Tituba. (While it’s not entirely clear who else was with them in the forest, we know that Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis were present.)
Though Betty disappears after the first scene, she serves an important narrative function. It’s through Betty that we find out that Abigail drank a blood-charm to kill John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. At the end of act one, Betty joins Abigail and Tituba in rattling off a list of names of those women who they saw with the Devil. The historical Betty would later move away from Salem, live an uneventful life, and died in 1760.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Tituba
Tituba was the woman enslaved to Reverend Parris. The historical Tituba was Native American, but Tituba in The Crucible comes from Barbados. Whatever her origins, she is the most vulnerable member of the Parris household. When Reverend Parris tells Abigail that he saw Tituba “swaying like a dumb beast over that fire” when he came upon them in the forest, Abigail throws Tituba under the bus and accuses her of witchcraft (20). When questioned, Tituba almost spills the beans about the blood-charm she made for Abigail, but Abigail escalates her accusations.
It turns out that the Putnams have also enlisted the services of Tituba – they sent their daughter Ruth to Tituba to talk to the souls of their dead babies. When Reverend Hale starts to question Tituba about her Devilry, she knows that the only way she’s going to get out of this situation alive is to start naming witches. Once she starts naming names, Abigail and Betty chime in.
At the beginning of the play, it’s clear that Tituba is only telling Reverends Hale and Parris what they want to hear. She understands perfectly that unless she confesses and comes up with a list of names, she’s going to hang. Ultimately, it does her no good. In act four, we see Tituba and Goody Good taken out to the scaffold. It seems that both have gone insane during their imprisonment – they’re now talking openly about going to see the Devil in Barbados.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Abigail Williams
If there’s a “villain” in the play, it’s Abigail Williams. She leads the group of girls whose accusations cause innocent people to hang. When her uncle, the Reverend Parris, begins to question her about what she was doing in the forest, Abigail is at pains to hide the fact that she drank a blood-charm to kill John Proctor’s wife. Preternaturally sensitive to what others expect (or desire) with “an endless capacity for dissembling” – she begins accusing villagers of witchcraft to hide her own guilt (18).
Though they begin as simply a way to hide her own guilt, Abigail’s accusations take on a life of their own. By act three, she and the other girls have accused dozens of people in the village and Abigail has taken aim at Elizabeth Proctor. The reason for this is that Abigail is in love/lust with Elizabeth’s husband, John. We find out in act one that they had a sexual relationship some months before the events of the play. John eventually comes to court to try to discredit Abigail (and admit his lechery), but Abigail’s performances of witchery are too convincing. By the end of the play, with the end of the witch-panic in sight, Abigail steals her uncle’s money and disappears with Mercy Lewis.
I’ve written about it in other posts, but I want to put in a kind word for Abigail. It’s easy to dismiss Abigail Williams as “Sweet but Psycho” – to take the title of an Ava Max song – but remember, Abigail was an orphan with few social prospects. Since her dalliance with Proctor, her marriageability is nearly nil, but by act three, she’s dining with “four judges and the King’s deputy” (59). While her actions were clearly wrong, we can’t forget that she’s just 17 years old.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Susanna Walcott
Susanna Walcott is a friend of Abigail. Described as “nervous” and “hurried,” she joins Abigail and the group of girls who accuse villagers of witchcraft (18).
Ann Putnam
Ann is the wife of Thomas Putnam, one of the richest men in the village. Ann’s daughter Ruth takes sick at the same time as Betty Parris, so Ann suspects witchcraft. Having lost seven children, Ann had surreptitiously sent Ruth to Tituba to talk to the souls of her seven dead babies. This grief leads her to accuse Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft.
Thomas Putnam
Along with Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam is the main instigator of the tragedy in The Crucible. Miller’s secondary narration presents Putman as having a “vindictive nature” whose accusations seem motivated by resentment and greed. When their daughter, Ruth, falls sick, Putnam and his wife show up quickly to Betty’s bedside. In his conversation with Parris, Putnam seems to be champing at the bit to accuse people of witchcraft.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Mercy Lewis
Mercy is the Putnam’s servant and a friend of Abigail. She was in the forest with Abigail and the other girls and later joins them in their accusations.
Mary Warren
Mary is the Proctor’s housekeeper. She too was in the forest with Abigail and the other girls. After Elizabeth is arrested, John brings Mary to the court to confess that she and the other girls had made everything up. Mary tries to stay strong, but Abigail’s influence is too much. Mary recants, accuses Proctor of devilry, and rejoins Abigail and the girls.
John Proctor
If there is a hero in The Crucible, it is John Proctor. It is John who stands up to Abigail and the other accusers and it is John who is hanged for his principles. Miller describes John as possessing “quiet confidence and an unexpressed, hidden force” (27). At the same time, Proctor is a man in conflict with himself. Some months before the beginning of the play, Proctor had sex with (the 17-year-old!) Abigail Williams when she was their housekeeper. He confessed this sin to his wife and Elizabeth put Abigail out.
As more people are arrested, John decides to go to Salem to denounce Abigail. His efforts fail and he too is accused. He is arrested, tortured, and set to hang. In act four, John tells Elizabeth that he is considering confessing. In his mind, he is already a sinner (lechery) – why not add lying to the list? Proctor signs a confession, but balks when Danforth wants to hang it on the church door. Ultimately, Proctor decides he cannot betray his good name and tears up his confession. The play ends with his death by hanging.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Rebecca Nurse
A seventy-two-year-old voice of reason in the village. Accused of witchcraft, she refuses to confess and is hanged at the end of the play.
Giles Corey
A well-meaning (if particularly litigious) character, Giles Corey speaks out against the trial and is subsequently accused of witchcraft. Unlike the others, Giles refuses to plead guilty or not. Because he refuses to plead, Giles cannot be tried and is instead pressed to death by heavy stones. (I believe the pressing was to get him to plead.) In a moment of particular badassery, Giles’ last words were reportedly “More weight!”
Reverend John Hale
Called to Salem by Reverend Parris, Hale is the expert in demonology whose expertise will decide whether witchcraft is present in Salem. During his initial interview with Abigail, Tituba, and Betty, Hale is convinced that witches run wild in Salem. However, over the course of the play, Hale begins to doubt. By act three, Hale has denounced the proceedings and quit the court. Hale returns in act four to try to convince the remaining prisoners to confess.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Elizabeth Proctor
Elizabeth is John Proctor’s wife and kicked Abigail to the curb when John confessed his lechery. When the accusations of witchcraft start, Elizabeth knows that it’s only a matter of time until Abigail accuses her. Elizabeth is subsequently arrested, though her execution is delayed because she is pregnant. When John decides not to confess, Elizabeth declares that “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (126).
Francis Nurse
Francis Nurse is the husband of Rebecca Nurse. He comes with John Proctor to the courthouse in act three to try to sway the court.
Ezekiel Cheever
A tailor by trade, Ezekiel serves as the clerk of the court during the trials. Cheever brings the warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest.
List of Characters in the Crucible with Descriptions (Continued)
Marshal Herrick
We first see Marshal Herrick when he comes with Ezekiel Cheever to arrest Elizabeth. Apparently, the guilt of arresting innocent people weighs on him – by act four he’s quite drunk and gives some cider to Sarah Good before she’s hanged.
Judge Hawthorne
One of two judges in The Crucible, Hawthorne is present in act three and four. He takes a more authoritarian position toward Mary Warren in the court and supports Danforth in act four.
Deputy Governor Danforth
Danforth is the ultimate representative of the government of Massachusetts in Salem. While his judgments are informed by theology (“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”), his primary concern is societal stability. As such, he is uninterested in real justice – he would rather more innocent people die than admit that the court was wrong.
Sarah Good
Sarah Good was a homeless woman in Salem. Living as she does on the margins of society, she is an easy person to accuse of witchcraft. Imprisoned for months, Sarah Good goes insane at the end of the play. Both she and Tituba believe they are going to Barbados to meet the Devil.
Wrapping Up – Characters in the Crucible
There can be no doubt that the themes and concerns of Miller’s The Crucible continue to resound. Each of the characters discussed above is trying their best to navigate an unjust system steeped in prejudice and paranoia. If you’ve found this article useful or interesting, I’ve also written on 1984, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, and Brave New World.
