Questions about The Crucible?

Question

1.)What biblical allusions are found in Act I?
2.)What is the value of stage directions in a play?
3.) In Act 3 what is Abigail`s influence on the plot?

Answer 1

The Crucible introduces a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life, but it is a religion that lacks a ritual outlet to manage emotions such as anger, jealousy, or resentment. By 1692, Salem has become a fairly established community, removed from its days as an outpost on a hostile frontier. Many of the former dangers that united the community in its early years have lessened, while interpersonal feuds and grudges over property, religious offices, and sexual behavior have begun to simmer beneath the theocratic surface. These tensions, combined with the paranoia about supernatural forces, pervade the town’s religious sensibility and provide the raw materials for the hysteria of the witch trials.

Plenty more answers at http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/themes.html