Act Four, the final act of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", plays a particularly important part in the drama. This essay will examine its dramatic importance, highlighting the use of dramatic devices, and the way it affects the characters, theme and plot. This essay will also look at the language used in `The Crucible' and its effect on the play, and also the historical context and its parallel with McCarthyism.

The play starts by introducing Reverend Parris, praying for his daughter Betty, who has mysteriously lost consciousness after Parris discovered her, along with other girls from the village and Parris' slave, Tituba, practising witchcraft in the woods. There is a little confusion, as the characters are all trying to find out what was happening in the woods. Mr Hale, a well-read expert in witchcraft, has been called to investigate the happenings. Abigail Williams, Parris' niece who was leading the...