How Does Abigail Williams Affect The Crucible

People wanted him out of the church. During the Witch Trials, Parris’ teachings also revolved more around Satan and a person’s sinful ways. Lastly, the final effect of the Salem Witch Trials was that it affected many individuals personally. Reverend Parris’ reputation became so horrible, they voted him out of the church. Then, John Procter was convicted of witchcraft and hung.

The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller and published in 1953. The play is about the Salem witch trials that happened in 1692. In these trials, people were hanged because the townspeople didn’t want the devil in their town. The people that lived in Salem were very religious so they believed that hangings would get rid of the devil, who was possessing and controlling certain townspeople. The Crucible starts out with a scene where a young girl is sick with a mysterious sickness.

Nathaniel Nguyen The Crucible Arthur Miller English 2 Honors Period 2 Witch Hunting During the years 1692 to 1693, The Salem Witch Trials were a time of great fear and hysteria, as even neighbors would accuse one another of witchcraft just to lower the suspicion that they themselves were witches. Although many people nowadays are very well aware of what happened during this frightful time, most still don’t know how the Salem Witch Trials actually began. The Crucible by Arthur Miller captures the horrific experience of the Salem Witch Trials from their very beginning, to their ending when people began realizing that the entire situation had been a lie from the very start. The main character, John Proctor, may seem to be a normal, middle aged man living in the Puritan town of Salem, but however, he holds a dark secret: he cheated on his wife with a girl named Abigail Williams. What he doesn 't know, is that by cheating with Abigail, he partly started the Salem witch madness; John makes Abigail very envious of his wife, and thus, she begins accusing others of dark sorcery and witchcraft.

To demonstrate, in Act One of The Crucible, Tituba, a Barbados slave to Reverend Parris, was falsely accused of leading the girls of the play in witchcraft, but deliberately defended herself by stating that “I do believe somebody else be witchin these children”(Pg. 42, Miller). In other words, because Tituba was under the false accusations of witchcraft, she was forced to blame other people of the village as well in order to save her own life. Therefore, because all the villagers, especially Mr. Hale, another important character of the play, accused Tituba in a forceful manner, she was forced to take decisive action due to her society’s daunting influence in order to save her own life. The society of the Puritans had a strong influence on the actions of numerous individuals due to two key components.

Salem was surprised and scared of what happened during the 1690’s. Rosalyn Schanzer wrote the book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, which is a book that describes the life in Salem during the witch trials. The witch trials was a period of time when people accused others for being witches and using witchcraft. It was a devastating time for the Puritans.

Later in the story Tituba under the pressure of the court confest which ignited a hunt for witches. in both the salem witch trials and the red scare people where both paranoid of something. At the time of the witch trials the people were afraid of evil spirits, and the devil if you were accused of being a witch you would lose almost everything you owned. With the power of the church the people of Salem where easy overpowered by Propaganda and hysteria, with this people started so claim any was a witches for power, land, and even political strength. “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!”( Arthur Miller.)

Abigail worked for Elizabeth Proctor as a maid in the house. Later fired amidst an affair with John, Elizabeth's husband. The accusations didn't end there; as the orphan desired to end the conflict with Elizabeth. Abigail proceeded to spread rumors saying that Elizabeth was bewitched. Salem, being a very religious village, had very harsh consequences for those accused of witchcraft.

This play seems to have all these characteristics and many more. The Crucible took place in a small town called Salem. This small society went through a terrible time in history called the Salem Witch Trials. In these trials good men and women were persecuted and some even faced death for doing nothing wrong. These trials took people of great character and stature and deemed them to be witches which stripped them of everything their name meant and owned.

According to “Journal of the Early Republic” eventually, the community admitted the trials were a mistake and ended up compensating the families of those convicted. Since then, the Salem Witch trials has become synonymous with paranoia, injustice, and fear; therefore, continues to occupy a unique place in our collective history. Because the belief in the supernatural and in the devil’s practice became widespread in the Salem village, it evoked fear among the community. Witchcraft was considered a sin and a crime because the witches were able to conjure the Devil to perform cruel acts against others. The community received an offset of terror when three young girls, 9-year-old Elizabeth (Betty), Parris, 11-year-old Abigail Williams, and Anne Putnam began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming.

In The Crucible, John Proctor is seen as a tragic hero. His wife Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft by the young girls which meant that she would be arrested and most likely hanged. John Proctor had make mistakes in the past such as cheating on his wife which led him to make the ultimate sacrifice for his family and his name. John Proctor confesses to being a witch as he knows it is the only way he can save his wife Elizabeth from being arrested and killed. Proctor is seen as a tragic hero because he decides to not sign his confession as it would