Someone may not know straight off the bat that the word “salem” is used to refer to halloween, witches and other creepy things you might see. And this play depicts hysteria and this fear so well throughout it. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller playwright there were many absurd events displayed as well as showing what times were like during the 1600’s in Salem Massachusetts. There were many characters that played a significant role in playing out these tragic events in the 1600s. Two characters, though, show off the most courage out of any other character shown in this play. Both of these characters being John Proctor, and Abigail Williams. Although this one character in specific has committed a very questionable crime in the time of the Witch trials, John Proctor arguably was the one who showed off the most courage in the crucible. One of many examples shown of …show more content…
But to get what she wanted she’d go to pretty far extents to get what she wanted. This being, to get John Proctor’s wife out of the way so she could replace her. Abigail has been working to get what she wants and her desire to get with John Proctor is what she wants, “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty poitning out the Devil’s people” (Miller 111). Abigail was speaking to the Judge Danforth, one of the most respected in the town, Abigail could be seen as one who’s in most control in the play. Abigail’s constant lies and deceit has gotten hung for being a “witch” or “working with the devil”, “I--I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come.” Her eyes fall on Mary warren. (Miller 111) Though lies may not be seen entirely as courage she’s doing this all for what she wants and desires. Every desire is created by a want and she will get what she wants in her eyes. This want is to get any possible suspicions off of her
In the book The Crucible Abigail Williams selfish crimes cause others to be blamed for her own witchcraft. Abigail has an affair with John Proctor, the husband of Elizabeth Proctor, causing tensions to rise between Abigail and Elizabeth. During act one Abigail is talking to John at his house and she was talking to him about what they did one night and how she believed he still loved her (Miller, 22). During Abigail and John’s conversation it showed how Abigail isn’t always a good person and she makes mistakes too. During The Crucible Abigail always tries to act innocent or if she's wrong bring others down with her.
Both John Proctor and Abigail Williams, protagonist and antagonist, paramour and mistress, hold internal fears which fire their very actions defining the plot of the Salem Witch Trials. Proctor ultimately gives in and dies for what he believed to be a good cause, and Abigail ultimately abandoning Salem and leaves all the evil she had caused to find a new life. In short, the essence of fear is an all-too-powerful strength that, when your guard is let down, will consume you and your actions, conclusively drawing a negative fate. As the popular Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are on Maple Street” comes to an end, creator Rod Sterling states: “For while fear may keep us vigilant, it's also fear that tears us apart.”
Arthur Miller's play The Crucible demonstrates the craziness that occurred in Salem in 1692. Althoughthe play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on verifiable occasions and his characters demonstrate how suspicion and dread can raise. Various characters utilized this dread to profit and they showedselfishness and wrongdoing. The two most wretched characters in the play were Rev. Parris and JudgeDanforth. From the earliest starting point of the play, Rev. Parris showed self-centeredness.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that was written in 1953, set in the late 17th century during the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and it’s believed that Miller’s intention in the book was to have a certain kind of literary style. As well as, the book and play being a very accurate representation of the hysteria and chaos that took over the town in the late 1600’s. Following the story, one of the main protagonists, John Proctor, struggles to survive in the midst of a terrible witch hunt. Miller’s several literary works and techniques have shown through his themes and style of writing he uses throughout the book.
The way a character grows can leave a lasting impact on a reader. Characters have both heroic uprisings and dramatic downfalls that affect the development of the text. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the characters Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams display how their development impacts the reader. Elizabeth grows while Abigail does not, as displayed through their reaction to the affair, how they face their problems, and how they perceive opinions of others. First, Elizabeth shows growth through how she reacts to the affair her husband has.
Peter Bocompani Mrs. Wasley English 10H 6 March 2023 The Crucible Playbill Project My playbill focuses on many aspects of The Crucible, and it also includes lots of symbolism connecting to the play. For example, the dark forest in the background of the playbill symbolizes the evil of humans, as it is a “dark” and “threatening” place where the devil is said to live. The forest is also the place where the girls are accused of doing witchcraft at the beginning of the play, leading to the town of Salem’s negative view of the woods.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible fear and hysteria are the foundation of the book and interesting and conflicting events that take place in the community of Salem. It is the answer to results in the process of the community. It is fear and hysteria that urge the Salem Witch. Arthur Miller creates a great example of how people can easily turn against each other in times of a violent and bad situation, including the waste and the power of the lives of others in reality and in doing so.
Abigail had the power to suppress her attraction towards John Proctor and prevent herself from trying to seduce him at his weakest point. John Proctor could have very well had the control to refuse Abigail’s seduction, but then again, she had proposed herself when his relationship with his wife was at a weak stage due to her lack of affection for him. When targeted at a vulnerable point, it is comprehensible that someone, just like John Proctor did, could give into an excessive amount of temptation. Abigail wanted him to give into that temptation for her own
In Arthur Miller’s historical fiction play The Crucible, based on the tragic Salem witch trials, there are numerous displays of courage, weakness, and truth. Essentially, this is what the play is about. Word is spreading throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The smell of witchcraft is filling the air.
She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a...”(Miller Act 1). Abigail’s mindset and actions are probably the way they are because of her past due to her parents being assassinated by native americans when she was a child. Growing up without her parents has made Abigail more of an independent teenager since their tragic deaths.
"The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is based on the Salem Witch trails. John and Elizabeth Proctor suffer the most out of the characters and play an important role in the plot of the story. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail which led her to hate Elizabeth. Elizabeth, being John's wife, was targeted by Abigail throughout the play. Unfortunately, Abigail's lies and hated was the cause of John's death and Elizabeth imprisonment.
In modern times, witches are fantasy characters seen in media, but in the town of Salem, they are a real fear. A fear that drives people to insanity and leaves some questioning if reputation is more important than integrity. Arthur Miller enlightens these questioning people in his play The Crucible by describing the witch hunts in Salem. The play follows the people of Salem as the town falls into a witch hunt when a group of girls accuse an innocent slave of witchcraft to save themselves from getting in trouble. It describes the corruption of the authority figures as they force innocent people to confess and accuse others of witchcraft, and it shows how fear can cause a whole town to go against their better judgment.
In the play, act one describes the relationship between Abigail Williams and John Proctor creating the quality of arrogance. Before the play begins, Abigail and Proctor have an affair; however, feeling guilty, Proctor decides to end the affair in order to focus on his marriage with Elizabeth. Now in a room alone with Abigail, Proctor stands over Betty, Paris’ daughter who cannot wake from her sleep. Abigail walks over to Proctor and leans over him to admire his strength. As soon as she complements him, he gives a small grin.
Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off
Salem was a small religious puritan colony near Boston, Massachusetts. The play parallels the 20th century paranoia about communism which prevailed across the American society and even reached Canada. The Crucible is a story about a small village run by fear, religious fanaticism and rising panic where people are condemned and sentenced to death with no evidence. In Salem, good and evil have their obvious rules, opposition is not merely illegal, It is associated with satanic power (Bly