How effective is act 1 as an introduction to the characters and society of Salem and the themes of the play; witch craft, persecution, hysteria and social restrictions?.
Act 1 is particularly good at portraying the hysteria. The whole act is performed in a small room with a sick child on the bed the claustrophobic setting exaggerates the mood and people are more self-conscious.
Throughout the scene all characters show a false face in public we see changes with everyone's body language and the way they speak depending on who they are with. The first we see of Reverend Paris, is him being very concerned about his daughter, he prays by her bed "Oh, my god! God help me! Betty. Child. Dear Child. Will you wake?" However as the scene progresses his mind strays and he is more concerned about starting a Witchhunt in Salem. Samuel Paris is an outsider he has been entered into a puritanical society to condone the fears of God and induce a greater fear of the Devil into the people. He is criticised by John Proctor and he believes that there is a conspiracy against him, proctor winds him up by saying "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him (Parris) preach only hellfire and bloody damnation!".
Many of the people believe themselves to be true Christians but deceit is one o the themes of the play. Abigail is portrayed as good and bad. The good side is the face that the majority of Salem sees. When Abigail is with her uncle she denies accusations of witchcraft she acts like she believes that what she has done was perfectly harmless she says " Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it - and I"ll be whipped if I must be. But they"re speaking of witchcraft. Bettys not witched!" However, when Abigail is with her peers she becomes a bully threatening to beat them and making sure they do as she says. This is constant throughout the play and is proved by the affect she has on them at the end of the scene.
Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, and the movie of the same name have many differences but also many similarities, all of which contribute to the individual effectiveness of each in conveying their central message. ... This scene is never found in the play, we only hear of it through a dialogue in Act 1. ...
