The Crucible Character List

The characters in “The Crucible” play different roles to make the play complete. This article thus provides a comprehensive list of all the characters within the play. For every character, you will get a highlight of how they relate with each other, their roles in the play as well as their personalities.

John Proctor

This is a farmer who resides in the suburbs of the town. He is the husband of Elizabeth. He abhors hypocrisy even though he has a hidden transgression- an affair with a woman named Abigail. This causes him great misery and guilt eventually leading to his death

Abigail Williams

This is a smart and wily woman who had an affair with Proctor. She is conniving and can be vindictive when offended. She got fired by Elizabeth after discovering her affair with John.

Reverend Hale

A young reverend suspected to indulge in witchcraft. He is summoned to Salem in order to examine Betty. Hale is very intelligent and critical. This trait prevents him from being duped. His presence is the primary cause of the hysteria, and this makes him regret his deeds.

Elizabeth Proctor

The wife of John. She fired Abigail after discovering the affair with her husband. This is a very virtuous person but usually cold.

Reverend Parris

He is the minister in charge of the Salem church. He is power-hungry and paranoid. Ironically, he is a self-loathing figure. Majority of the townspeople resent him, particularly John. He is preoccupied with building his reputation.

Rebecca Nurse

She is the wife of Francis’ nurse. She is sensible and wise; for this reason, the people of Salem hold her in high esteem. Nevertheless, she gets caught up in the web of hysteria after being accused of witchcraft by the Putnams.

Francis Nurse

An influential figure in Salem. He is very rich and highly respected in the community. However, he is an adversary to Thomas and his wife.

Deputy Governor Danforth

Massachusetts’ deputy Governor who is also the presiding judge during the witch prosecutions. He is scrupulous and honest, according to his self-perception. He believes he is undertaking a noble cause in eradicating witchcraft.

Giles Corey

An old but spirited farmer in the Salem community. He is known to frequently file lawsuits. He was involved in Martha’s prosecution. In the end, he was held in contempt of court, leading to his punishment, whereby he got squeezed to death using large stones.

Thomas Putnam

He is among the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Salem. He resents Francis since she prevented the election of Putnam’s brother in law as a minister. He enriches himself by accusing others of witchcraft then leveraging them to sell him their land.

Ruth Putnam

The only surviving child of the Putnam’s. She falls into a weird stupor upon being caught by Parris dancing with other girls in the forest at night. A situation is similar to that of Betty.

Tituba

This is a black slave captured from Barbados and is under the custody of Parris. He fulfills Abigail’s request to perform voodoo.

Mary Warren

A servant is working in the Proctor family’s home. She is part of Abigail’s clique of girls. Mary is faint-hearted and is easily influenced by those she associates with. She is strongly motivated by the desire to partake in the noble deeds of the world. They unsuccessfully tried to uncover the hoax and eventually recanted her testimony.

Betty Parris

The daughter to Parris and is Abigail’s cousin. She is only ten years old and falls into an absurd stupor after her father discovers her dancing in the woods with the other girls. Both Betty’s and Ruth’s conditions contribute to the initial rumors of witchcraft. After recovering from her illness, she accuses her cousin Abigail of taking a potion meant to cause Goody Proctor’s demise before falling back into her stupor

Mrs. Ann Putnam

Thomas Putnam’s wife. She believes that the death of her children is due to witchcraft. She gets jealous of Rebecca and accuses Goody of being a witch.

Mercy Lewis

She is a helper in the Putnam family and is the dedicated caregiver to Ruth. She appears to be friends with the disrespectful Mary and Abigail William. This can be seen in their participation in the dance in the forest. The author describes her as chubby, sly, and ruthless. She is among the girls who charge Mary in court for witchcraft through her bird-shaped spirit.

Judge Hathorne

One of the members of the jury presiding over the witchcraft cases. Miller describes him as a remorseless and bitter judge. He lives up to his deception both in actions and in words. He shows no pity to the girls accused of witchcraft as well as their families. Hathorne is hell-bent on believing the worst in other people.

Susanna Walcott

Works under Doctor Griggs and the author describes this girl as a nervous girl, slightly Abigail’s junior who is also hurried in nature. The eventually joins the ranks of Mary, Betty, Mercy, and Abigail as the victims. They are the primary accusers in the witchcraft case.

Hopkins

He is in charge of guarding prisoners in Salem. He assists Herrick in clearing the room to create space for Danforth. He has no initial name and has a single purpose- to announce the arrival of Danforth.

Marshal Herrick

A court-martial in Salem. He is charged with the role of gathering prisoners, preventing people from exiting the courtroom as well as assaulting other court attendants. He also leads convicts to the executioner. He also accompanied Cheever while on his way to arrest Elizabeth.

Sarah Good

She is a beggar and is the first person who is accused of witchcraft.

Ezekial Cheever

Originally a truthful tailor, Ezekiel becomes a court clerk, and upon the onset of the trials, he has lost most of his respect. He arrests Elizabeth under court orders. Upon finding Elizabeth with a poppet bearing a sticking needle of, she denied having, Ezekiel becomes convinced that she is indeed guilty. He is not willing to even listen to any explanations even though Mary had admitted to making the poppet and sticking the needle.