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Questions on The Crucible
Here are forty multiple-choice questions on The Crucible by Arthur Miller you can practice with, along with the answers.
1. Where does the opening scene of Act 1 take place?
A) In the low, dark common room of John Proctor’s farmhouse.
B) In the vestry room of the Salem meeting house.
C) In a small upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris.
D) In a dark, heavy-doored cell in the Salem jail.
2. What is Reverend Parris’s primary concern regarding his daughter Betty’s mysterious illness?
A) That he will not be able to afford Doctor Griggs’s medical bills.
B) That his enemies will use the scandal of witchcraft to ruin him and drive him from his pulpit.
C) That Abigail Williams is secretly poisoning her.
D) That the illness will spread to the rest of the children in Salem.
3. What does Reverend Parris say he saw Abigail, Betty, and the other girls doing in the forest?
A) Reading books of black magic that belonged to Martha Corey.
B) Planning to murder Goody Proctor.
C) Dancing like heathens around a fire, with Tituba waving her arms.
D) Forging a pact with the Devil in a black book.
4. Why does Ann Putnam admit that she sent her daughter, Ruth, to Tituba?
A) To learn how to speak Barbados languages and sing songs.
B) To be cured of a mysterious illness that the local doctor couldn’t solve.
C) To fetch water and help her with chores around the Putnam estate.
D) To conjure the spirits of Ann’s seven dead infants to find out who murdered them.
5. What does Abigail Williams threaten to do to the other girls if they reveal that she drank blood as a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor?
A) She will run away to Barbados and leave them to take the blame.
B) She will bring a “pointy reckoning” to them in the night to make them wish they had never seen the sun go down.
C) She will claim that Mary Warren forced her to do it.
D) She will have them hanged as witches by the Deputy Governor.
6. What past relationship is revealed between John Proctor and Abigail Williams when they are left alone?
A) They are distant cousins who grew up together in Salem.
B) They had a physical affair while she was a servant in his house, which he now wishes to end.
C) Proctor owes Abigail a large sum of money for her past labour.
D) Abigail previously saved Proctor’s life in an Indian attack, and he is indebted to her.
7. How does the sensible and respected Rebecca Nurse explain the strange behaviour of the girls?
A) She blames it on loose spirits and the Devil’s work in the community.
B) She believes they have been poisoned by Tituba’s soup.
C) She thinks Reverend Parris is secretly terrifying them with his preaching.
D) She dismisses it as a child’s “silly season” and says they will wake when they tire of the mischief.
8. During the gathering in Parris’s house, what do the men (Proctor, Parris, Putnam, and Corey) begin to bitterly argue about?
A) Parris’s demand for the deed to his house, his salary and firewood, and contested land boundaries.
B) The date of the next town meeting and who should lead it.
C) How to best treat Betty’s illness and whether to use medicine or prayer.
D) Who should ride to Boston to fetch the Governor for the trials.
9. When Reverend John Hale of Beverly arrives to investigate the situation, what does he bring with him?
A) A signed warrant for Abigail Williams’s arrest.
B) Medicinal herbs and potions to cure the girls.
C) Half a dozen heavy books that are “weighted with authority.”
D) A cross and holy water to drive out the Devil.
10. Why does Tituba “confess” to witchcraft and name Sarah Good and Goody Osburn?
A) Because she genuinely wants to serve the Devil and overthrow Salem.
B) Because Reverend Hale offers her a large sum of money to cooperate.
C) Because Abigail tricked her into signing a false confession.
D) Because she is terrified by threats of being whipped to death or hanged, and sees confession as her only way to survive.
11. What does John Proctor do when he first enters the house before Elizabeth comes downstairs?
A) He cleans his rifle and sets it by the door.
B) He tastes the stew cooking on the fire and adds a pinch of salt to it.
C) He looks for Mary Warren to scold her.
D) He hides a poppet in the cupboard.
12. What gift does Mary Warren give to Elizabeth Proctor when she returns from court?
A) A silver comb
B) A Bible
C) A small rag doll (poppet) that she made while passing time in court
D) A bouquet of lilacs
13. According to Mary Warren, why will Sarah Good not be hanged?
A) She successfully proved her innocence to the Deputy Governor.
B) She is related to Judge Hathorne.
C) She confessed to making a compact with Lucifer and writing her name in his black book.
D) She managed to escape from the Salem jail.
14. What does Elizabeth believe is Abigail’s true motive for mentioning her name in court?
A) Abigail wants to steal the Proctors’ land.
B) Abigail is seeking revenge because Elizabeth whipped her.
C) Abigail genuinely believes Elizabeth is a witch.
D) Abigail wants Elizabeth dead so she can take her place as John Proctor’s wife.
15. When Reverend Hale visits the Proctors’ house, what does he ask them to do to prove their “Christian character”?
A) Recite the Ten Commandments.
B) Prove that all of their children are baptised.
C) Recite the Lord’s Prayer without stumbling.
D) Swear an oath of loyalty to Reverend Parris.
16. Which commandment does John Proctor ironically forget when tested by Reverend Hale?
A) Thou shalt not steal.
B) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
C) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
D) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
17. What specific charge has led to the arrest of the highly respected Rebecca Nurse?
A) The supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s babies.
B) Bewitching Walcott’s pigs so they die within four weeks.
C) Dancing naked in the forest with Tituba.
D) Sending her spirit to choke the girls in the courtroom.
18. What does Ezekiel Cheever discover inside the poppet sitting on the Proctors’ mantel?
A) A piece of paper with Abigail’s name on it.
B) A long needle stuck in its belly.
C) A drop of chicken blood.
D) A torn page from a prayer book.
19. How does John Proctor react when Cheever presents the warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest?
A) He breaks down and weeps.
B) He begs Hale to speak to the Deputy Governor.
C) He furiously rips the warrant up and orders them out of his house.
D) He violently attacks Marshal Herrick.
20. At the end of the act, why does Mary Warren say she cannot testify in court about how the poppet got the needle?
A) She is afraid the judges will hang her as a witch.
B) She claims she has lost her memory of the event.
C) She is terrified that Abigail will kill her and charge Proctor with lechery.
D) She secretly wants Elizabeth to hang so she can take over the household.
21. Where does Act 3 take place?
A) In the low, dark common room of John Proctor’s farmhouse.
B) In the vestry room of the Salem meeting house.
C) In a small upper bedroom in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris.
D) In a dark, heavy-doored cell in the Salem jail.
22. What deal does Deputy Governor Danforth offer John Proctor to persuade him to drop his charge against the court?
A) He offers to pardon Proctor’s friends if Proctor confesses to witchcraft.
B) He offers to let Elizabeth live for another year because she claims to be pregnant.
C) He promises to arrest Abigail Williams and spare Mary Warren.
D) He promises to return Giles Corey’s forfeited land.
23. What is Danforth’s reaction to the testament signed by ninety-one landowners declaring their good opinion of Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and Martha Corey?
A) He dismisses the charges against the three women immediately.
B) He orders warrants to be drawn for the arrest and examination of all ninety-one signers.
C) He ignores the paper and refuses to read it in court.
D) He accuses Francis Nurse of forging the signatures to overthrow the court.
24. What specific accusation does Giles Corey make against Thomas Putnam?
A) That Putnam sent his spirit to choke the girls in the courtroom.
B) That Putnam danced in the woods with Tituba and Abigail.
C) That Putnam coldly prompted his daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs in order to buy his forfeited land.
D) That Putnam stole lumber from Proctor’s property by the riverside.
25. Why is Giles Corey arrested for contempt of court?
A) He physically attacks Thomas Putnam in the vestry room.
B) He refuses to give the name of the honest man who heard Putnam’s plans.
C) He yells that Danforth and Hathorne are frauds.
D) He rips up Mary Warren’s deposition in a fit of rage.
26. To prove that she had previously been pretending, what does Judge Hathorne demand that Mary Warren do in front of the court?
A) Drink a potion made by Tituba.
B) Recite the Ten Commandments without stumbling.
C) Pretend to faint and turn herself cold.
D) Stick a needle into a poppet without showing pain.
27. What drastic action does John Proctor take to discredit Abigail Williams in the eyes of the court?
A) He publicly confesses that he committed lechery with her, calling her a whore.
B) He proves that she was the one who stuck the needle in the poppet.
C) He brings in Susanna Walcott to testify that Abigail drank blood.
D) He points out that she laughed during prayer in the meeting house.
28. When Danforth calls Elizabeth Proctor into the room to test John’s confession, what does she do?
A) She angrily confirms John’s lechery and condemns him to the judges.
B) She faints from the immense stress of the questioning.
C) She lies and denies that her husband is a lecher to protect his good name.
D) She admits that she kept poppets to perform witchcraft against Abigail.
29. How do Abigail and the other girls react when Mary Warren’s testimony threatens to expose them?
A) They confess to the court and ask Reverend Hale for forgiveness.
B) They claim to see Mary’s spirit in the form of a yellow bird and hysterically mimic her words.
C) They attack John Proctor and accuse him of forcing them to lie.
D) They run out of the meeting house in terror and refuse to return.
30. What does Reverend Hale do at the end of Act 3 after Proctor is arrested?
A) He signs a warrant for Elizabeth’s death.
B) He agrees that Proctor is allied with the anti-Christ.
C) He denounces the proceedings and quits the court.
D) He begs Danforth to arrest Abigail Williams.
31. Where does the opening scene of Act 4 take place?
A) A cell in the Salem jail during the fall.
B) The vestry room of the Salem meeting house.
C) Reverend Parris’s house in the spring.
D) John Proctor’s farmhouse in the winter.
32. Who do Tituba and Sarah Good mistake for “His Majesty” coming to fly them to Barbados?
A) Reverend Hale.
B) A bellowing cow.
C) Deputy Governor Danforth.
D) Marshal Herrick.
33. What startling news does Reverend Parris bring to Deputy Governor Danforth regarding his niece, Abigail Williams?
A) She has confessed to pretending and begged for forgiveness.
B) She has been killed in a rebellion in the neighbouring town of Andover.
C) She has broken into his strongbox, stolen thirty-one pounds, and vanished.
D) She has accused Deputy Governor Danforth of witchcraft.
34. Why is Reverend Parris desperately pleading for a postponement of the hangings?
A) He finally believes that John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse are completely innocent.
B) He feels immense guilt for having started the witch-hunt in the first place.
C) He fears for his own life because a dagger clattered to the ground when he opened his door.
D) He wants more time for Reverend Hale to find the actual witches in Salem.
35. What is Deputy Governor Danforth’s primary argument for refusing to pardon or postpone the executions?
A) The Bible strictly forbids pardoning a witch under any circumstances.
B) Twelve have already hanged, and a postponement would look like “floundering” on his part, casting doubt on the guilt of those who already died.
C) He wants to punish Reverend Parris for losing control of Abigail.
D) He believes that if he shows mercy, the Andover rebellion will spread to Salem.
36. What is Reverend Hale’s tragic motivation for begging the prisoners to falsely confess to witchcraft?
A) He wants to prove that Danforth’s court is completely legitimate and flawless.
B) He secretly works for the Devil and wants them to commit a mortal sin.
C) He believes life is God’s most precious gift and that dying for pride is a worse sin, especially since he feels their blood is on his head.
D) He is promised a promotion by the Boston magistrates for every confession he successfully secures.
37. According to Elizabeth, how does Giles Corey die?
A) He is hanged alongside John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse.
B) He is pressed to death with heavy stones because he stands mute and refuses to answer his indictment, ensuring his farm goes to his sons.
C) He is starved to death in the dungeon by Marshal Herrick.
D) He is killed by an angry mob of townspeople in Salem.
38. What personal shortcoming does Elizabeth admit to John during their agonised reunion in the jail?
A) That she never truly loved him and always planned to leave him.
B) That she had secretly kept poppets in the house to curse Abigail Williams.
C) That she kept a “cold house,” which she believes prompted his lechery.
D) That she secretly wants him to confess so she will not be left to raise their children alone.
39. Why does John Proctor snatch back and tear up his signed confession?
A) Danforth refuses to accept it without Elizabeth’s signature on the document as well.
B) He realises it is his “name,” and he cannot live as a fraud, sell out his friends, or teach his children to lie.
C) Reverend Hale convinces him at the last minute that confessing is the Devil’s work.
D) He wants to intentionally incite a violent riot against the court.
40. What are Elizabeth’s final words when Reverend Hale frantically begs her to stop John from going to the gallows?
A) “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”
B) “Let you fear nothing! Another judgment waits us all!”
C) “I cannot judge you, John, I cannot!”
D) “You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!”
Answers on the next page.
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