Summary Of The Crucible Opening Scene

In the opening scene of the Crucible, a smoke machine shrouds a group of girls in a cloud of fog. The ominous setting is accompanied by demonic laughter and screeching. This makes the audience feel like they are truly witnessing the art of witchcraft before Parris’ shocking discovery sends the girls running. The hysteria of the actors communicates tension on the following day as people in town discover that some young girls have mysterious afflictions. Ms Putnam delivers her lines with startling shrieks. She address her ailing daughter’s condition and the loss of her other children with piercing and shrill cries. Early on in the movie, there is a combination of loud screaming scenes, quiet tense scenes, and passionate arguments. The intense noises set the audience on edge at every turn.

Later on, there are not-so-subtle clues that the supposedly bewitched girls are not being truthfully. The scene in which John Proctor warns Abigail to stop is tense and well done. After Hale and Cheever come to the Proctor house, and before Elizabeth is taken away, there is a subtle change from the book in which Elizabeth’s sons come down to embrace her, when in the book they were still asleep. Mary Warren is given an additional scene where she is approached in the Proctor home by the mob of girls and she runs out. This gives background for the intimidation she received from the other girls helps to illustrate what is in her head when she turns from the court. Excluding the girls, who are angrily satisfied with the hangings, many people in the crowd became more somber