Anti-Witch Scares In The Crucible

“Abby' s lust threatens Proctor in many ways: she tempts him to sinning adultery in the first place;

The Crucible still remains in society today because of the hysteria of Salem witch trials. The main character in this play is Abigail Williams, Abigail is very manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain.

Jealousy is one main reason these three young girls seek revenge throughout the play. What personal reasons are these young girls seeking revenge from other characters? Abigail Williams is the strikingly beautiful niece of Reverend Parris and she seeks revenge from Elizabeth Proctor. We learned in Act One of ¨The Crucible" that when Abigail was a servant of Goody Proctor and John Proctor, that she had an affair with John Proctor. Tension rises between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor because Elizabeth had suspicions of Abigail and kicked her out of her house.

Humankind, real or fictional, are constantly manipulating each other and looking to others to place blame and hate. The most common victims of this behaviour are the undesirable of society, the outcasts who are easy to hate and condemn. This is an issue that was portrayed by Arthur Miller in The Crucible as a reflection of his own times and horrors of McCarthyism, and still plagues modern society with equally disastrous consequences. In The Crucible, the fear of the devil spread like wildfire throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts; the first victims of which were the undesirable and distrusted in their society.

This portrait, however, is somewhat flawed as it appears that in Ann’s case at least, the parents of the afflicted must have a strong influence with the child, as did the other adult accusers. Initially, Ann was fed names by her parents and minister”(-Minerdescent). The girls that were tricked into believing that the accused were guilty were most likely convinced that this was pious and that God wanted them to accuse the innocent. Or the girls might be influenced by their religion, reverends, and ministers. “These evil spirits are all around….

The Proctors had been tried in court and gone against by every girl in the court accusing Elizabeth. Abigail claimed that this was true because Goody Proctor and her had been in a affair and this had made Elizabeth mad and made her want to kill Abigail. The judge asked John Proctor if he had actually committed adultery with Abigail. Going against his own name Proctor cried YES that he had actually committed adultery with Abigail.

Prince Creon is reluctant to allow Medea to remain in his kingdom for he knows that she is “a clever woman, very experienced in evil ways.” (331) Medea has a reputation for being sneaky and cunning in order to cause suffering to those around her. Prince Creon knows that by granting Medea a sliver of time it could come back to haunt him. The little time given to Medea allows her to create a plot of revenge that will hurt her enemies and loved ones. When Medea kills her children, the Chorus Leader tells her that she is a “hard and wretched woman, just like stone or iron.”

She is mean. She shows that she is mean by threatening the lives of the girls if they say anything about witchcraft. “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” (act 1 line 460) She also shows that she is mean when she is coping Mary making the pastors in the court believe that Mary is a witch. “

“Abigail is the most complex of the girls in the town who cry out against their elders. Both clever and cunning, her intense cynicism toward the so called respectability of the town is partly supported in the way that we see them act” (Abbotson 1). She has so many layers to her character that we as readers can explore. When she says “My name is good in

Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.

The Trials of 1692 were a perfect way for Miller to express his thoughts about the hunt for communists in the U.S. as Americans let fear control them causing fellow neighbors to suspect each other and ignore one another 's civil rights and as stated by History.com “ the Red Scare – is often cited as an example of how unfounded fears can compromise civil liberties”(History.com “Red Scare”) . The attitude of the 50 's also helped to play a vital part in how Miller came to choose to write about the trials as Americans branded communists were as stated by History.com “hounded by law enforcement, alienated from friends and family and fired from their jobs. ”(History.com “Red Scare”), Miller lived in a world that was teetering on the edge of fear.

Prejudice towards people of German, Russian, and Chinese descent is still felt today, when an ignorant person calls them a “Communist”, because of the damaging affects the Second Red Scare had. The Salem Witch Trials affected society by realizing that not all those who cry victim should be believed, especially when ulterior motives, such as the girls in The Crucible. These horrific events demonstrate how mass hysteria, mob mentality, and corrupt politicians created an atmosphere of substantial coercion that caused the destruction of innocent people’s

People were so full of fear that they would do anything to eliminate their anxiety. The McCarthy hearings of the 1950s reenacted the hysteria of the Salem witch trials of 1692 by spreading mass fear of prosecution, creating false accusations, and blacklisting people. The Salem witch trials were considered to be America 's most notorious episode of witchcraft hysteria. Many innocent people were killed as a result of false accusations, and many other women were put through trials to determine if they were witches.

“Senator McCarthy’s attacks were scattershot, but on occasion, when the Bureau’s reports steadied his hand, his aim was true.” (183). McCarthy’s accusations and investigations caused people to be fired, and some committed suicide during investigations. The majority of McCarthy’s attacks came straight from FBI documentation (184-185). Hoover told McCarthy to stop, however the senator did not heed his warning, and started up with more attacks.

Did you know Abigail is responsible for the witchcraft hysteria? Abigail is responsible for the witchcraft hysteria because she blamed other people for her actions and had an affair. There were many other reasons she was accused as well. Anyhow, Abigail was a very mean person that always wanted everything to go her way.