The Crucible Character Types Antagonist: Abigail Williams stirs up the entire town of Salem against many people, including Elizabeth and John Proctor, because of her selfish ambition to be John’s next wife, as well as her treacherous lust for the power that she gains by accusing innocent people of witchcraft. She even threatens the girls that if they tell the truth (that shes lying ) then she’d – ‘..come to them in the black of some terrible night and shudder them’. She is threatening and clearly evil and the villain. Judge Danforth is also an antagonist as he is corrupt and a villain. He is arrogant and has high authority.
The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, mimics the red scare in the 1950’s about the spread of communism using the Salem witch trials to represent how the people of the United States acted toward the spread of communism. Arthur Miller used parody, exaggeration and irony well to break down the way America acted in the 1950’s towards the red scare. Arthur Miller used parody well in The Crucible by showing how it relates to the red scare. Danforth says “Danforth. Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more.
You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (Miller 1244) Even before we know a lot about Abigail we find out that she resorted to “devil work” to try and get rid of John Proctor’s wife. She is still in love with Proctor to a point of destroying her and anyone who gets in her way. Another quote is by Abigail herself that says, “Why, look at my leg. I’ve holes all over from their damned needles and pins. The jab your wife gave me’s not healed yet, y’know….
The Great Purge of Russia Communism is when property is publicly owned and people are paid according to their abilities. Joseph Stalin was the communist leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and a paranoid leader. He initiated the Great Purge because he feared people were plotting to remove him from power. During the Purge, his agents would torture the accused, and over half a million people would die. An explanation of how the accused died, who was targeted, and who carried out the killings will enable one to understand who was responsible and how they carried out this event.
Arthur Miller was one of the many people accused of communism during the Red Scare, being called before the HUAC (“Arthur Miller” 11)Because of the many similarities shown when comparing The Crucible and the events of the Red Scare, I believe Arthur Miller wrote his play to shine a light on the ridiculousness and true reality of the events that occured. Firstly, the Red Scare was a time where the United States was extremely divided, both socially and politically, and citizens were terrified about communists spreading their ideas of communism (Foster 2). This pandamonium stemmed from ideas of McCarthyism, strong anti-communist values (Goodman 1). McCarthyism, to some, was believed to resemble totalitarianism due to “the demagoguery, smear campaigns, informers, purges of the civil service and education system; the blacklisting of writers, artists, and entertainers; and incidents of book-burning” (Goodman 1) that both had in common (Goodman 1). To combat the spread of communism and to calm the overall panic people had at the time, the government created the House Committee of Un-American Activities
The contrast between the predatory nature of the hawk and the ineptitude of the puffin serve to paint women’s ambitions as comical yet concerning. Eleanor is the representative of women with ambitions and the consequences of those ambitions. This controlling and fanatical behavior led to disastrous consequences for her son that damaged his love life. Threatened by Raymond’s girlfriend she forces him to end the relationship, a threat which Wiley addresses when he writes that “mom never meets competition [because] she betrays the people who would give her a battle before she brings up her troops” (Wiley 206). In her ambition the actions she takes ultimately betray her son and later her
Judge Hathorne is displayed as a very ruthless and almost unforgiving kind of person. This can be seen, especially, as he is accusing Martha Corey of being a witch and saying that she is “hurting these children” (Miller, 180) His ruthlessness can also be seen as he is basically forcing Mary Warren to faint to be able to prove that she was lying. (Miller, 191) His unforgiving nature is constant, though, unlike Reverend Hale. Reverend Hale begins the play completely certain and sure of the righteousness in his calling. But as time passes, it is seen how much this character has been corrupted.
Afterwards, she was willing to destroy anyone in the way of her getting to be with him. Proctor definitely wishes he had never laid with Abigail, and everyone else was paying for his mistake, as she ruined everyone’s lives, “I have known her, sir. I have known her.” (Act III, 378). A single lie snowballed, leaving death and terror in its wake, all because Abigail could not, and likely did not want to control herself. Every single death of the Salem Witch Trials happened because of one night of infidelity between Proctor and
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. Abigail Williams is the catalyst to the witch hunt and is relentless in her plans to have Elizabeth Proctor killed, destroying the lives of many just because in her head that would mean John will want to be with her. She is obsessive
American citizens were brought into court under suspicion for colluding with the communist party. If people gave the names of “co conspirators” then they could walk free; if not they were convicted. These trials ignored all constitutional rights of the accused and with only circumstantial evidence, sent people to jail (“McCarthyism”). Like The Crucible, a play that this era bore, the justice system that the people trusted failed at every level. “In 1947, President Truman had ordered background checks of every civilian in service to the government.