“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” Throughout his career, famed German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche criticized conformity; he viewed it as the regression of human society. It is not necessarily a negative trait, but like any dangerous virus, it remains dormant until a sickness exposes the host. This vulnerability allows the virus to sweep throughout the body and infect its entirety, dooming bystanders as it spreads. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a historical example of this sickness. Set during the year 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, the book …show more content…
It could arguably be a state of psychological anarchy, where emotions and fear take hold and swiftly subdues any rationality. When Salem displayed signs of this symptom, chaos ensued. The town’s authorities had suspected a West Indian woman, Tituba, and other girls of witchcraft for dancing during the night. She admits to the charge, but one of the girls, Abigail Williams, breaks and exclaims, “I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I Danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” - Abigail Williams (48) Abigail folded under the pressure and hysterically accused others of the same crime she supposedly committed. This outburst of emotions results from a choice of honesty or dishonesty, and she chose what would salvage her reputation, deceit. As a result, accusations of witchcraft increase, and one of the supposed heroes in the story, John Proctor, brings his servant Mary Warren to testify in front of the town’s court and confess the lies Abigail and other girls were telling. However, Abigail Williams throws the hearing into a farce as she pretends Mary bewitched her. Similar to Abigail’s breakdown earlier, Mary becomes hysterical and tries to run away, saying this to John Proctor as he attempts to stop her, “Let me go, Mr. Proctor, I cannot, I cannot-” …show more content…
Many of these accusations were for the selfish purpose of achieving the accuser’s goals. Abigail Williams was the most notorious of all these accusers. Her first accusation came when Reverend Parris caught her, Tituba, and the other girls dancing at night. As she was being questioned, Tituba entered the room and Abigail immediately blamed her, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” - Abigail (43) Abigail scapegoats Tituba to escape her dilemma and redirect any attention away from her. Furthermore, an important plot line in the story was Abigail’s relationship with John Proctor. The two had an affair and Abigail still wanted to be with him. However, John Proctor just happened to be married to Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail found that problematic, so she accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft (73). According to Abigail’s logic, if she removed Elizabeth from the picture, then it would open the way for a new relationship between her and John Proctor. Other accusations of witchcraft were revenge for past grudges or grievances. For example, the rivalry between the Nurses and Putnams that started with disagreements over land. Mrs. Putnam took this fact and used it as a way to fuel her jealousy for Rebecca Nurse, “But I must! You think it God’s work you should never lose a child, nor grandchild either, and bury all but one? There are wheels within wheels in this village! And fire within
Abigail Williams is the source of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem. Abigail is first accused of bewitching Betty Parris in the woods one night. She quickly disputes the accusation by saying they: Ruth Putnam, Tituba, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, and Abigail herself, were only dancing despite it also being highly looked down upon. By starting out with this single lie, her story snowballs and eventually leads to the downfall of Salem. By associating herself with Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam, both of which are sick while Abigail is well, Abigail is submitting herself to a fight she can’t win unless she lies.
Scapegoating was most prevalent in the book during the Salem witch trials with women being the ones who mostly blamed each other, but this was only due to the fact that more women were accused of being witches than men. “She sends spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!” (Act II, Pg. 44) In this quote, Abigail scapegoats Tituba and accuses her of sending spirits and cursing her to make her laugh while she prays in church. This scapegoating shows how Abigail didn’t take accountability for her actions and she instead had to put the blame on someone else to save her own life.
From the trials, proctor and others were judged. It is evident that the rumors of witchcraft were started up as a way to take revenge and maintain power. Abigail for one only named Elizabeth as a witch because she had an affair with Proctor and in naming the wife she hoped that Elizabeth would be executed and in that case, she would have Proctor to herself. The reason why Elizabeth fired Abigail in the first place is because of the affair, and so this was revenge for her. As Proctor goes to court to fight for the release of her wife, the court accuses him of not honoring the church and implying that he may be part of the witchcraft saga.
Abigail is to be blamed a lot, because she seduced John Proctor even though he had a wife. Elizabeth found out about the affair and Elizabeth told Abigail not to mess with her husband or she will regret it. Abigail confesses to withcraft saying that she gave her soul to the devil. She convinced other girls to cast spells with Tituba. She carefully planned the way she accused people in the community of withcraft , so she could be credible when she accused Elizabeth.
After a close reading and synthesis of The Crucible it has come to my attention the similarities in how themes present in the play affect our seemingly modern society. Themes like hysteria and intolerance are prevalent in many current situations the same way they were in The Crucible, in a way blurring the line between past and present. “Bodies, and the subconscious, have their own language, rooted in the patients’ individual life experiences. Bodies can express things when words fail. ”(Bynum 2).
Arthur Miller's utilization of incongruity in The Crucible shows exactly how tricky the human species is. He makes a situation that spins around the congregation and how the general population must take after their decrees and keep their dedication to God, however all they truly do conflicts with their ten edicts. John submitted infidelity by yearning for Abbigail when he was at that point wedded to Elizabeth and had constructed a family with her. Abigail is desirous of Elizabeth for having John and her yearning for retaliation drives her to lie and control the town as she did. It is essentially unexpected how all through every one of the allegations and guards, everyone would lecture their confidence in God and the congregation yet whatever they did was definitely not what they were required to.
Abigail framed Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. Also Abigail charged Elizabeth for creating a voodoo doll to stab her with a needle. John Proctor didn’t take the police taking his wife away very well and he knew he had to seek revenge. Proctor told abigail he would never touch her again and that he wanted his wife. When he realized what she was doing to his wife, he knew what he had to do.
During the time of the witch trials, many people were accused of being a witch or doing witchcraft and many of these accusations were fueled by past grudges. In The Crucible, Abigail has a grudge against Elizabeth, who is married to John Proctor, because she is jealous that Elizabeth is with him and Abigail loves John. Abigail is deeply in love with John that she resents Elizabeth for being his wife. Abigail despises Elizabeth that Betty confirmed saying, “You did, you did!
How Fear Motivates the Characters in The Crucible Fear plays an important role in the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller.. It motivates the accusers and the accused. The first accuser in the play was Abigail. She accused Tituba of being a witch.
In Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", John Proctor is our passive protagonist as he tries to save his wife and others that were accused of witchcraft. Unfortunately, his attempt was in vain and his evidence had backfired. His knowledge did not stop the witch trials because of his self-respect, and the children's high reputations, and Abigail's tactful nature. John Proctor valued his self-respect because it made him confident and helped him stand up for what he believed in. John proctor's name was synonymous with honor and integrity and was most respected in Salem.
Abigail wanted to get her vengeance on Elizabeth Proctor for firing her as a maid. John Proctor screamed in rage at Judge Danforth, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave!... But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it…”(3.863-8). Abigail wanted to kill or blame Elizabeth for witchcraft to get her vengeance. She may have wanted vengeance, but that did not happen as much as scapegoating like when Abigail scapegoated Tituba.
Like Abigail utterly told liars about how Elizabeth spirit had stabbed her at the dinner table but actually Abigail framed Goody Proctor with the doll Mary Warren had made as evidence to stable herself. Also Abigail accused Mary Warren for working with the devil in the setting of act three in the courtroom. The girls in courtroom acted as if Mary spirit was attacking them ,to scare her back to their side. Giles Corey also accused Thomas Putnam for being gluttonous for more land and therefore accusing his neighbors for it.
Mary warren then attempts to tell the court the truth , that the girls had never seen any spirits and it was all pretend. Abigail Williams leads the girls against Mary to tell the court that they were not lying and bully marry into giving in and blaming proctor for her actins with the devil. Abigail clamed to the judge that she did in fact see many peoples sprits along with the devils and she says "I have been hurt, Mr.danforth; i have seen my blood runnin' out! i have been near murdered everyday because i done my duty pointing out the devils people - and this is my reward?"
Abigail and a group of girls went to court and blame 200 people. Abigail went to court, and told them that Elizabeth Proctor was practicing witchcraft, and got her arrested. When John Proctor went to court, the girls pretended that he was the devil. Giles tries to explain to the court how Abigail is pure evil, and trying to get revenge: “Aye, how she is solemn and goes to hang people!” (3.1.875).
The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.