In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Abigail is most to blame in the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials is based on a period of time where the devil’s work has found its way into the Christian city of Salem, causing everybody accused of witchcraft to confess, or be hanged. Abigail, a teenage girl at the time, has fell madly in love with a man by the name of John Proctor. John is a married man, but in his past he has had an affair with Abigail which nobody knew of. Abigail’s immaturity shows throughout the story, along with major jealousy over Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife. All these events of hanging and sin in Salem lead back around to Abigail’s jealousy overall
Repenting sins is mostly believed to reset fate and open the golden gates to Heaven. John Proctor, one of the main characters in The Crucible, is a primary example of this. People could view John as a sinner attributed to him cheating on his wife Elizabeth, but he is vindicated through remorse. Proctor, in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, is portrayed as a Christian man even though in the beginning he is not, due to the face of him seeking redemption for his sins and sacrificing himself for others.
Hysteria can be defined as the exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This definition proves true and exists throughout the course of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In The Crucible, a group of girls go dancing in a forest around a cauldron, some even naked, and along with a black slave named Tituba. Reverend Parris, the local minister, then catches the girls in the act. As a result, Betty, one of the girls and Parris’s daughter, goes into what it seems like a coma. This sparks rumors about witchcraft within the town of Salem, as everyone looks toward the girls involved in the forest incident for an answer. Abigail Williams, Parris’s niece and another girl who danced in the forest, begins to take
One of the most powerful human emotions is desire. Everyone is constantly trying to fulfill their own desires. A desire or passion may be so strong it can conflict with morality. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams, is driven to go against her moral duty and pursue John Proctor. She will stop at nothing to see her plan through. Abigail is willing to accuse any one in her path of witchcraft even if it means taking the lives of those close to her. Abigail Williams’ emotional desire guides her actions even if it conflicts with morality.
Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth. Thus demonstrating how mob mentality can impact an individual and ultimately drive the action of the play. This shows us how one person who starts
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials. Arthur Miller shows how Abigail was the main cause of the all the killing of innocent people of Salem. Her flaws was that she was quick to temper, she was jealous of Elizabeth, and that’s she lust for John Proctor.
Abigail says, “’John- I am waitin’ for you every night”’ (Miller 149). Abigail loves John Proctor, but John no longer returns the feeling of love. Abigail says, “’ No one was naked”’ (Miller 144). Abigail convinces her uncle, Reverend Parris that there was no one naked in the woods. Marlow wrote, “The Crucible tends to reinforce stereotypical notions of female hysteria being manipulated by Abigail, rather than make more profound reference to local political intervention as a driving force in the courtroom episode” (1). Marlow says how Abigail uses hysteria to manipulate the other women of Salem. Abbotson wrote, “But it is the marriage of John and Elizabeth Proctor that lies at the play's center and the love triangle that Miller creates between Abigail and the Proctors” (1). Abbotson says how Abigail is involved in a love triangle with the Proctors; Abigail loves John, John loves Elizabeth, and Elizabeth despises Abigail, but John had some feelings of love for Abigail. Abigail’s felling for John started the event known as the Salem Witch
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play which contains a multitude of complex characters . In the play, the characters’ motivations and inner processes are explored. Because of the historical setting, the characters live in a society of judgement and extreme religious devotion. This is a factor that places any of the characters’ choices and morals in a public balance to be judged by others. Abigail Williams is the main character of the play and acts with an utter selfishness and obsession.
Power is defined as “The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as as a faculty or quality.” Throughout history, women have significantly lacked not only power but the ability to be recognized as equal to their male counterparts. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, women are somewhat able to successfully gain power from society due to the fact that they use manipulation, deceit and their sexual desire (especially the character of Abigail) to acquire positions of power in their largely patriarchal society. Women are able to attain this power through using their intellect to express manipulation, and lying in order to receive attention that translates into power.
In the book that handle is known as “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, goes into detail about what happened in the Salem WItch trials in the duration of 1692. Miller used the Red Scare as motivation to write the book. In the book Abigail and some of her friends are dancing in the woods, when Mr. Parris ( her uncle) catches them. At this point Betty, Mr. Parris daughter and Abigail’s cousin, faints. We later find a doctor trying to wake her, then someone starts singing psalms and she tries to jump out a window for she wants her mommy ( who is dead but we don't know how she died) then all the girls start to accuse people of witchcraft ( none of them are a witch) then they call in several different people including Judge Danforth and Mr Hale. One thing leads to another and there are 33 different deaths, 19 hanged, one squished to death, and 13 died in prison. Is Abigail Williams responsible for the events that took place in the Crucible? I believe not, for I believe that she is a part of the reason but not the only reason, and why this is the case.
Would you ever sacrifice your life for your family? In this book, the main characters John Proctor and Abigail play a huge part in this play. Sacrifice is a part of life that a lot of people will experience throughout their lifetime, but think about it. Could you, your own self sacrifice your own life for your family sake?
Abigail’s affair with John Proctor, which had ended seven months previous to the beginning of the play, causes her to be blinded by desire. She uses the witch trials to get revenge on anyone she wants, but her main target is to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife. Abigail bullies girls in her town to be loyal to her, while she feels no loyalty towards them. One of the girls Abigail bullies is Mary Warren, a servant of the Proctor’s. Mary tries to stand up to Abigail and tell everyone it’s all a lie, however, when Abigail threatens her of witchcraft, she gives up and joins Abigail again. Abigail’s lack of loyalty towards these girls shows that people who expect loyalty do not always return it. Abigail’s charades eventually land John Proctor in jail, and she tries to persuade him to run away with her when he is set to hang. When he refuses, she runs away and leaves him to his fate with no regard to what will happen to him, only what will happen to her. The Crucible demonstrates that people will always leave anyone if it means they stay safe or get what they want. Loyalty only manifests itself when one’s self-interest is
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, multiple factors fueled the hysteria leading up to the Salem witch trials, such as Abigail’s deceiving plots, Reverend Hale not establishing the truth, and citizens’ mindless accusations. Abigail is the most guilty of causing outbreaks of panic starting with dancing in the woods with other girls, then moving to framing Mary Warren with a doll, and fake acting out seeing otherworldly entities. One example of Abigail’s manipulation is when she stabbed herself with a needle to frame Mary Warren: “Stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out” (176). Abigail also has a habit of accusing falsely and gets to girls to gang up during hearings, but everyone believes
In The Crucible, Abigail accuses more than half the town of witchcraft to cover up her affair with a married man, John Proctor. She lies and accuses people to prevent being charged with attempted murder against Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, because of jealousy. Abigail who is very similar to Joseph McCarthy, she starts to accuse people who share a glance towards her direction or even people that she dislikes or offended her in some way. The people of the town grow intimidated or fearful of her because she throws false accusations and evidence towards anyone who may have upset her. In the playwright, The Crucible, it is shown that there are accusations thrown at people, but has no supported evidence for why some people of the town
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the antagonist, Abigail Williams, sparks the 1692 witch trails in Salem, Massachusetts. Early on, Abigail has an affair with John Proctor, a local farmer. At first, Abigail had once worked for Proctor as a house maid, but when Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, discovered that her husband was having an affair with the maid, she fires Abigail. In the middle of seeking revenge on Elizabeth for coming between her and Proctor’s “love”, Abigail also brings the entire village down as well. Miller demonstrates that Abigail William’s flaws- mendacity, lust, and spitefulness- led her to be most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem.