Three Reasons why Abigail, John, and Reverend Parris are to Blame for the Commotion Within Arthur Miller's Crucible During the Cold War between 1947-1991, immense amounts of tension arose between the two superpowers of the world: The United States and the Soviet Union. With the Rapid introduction of Nuclear weapons by the U.S. in WWII, the Soviet Union quickly attained their own weapons of catastrophe. Thus, these two looming superpowers, for over 50 years, sat trembling under the threat of the other. During these years of torrent, intense rumor came about over the fact that there might possibly be Soviet sympathizers within the U.S. gathering intel for the Soviets benefit. Thus, a man by the name of Joseph McCarthy invested his life during these years on finding and punishing these so …show more content…
Abigail is most likely the epitome of crazy. In the beginning of the play, she commits actions in the woods that are beyond suspicious. She was kicked out of the Procor house by Elizabeth due to suspicion of Adultery, and she is constantly lying profusely to cover herself up. Abigail is to blame for Salem's problems because she’s the one who accused everyone of witchcraft, including Elizabeth. By spilling all these accusations, Abigail turned Salem into a boiling pot of rumor and hatred. Even more so, it’s sad to think that Abigail did all of it simply because she wanted John back, and was angry at Elizabeth for being kicked out. On page 1157, Abigail's accusations are put on display, “I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil… I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil… I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!”. Abigail couldn’t control her mouth, and ran around town accusing and denying to her content. Alan Kazdin talks about lying, “It is unlikely that lying will be completely eliminated, but with the right encouragement, it can be dramatically lessened”. It’s safe to say that Abigail did not have right
Out of all the characters in the book, there are many that contributed to the hysteria of the witch trials, however, of these characters Abigail Williams contributed the most. In the beginning of the play, we see Abigail and a collection of other girls dancing and making a charm in the woods. Abigail made this charm in order to kill Mr.Proctor 's wife. If Abigail wasn 't so crazy in love with John this scene in the woods probably wouldn 't have taken place. Therefor, Parris would have never caught the girls and there wouldn’t be rumours of witchcraft.
Though there were many people who contributed to what happened in Salem, I believe that Abigail Williams was mostly to blame. I think this because she lied to save herself, made up false scenarios and blamed innocent people, and enjoyed the attention and power. In the beginning of the play, Abby is caught dancing in the woods. She herself drank a blood charm in which she wanted to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Though Abby wasn’t the only one who was caught, she lied to Reverend Parris so that she would not be hung once witchcraft was being talked about throughout the village.
In Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” (1953), it is shown that people seem to forget basic morals when dealing with mass hysteria. Puritans in the play do not want the devil or any other demonic figures such as witches in their community, they will go to great lengths, as far as turning their back on their own people to get rid of these demonic figures as shown in “The Crucible”. This idea of witches in the community caused chaos in the village which led to the deaths of 20 people in the village. Do people in the play not care about the consequences other people face because of their actions? In the play, loyalty falls far below self selfishness in the face of mass hysteria.
After sleeping with John, Abigail thought she had made a promise to be with him, “.. There is a promise made in any bed-” “spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. And she may dote on it now - I am sure she does -and thinks to kill me, then take my place” (Miller 61). Abigail was jealous that Elizabeth was taking her spot when she made a “promise” with John and planned to kill her, by saying she was working with the devil by falsely accusing
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.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.
In a small village called Salem, witchcraft and sorcery exist, however everyone is pointing fingers but not a single soul knows who is actually to blame for this nonsense. During this time period of hysteria, there are multiple scenes that are very questionable due to one person and one person only. Abigail is the one most responsible for the hysteria and witchcraft in Salem. She threatens the group of girls that accompanied her in the woods while they all danced. She has also lied about many things on multiple occasions in which causes an extreme amount of suspicion.
McCarthyism resulted in Americans turning against each other because of politicians greed for power, paranoia, and the fear of communist infiltration. Clearly, Senator McCarthy’s greed for political power led to American citizens’ unrest. In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, John Proctor dealt with the corruption of power in his town when Abigail Williams and many other girls accused those, who were innocent, of witchcraft. Similarly, americans were being blacklisted by McCarthy because they believed these people may have
A dynamic character like Abigail has lied before in the past and now has experiences something more sinister which is unique for a character in the story and makes the plot better with Abigail’s wickedness. Through the Trials of the Salem, the story will always have a person that will stand out when it is mentioned, and Abigail Williams takes the cake of being the most horrific, yet a great character in the story because it isn’t The Crucible without Abigail as being the antagonist and the tension builder. The Village will never forgive of what she did to all the innocent women she has killed. Abigail has shown that she is a very Dynamic character from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences she has made in
She is the most to blame for the actions made and the deaths that took place in Salem. The affair John and Abigail had caused her to fall hard for him. She has it set in her mind that she will go to unbelievable measures to try and get Elizabeth Proctor out of the picture so she can be with John. Abigail is found dancing in the woods with the other girls at night.
During the Salem Witch Trials a lot of people were accused of using witchcraft. As a result many people died for other people’s lies, rumors, and selfishness. There is one person that really caused and is most to blame for all the chaos, her name is Abigail. Abigail is to blame for all that has happened in the Witch Trials, the reason for that is because of all the accusing and lying she has done. In addition, it all leads up to her for instance, she used a doll to accuse people of witchcraft.
As time has passed, throughout history, during different periods of time there are parallels. There are three eras that we are focussed on, where there are three types of people during each era. The three different eras that we’re focusing on, are The Salem Witch Trials (1600s), The McCarthy Era (1950s), and Today (2000s); the three types of people are the people who are the reasons why there’s accusations towards the accused, the accused, and finally the accusers. In The Crucible, or during the Salem Witch Trials, the person that’s the reason why characters were accused is John Proctor. The accuser in the play, who decides to point fingers at everyone, is Abigail Williams.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. It gives insight about what people had to deal with in this situation and how they handled it. The trials were basically a big test which helped figuring out whether or not people were guilty of witchcraft. This is an example of what a crucible is. In our world today we still have crucibles and even though they are different than back then, they all relate to each other because of what influence they have on people.
She’s the woman who holds grudges, is selfish, and a great liar. Abigail seems to be especially gifted at spreading destruction and chaos wherever she goes. She is able to manipulate others, for example, all her friends and the whole town. In addition, she obtains control over all of them and sends nineteen uninvolved people to their deaths. All these things add up.
Abigail and the society itself are to blame for the events in Salem causing murder and outrage in this town. Abigail is the character mainly to blame for the outrage in Salem. She is a liar, double faced hypocrite that will stop at nothing to get herself out of the mess that she created. Making her one of the main killers of these innocent puritan people.