In the story “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, is a story that informs readers about the devastating salem witch trials that occurred in 1692 and 1693. One of the characters names is Abigail who is a seemingly nice girl until her true self comes out when she has an affair with a well known man named John Proctor. Abigail begins to accuse people of being witches and lies about having symptoms and seeing things due to people using “witchcraft”. Throughout the play people make sacrifices for what they think is right; and at the end, John Proctor made the biggest sacrifice of all. The Salem witch trials was a terrifying time for everybody involved and caused many deaths. “The Crucible” is a play where a girl makes one simple lie which then unfolds and causes 14 unnecessary deaths. …show more content…
Abigail has an affair with a farmer named John Proctor which is the husband of Elizabeth Proctor who Abigail works for. After awhile Proctor ends things with Abigail and confesses to his wife about the affair causing Abigail to get fired. Abigail then gets angry and comes up with a plan to get her and Proctor back together even though he wants no part of her. Abigail attempts to get Elizabeth, the wife, out of the picture so her and Proctor can be together. She does this by taking advantage of the salem witch trials and accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and being a lying, cold, sniveling women hoping she will be executed. While in the courtroom, Abigail fakes many things in order for her plan to work. She lies about seeing a bird in the church and she acted as if she was burning and freezing all due to “witchcraft”. In court Elizabeth was asked if Proctor and Abigail were having an affair and lies because she wants to protect her husbands good
The Crucible reminds us that the abuse of trust and good standing to trick people into false beliefs, often leads to tragedy. Abigail Williams is the best example of this. Miss Williams wasn’t the most respected girl, but she was a young woman, and therefore held to a high standard. When Abigail was caught doing “witchcraft” in the woods, she used that standard to lie,and blame other girls for consorting with the devil and tricking her. Such as in Act 1 when she shouts at Tituba "She made me do it!
In the Salem Witch Trials, 141 people were arrested, 19 people were hanged, and one person was crushed to death. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Abigail was the initial accuser of the witchcraft when she and a few other girls broke the rules. Abby had lied about what happened so she didn’t get punished. Abigail displays her villainous characteristics by telling lies, being manipulative, and leading nineteen innocent people to their untimely death.
“The Crucible” is a play written by Arthur Miller that takes place in the town of Salem in between 1692 and 1693 where the delusion of witches was rampant in what was known as the Salem witch trials. In Miller’s dramatization of the events, characters go through changes, they evolve as individuals, but one of them, that of John Proctor changes the most. John Proctor is a tragic hero because as the play continues the audience sees a goodness in him, but as it ends his own overwhelming pride replaces reason, which leads to his demise. In the beginning of the play John proctor can be seen talking to Abigail alone; in a conversation of what to do about their relationship, John tells Abigail of his feelings for her by saying “Abby I may think of
She is a cold, sniveling woman…”(1.203). Abigail's attempt to get rid of Elizabeth is to spread the word of her evil ways and to accuse her of witchcraft. This method of manipulation is turning the entire society of Salem against Elizabeth, since eliminating Elizabeth is the key to John Proctor. She spreads lies to make everybody replicate her personal thoughts onto others: miserable and lonely. This demonstrates the manipulative side of Abigail that takes advantage of others throughout the story.
When the affair is brought to a halt due to John’s guilty conscious, Abigail begins to go through a downward spiral. Abigail worked for Elizabeth, who just so happened to be Mrs. Proctor's wife. When things
In “The Crucible” By Arthur Miller, the main frailty that causes injustice in Salem is the “witchcraft” that Abigail participates in. The reason why she decided to perform “witchcraft” was out of anger and desire to be with Proctor after he told her to forget the whole ordeal even happened. For example, it caused her to be in distress and drink the charm in order to kill Goody Proctor. Furthermore, it also caused Abigail to form a plot to frame Goody Proctor with form of voodoo involving a poppet and needle. In addition, the “witchcraft” that Abigail participated in, caused an uproar and accusations of innocent people.
During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.
Andrew McIntosh 12/10/2015 Thesis Paper In this thrilling play directed by Arthur Miller, The Crucible portrays the incidents of the Salem Witch Trials during the late 1600’s. This action packed drama shows the struggle between John Proctor and Abigail Williams. Their relationship leads them down the wrong path.
To start, in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, the character's actions are influenced by their motivation and behaviors. Additionally, many people either want to confess to witchery or do not to save themselves or family. Many young girls living in Salem are caught dancing in the woods around a cauldron, these actions rise suspicions of witchcraft in the area. Abigail Williams becomes the talk of the town when she tells everyone that Reverend Samuel Paris’ slave, Tituba, made all the girls participate in witchcraft. John Proctor, a well-respected man, has an affair with Abigail and receives the truth about what happened in the woods.
Through the Salem witch trials, twenty-four innocent people lost their lives due to betrayal. They were hung because they were accused and found to be guilty of witchcraft. In reality, everyone that was accused and had died were innocent, but used as targets by others to save their own lives. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, out of fear, Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, and Reverend Hale betrayed their morals to save themselves. As a result of betrayal, lives were taken, relationships were ruined, and trusts were broken.
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.
Selfishness Consumes Human beings are innately driven by self-interest. They pursue goals, careers, achievements and all too often are deceitful and cheat in order to obtain them. The character Abigail in the play the Crucible is no different. The play, the Crucible, depicts the mass hysteria that overtook a town in Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials. In the midst of this fear, this panic, in the eye of the storm, lies the character of Abigail Williams.
Proctor then reveals Abigail’s actions, jealousy and desire, “She thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat”(p 110) . Abigail’s jealousy caused a lot of damage in the town, as she tries to kill
“ I have seen them through their silly seasons, and when it come on them they will run the Devil bowlegged keeping up with their mischief ”. ( Miller 147) Rebecca Nurse has seen the silly season one too many times, but is this situation the children's silly season? Whether it was their silly season for the children or true witchcraft, the Salem Witchcraft Trials all revolved around 17- year old Abigail Williams. When Abigail feels threatened by Betty Parris, everything changes, for one slip up of the truth could end Abigail Williams.