The Crucible Lesson Plan

Parris says: “Judge Hathorne – it were another sort that hanged till now. Rebecca Nurse is no Bridget that lived three year with Bishop before she married him. John Proctor is not Isaiah Ward that drank his family to ruin.” What does he mean by this? Why is he worried about it?

The new sort of people being accused are no longer people who are marginalized by society – they are instead pillars of society (Rebecca Nurse is known as being an extremely good woman, and John Proctor is highly influential as well). Condemning respectable and respected people to death is dangerous and may spark a rebellion like they had in Andover. Parris even received a veiled death threat in the...