I do not agree with Ryder's assessment of Abigail. Initially, I think Abigail is selfish and is doing everything for herself so that she can have John Proctor. Abigail says, specifically, "oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be -." The quote supports what I think because Abigail wants John. Another one is, she started blaming other people to keep from getting whipped. For instance, she says " I saw Sarah Good with the devil." Abigail thinks that she can just blame someone else and she will get out of trouble. Abigail is the villain for blaming other people instead of saying she lied to try and get what she wanted.
Abigail seeks revenge on Elizabeth throughout the play because, she is in love with John, and wants to be with him. Abigail helped begin the Witch Trials by originally wanting revenge on Elizabeth, and then she assists in the conviction of many innocent people. Without Abigail wanting revenge on Elizabeth, many people would not have been falsely accused for witchcraft.
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. Miller best depicts the evils in people through the main prosecutor in the the play Abigail Williams. Abigail is undeniably the most destructive and corrupt individual in The Crucible. Through her vengefulness, threatening her peers, carelessness at others’ expense, and complete disregard for human life, she ensues a tumultuous event to Salem.
The witch trials in Salem occurred because of Abigail and it is her fault. She started something she could not finish and by starting it killed many innocent people and ruined many reputations. Abigail is at blame because she was the one who is basically the "psycho girlfriend" who is obsessed with her ex. But because she is desperately in love with John Proctor, she is willing to do anything to have him all to herself. Just like how she drank a chicken blood charm to kill Elizabeth, which is against her religion. She is willing to go against her religion to satisfy her desperation for John. But obviously John does not want this because he knows his affair with her was a mistake. She is not the victim in the crucible. She is the person who
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of them women, and all but one by hanging. The play was written in 1952 after the Red Scare in America that caused much hysteria, like the Salem witch trials. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Each of the characters of Proctor, Hale, and Elizabeth changed from the beginning of the play to the end of the story. Proctor becomes more honest; Hale becomes more skeptical, and Elizabeth becomes more forgiving. The Salem witch trials did not only influence the characters changing, but it also affected the outcome of the Trials.
“Inside each of us there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And on cannot exist without the other”. (Eric Burdon) In Miller’s play The Crucible Abigail and Elizabeth both had to choose between good and evil. In the play Abby tries to do witchcraft to kill John Proctor's wife Elizabeth. She almost gets caught doing it so she accuses many people of bewitching her and got many people hanged. She accuses Elizabeth of bewitching her to kill her. The court will not kill her because she is pregnant but John Procter ends up being hanged because he was accused. In the play Elizabeth the example of good. She is kind, loving, and selfless. Abigail is the example of evil. She is mean, a killer, and a liar.
Abigail Williams calls Elizabeth’s name in court accusing her of witchcraft: “she (Abigail) wants me dead, john, you know it” Elizabeth said. Abigail started this hysteria hoping to kill Elizabeth so she could have her husband. By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one can see how the people were being accused of witchcraft in Salem, which is important because it all started upon John’s adultery with Abigail Williams and ended up causing innocent people to die.
When a woman is accused of being a witch and her life is in danger in 1600’s Salem, MA what recourse does she have to protect herself? Women of the time had no authority; they were seen as property of the men they married or were born to. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible takes place during the famous Salem witch trials. It all starts when young Abigail Williams has an affair with John Proctor and practices witchcraft in an attempt to kill John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. When Abigail is accused of witchcraft, she confesses and in order to take blame off of herself, she accuses many others as well. This sparks hysteria and conflict in the society that ends up costing people their lives. Many characters play a part in the outcomes in the story, however, some do so with more impact. Women in The Crucible are able to take power in their society as they find ways to influence and manipulate those in authority. Two women in the play that display this ability are Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams.
“’She makes me drink blood”’ says Abigail (Miller 160). The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller. The play takes place during the Salem Witch Trials, where many people were accused of witchcraft. The accused were either jailed or hanged. In the play many characters are blind to the truth and are changing the path of life. In The Crucible the characters who are blind to the truth, do not realize they are being deceived and they end up deceiving others, which is best illustrated by Judge Danforth, Reverend Parris, and Abigail Williams.
In what ways are women abused and discriminated against inside literature and throughout history? In many patriarchal societies, men have held authority over women due to gender. This power imbalance between men and women sometimes led to unjust treatment of women; men exert their authority over many women in the play, The Crucible. In The Crucible¸ male characters intimidate women to achieve specific outcomes and mark their superiority.
Although Abigail Williams does not physically appear in Act 2, her presence is felt throughout The Crucible. She affects and hurts the lives of her family. She is the main source of trouble. If she wants something, she'll get it. At the beginning, there is a lot of closeness between her and the proctor family. Now we learn that all of the problems lead directly to Abigail. She is not to be trusted and would just bring pain.
American History to life, in an allegory of McCarthyism. Arthur Miller is considered one of the
The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller, based on the Salem Witch Trials during 1692. During this play there was social injustice done to those who were accused of witchcraft. During the trials the only evidence to prove the accused of guilty or not guilty came from children. The only type of evidence they had was spectral evidence. Spectral evidence is evidence based upon dreams or visions. Spectral evidence is no longer permitted in the court due to it not being valid. Social injustice was committed by hanging those accused by the children without hard evidence.
The Salem Witch trail took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of girls accused of witchcraft, when Reverend Samuel Parris niece and daughter were ill and rumors spread that it was witchcraft. Sarah Osborne, Sarah Goode and Tituba were accused of being around when the girls were doing rituals and made the girls do the rituals. Abigail’s allegations began to grow blaming many innocent people. Tituba confessed which then assured the people that they have indeed the meet or seen the devil and are witches. People all throughout the town started accusing each other for ridiculous unreasonable explanations. Even kids were accused of witchcraft from all ages. John Protors wife was accused of witchcraft about a week later he
Around the time of the witch trials, the people in Salem were very religious. Rumors were easily spread and it was nearly impossible to prove yourself innocent if people were talking about you otherwise. During the witch hysteria, innocent people were imprisoned and and executed because someone has accused them of being a witch. It is understandable that some would accuse others to save themselves from imprisonment or from possible death. However, I believe Abigail should be held responsible for the imprisonment and execution of innocent people because she threaten the girls, so they would act bewitched and she also lied about getting stabbed by a needle and making it look like as if Elizabeth Proctor did it with witchcraft.