In the famous play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, there are multiple reasons why the play is named The Crucible. Aside from the unmistakable trials some characters went through, the mental tests within the characters add depth to the title. Tituba and Elizabeth, two very important characters endure mental tests rather than literal trials.
Another reason for the title is that the town of Salem heats up under the tension of the trials, and filters out the truth. The definitions of “a crucible” are a severe test or trial, and a container used to heat up or purify a substance; besides the obvious, The Crucible contains both definitions. At the beginning of the play, Tituba, one of the main characters experiences a difficult mental trial dealing with the confessing witchcraft. She is a young woman from Barbados, which is familiar with witchcraft. The night before, Parris saw her and thr other young girls and her dancing in the forest.
Reverend Parris tries to force Tituba to confess. She screams, “I don’t compact with no Devil!” (42). Tituba is honest at the beginning of her interrogation. However, after awhile, she confesses and blames the devil. Tituba is afraid of being hanged for telling the truth, so she chooses to lie to save her life, instead of truly being a good Christian and being honest. She blames someone or something else to take the attention off of her.
It is a test within her to show if she is a good Christian women like she says she is. Another character, Elizabeth Proctor, is put to the test to determine whether she is a good Puritan or a loyal wife. After her husband John Proctor confesses to adultery, Elizabeth is brought into the court to be the truth. Elizabeth decides to lie to save her husband’s name, “My husband – is a goodly man, sir!” (108). In order to keep John out of prison or from being hanged, Elizabeth lies for the first time.
Elizabeth tells the court that John Proctor had never committed lechery even though he.
