Gilliana Loyola Mr. Downey Academy B 13 October, 2016 Living a Lie Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is about the people of 17th century Salem, Massachusetts during a dangerous and dynamic period. The people of Salem were Puritans and very religious so they associated witchcraft and anything impure or evil with the Devil. When the witch hysteria, which was initially caused by girls falsely accusing others, got out-of-hand, the residents of Salem conformed to the hysteria out of fear because those who were accused were intimated certainty to death. However, the accused had a chance to save themselves by confessing to a crime they did not commit. Many took advantage of the opportunity for self-preservation because it is a human instinct, …show more content…
Abigail was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft, but she dismissed the accusations by accusing and blaming others. She and the other girls first blamed Salem’s pariahs: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Goody Osburn because they were afraid of the consequences and saw the three outcasts as easy targets. The girls are considered to be an important catalyst for the witchcraft hysteria. The girls did not want to be punished for lying and doing things the society would not condone, so in order to take the attention away from them, they confessed and accused others of witchery. In the play, Mary Warren betrayed the other girls when she claimed that they are all pretending and lying about the involvement of witchcraft. Using self-preservation as a motive, Abigail pretended that Mary Warren was possessing an imaginary bird who was going to attack her and the other girls. The other girls caught onto what Abigail was doing and followed Abigail’s improvisational acting. In a panic, Mary Warren realized that there was a better chance for self-preservation if she goes along with the girls’ acts and accuses Proctor, so she plays along with the girls. During the trial, Danforth became suspicious of the girl’s integrity. In order to save herself, Abigail threatened Danforth with accusation of witchcraft. In a moment of panic, she stole money from Parris and ran away from Salem later on. Abigail decided to run away from the consequences …show more content…
The characters used self-preservation as motivation for various reasons, but there are some who abandon self-preservation. Abigail Williams was motivated to run away from the consequences because of her instinct for self-preservation. Reverend Samuel Parris was prompted to sustain his reputation, so he conformed to the witchcraft hysteria. There were also people whose morals and ideals suppressed their motivation for self-preservation, such as, John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. Proctor was on the verge of living a lie, but in the end, his ideals and morals overcame his motivation for salvation. Rebecca Nurse held a good reputation within the society before the accusations, but it does not save her from the hangman’s noose; she died in the end because her morals overpowered self-preservation. Goody Nurse had immense faith in God and did not want to denounce it by confessing to a crime she did not commit. Overall, there were some characters who did and some who did not use self-preservation as a motive for their
Abigail Williams is Responsible for the Salem Tragedy The spring of 1692, the Salem witch trials began after a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the Devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. The tragic death of many people was caused by just a few young girls just as it was in the play. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the main character responsible for the tragedy in Salem was Abigail Williams. Abigail was the reason for the start of many of the things that happened, such as: being caught in the woods, leading to the idea of witchcraft; pretending to get stabbed by Elizabeth’s spirit, leading to respected people being accused; and threatening people with her authority, leading to the death of many people.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.
During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.
In The Crucible, the acting of the girls was the principal source of propaganda to continue the trials. Abigail, the young girl who commenced all of the accusations, acted in such a hysteric way that she caused people to believe her. A faultless example of this was when another young girl, Mary, attempted to inform the court that all of the girls were just acting bewitched and that none of them were actually affected by witchcraft. In response to this, Abigail made a Colossal scene in the courthouse; claiming that Mary sent her spirit out in the form of a bird to attack her. “Abigail (to the ceiling, in a genuine conversation with the “bird,” as though trying to talk it out of attacking her).
Abigail Williams’ Influence Is it okay for a person to lie and hurt other people just to keep him or herself safe? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams lies, a lot, to keep herself safe. Throughout the story, many people are accused of witchcraft. When a person is accused of witchcraft, it is very easy for them to get out of the accusation if they lie. The lies that are told shifts the belief of who knows witchcraft, and Abigail Williams uses those lies to gain influence over other people.
Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.
But the mainly because everyone thinks she is a witch. Due to the women in the court room continuously repeating it with details to support, making everybody believe Mary warren is a witch. Mary was the one caught in the dancing in the forest and being accused of witch craft. When Mary was in court she admitted she was witch craft but, also made everyone to think it was an act. In act 2 page 80 Mary Warren is pressured by Proctor to go to court and confess that Abigail is guilty.
John Proctor, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Abigail Williams were worried about their reputation in town, and they were willing to commit many sins and harm others to prevent this from happening. To begin with, John Proctor was seen as a good citizen. He was well-respected among his neighbors and other people in Salem because of his upright morals. He had an affair with his old servant, Abigail Williams. He tried to keep this hidden from the people to keep his good name.
Adolescent minds are the most intelligent kind of mind. A young brain is filled with creativity, imagination and innocence. Though the thought process of a teen is assumed to be selfish there are other factors involved. A combination of these characteristics seems almost dangerous. One would undermine a juvenile to use these qualities to manipulate the court for their own selfish wishes or pleasures.
Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
John Proctor also claims in court that “she only pretended to faint” to try to convince that she is being attacked by witches and devils. Abigail Williams evil actions caused lots of people to suffer. Abigail Williams, a static character does not change by the end of the play because she continues to protect her reputation instead of telling the truth. Throughout the play Abigail choose to continue to lie about the witchcraft instead of telling the truth. She is a static charatcer because she had many chances to stop the trails, and tell the truth.
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. Abigail williams is driven to do unthinkable things because of her love for John Proctor. Abigail works in the Proctor’s home and while doing so she finds herself attracted to John. Abigail’s obsession with Proctor leads them to have an affair, which they try to keep
Abigail forces the girls of Salem to dance in the woods with her to help conjure spirits and make the charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail threatens the girls right after Betty took fright by saying, “let either of you breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other things and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” (Miller, 144). Later on as the trials prolong Mary Warren turns on Abby and is telling the court that she lied. When Abigail then accuses Mary of witchcraft she turns back to Abby and obeys her once again.