Tracking how pressure creates hysteria
A crucible heats metal to extreme temperatures to melt it down and expose impurities. Miller structures the play the same way: each Act increases pressure until characters’ moral choices are forced into the open. In exam answers, track how your staging/acting/design choices intensify as the Acts progress.
Set your exam board to see what your examiner expects when you write about the play’s structure and escalation.
Plot: Rumours of witchcraft sweep Salem after Reverend Parris catches Abigail and other girls dancing in the woods. Betty lies in a mysterious coma. Abigail bullies the girls into silence and shifts blame onto Tituba, who is forced to confess. The naming begins.
Exam focus: performance + staging notes