How Is Mary Warren Presented In The Crucible
Jacob Skripchuk
Ms. Fleetwood
English 3
February 9th 2022
Fragile Like Glass: An Analysis of Mary Warren From The Crucible Glass appears sturdy and stiff, but it shatters under even the slightest amount of pressure, leaving permanent damage. And that minuscule force can lead to a large web of cracks. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible places readers in the late 17th century, during the Salem witch trials, showing us the power dynamics of the time, how characters wield power, and the fragility of others. One character, Mary Warren, throughout the play, attempts to influence others with her power. However, she crumbles like glass with even the smallest amount of resistance, webbing out to create substantial problems for herself. When others try to
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We are shown this in act two when a needle is found in the abdomen of Abigail and the poppet Mary sewed earlier in the play. This causes Mary's innocence to be called into question. Hale accuses Mary of attempting murder on Abigail in the quote “Mary–you charge a cold and cruel murder on Abigail.” (Miller 853-854) Mary is shocked and silenced and proceeds to make no effort to defend herself, leaving her susceptible to Hales's power. Hale has legitimate power in this situation and can accuse Mary of murder. Since Hale is known as an expert on the supernatural, he has the authority to accuse Mary of attempted murder through supernatural means. We are also shown an example of Mary crumbling under pressure in act three after Mary fails to faint in court; Abigail and a group of girls pretend to be bewitched by Mary to turn the court against her. Abigail proceeds to say “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change shape” (1005 & 1006) and “Mary, please don’t hurt me” ( Miller 1016 and 1017) After faking being bewitched, Mary fails to defend herself, leaving Abigail to turn the tides of the court in her favor. In this scene, Abigail is using informational power against Mary to alter how the court sees Mary. Abigail is pretending that Mary is bewitching her and the girls in an effort to confirm to the court that Mary is lying about the girls faking the supernatural. These examples show that throughout The Crucible while Mary does try to wield her own power, she becomes susceptible to other characters' power, and is overshadowed by others'
Comparing Abigail And Mary In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
1013 Words | 5 PagesNow Mary didn’t want harm to come to other people. What she wanted from everything was no innocent lives taken and for people to stop lying. Mary and Abigail had very different motives throughout the play but unfortunately, they both didn’t get what they wanted. Abigail was now a “Wanted” persons and she flees the town and for Mary she becomes
Similarities Between Abigail Williams And Elizabeth Proctor
613 Words | 3 PagesWhile Abigail has little regard for those in positions of authority, she frequently opposes them. In Act 3, Abigail accuses Mary Warren of practicing witchcraft. When Judge Danforth confronts Mary, Abigail persuades the court that Mary is sending her spirit to harm the judge. This reveals Abigail's disdain for the truth and her willingness to take advantage of her
John Proctor Who Was Responsible For The Crucible
568 Words | 3 PagesSaying Abigail was the one that bewitch them over jealousy. In the heat of the moment, Mary breaks down in front of the court and accused Proctor of being a witch. Proctor is then arrested. The trials in Salem have made the neighboring towns uneasy. Hale begs those accused witches that are going to be hanged to confess falsely in order to save their lives, .
Reverend Hale In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
587 Words | 3 PagesHe has taken notice of the large amount of witchcraft which that is present from act one and begins taking accusations against others for granted and does not investigate their legitimacy to bring justice. Since Reverend Hale is not looking for evidence when he investigates people, this allows Abigail to manipulate him. She makes it appear that Elizabeth used witchcraft to stab a needle in her stomach, which results in Elizabeth being wrongly accused. In this way not only has Reverend Hale changed by not looking for evidence but he has also changed the
How Does Abigail Williams Present Power In The Crucible
760 Words | 4 PagesShe allows her threats to get to them if they disobey her orders. Dialogue shows the main point of how Abigail uses her selfishness, and how much she controls the girls within the story. Secondly, the author uses Character actions to portray Abigail’s fear of the people who happen to be afraid of witchcraft to gain more power for herself. Abigail once again uses her manipulation in situations to gain her own power. After her falling and stabbing at reverend Parris's house she uses her jealousy towards Elizabeth and applies that Elizabeth Procter used witchcraft against Abigail during her stabbing, Abigail proceeds to stick herself with needles that Mary Warren gave to Elizabeth to make it look more believable that she is taking the place of witchcraft, these accusations do eventually leave Elizabeth being charged.
Abigail Williams 'Most Despicable Character In The Crucible'
631 Words | 3 PagesThen, just to make things worse when Elizabeth Proctor fails during her questioning Abigail seizes upon that too and strengthens her position by screaming and going into a fit before Hale can explain anything and what he means by “This girl has always struck me as false!” (Act 3, p.
Who Is Mary Warren Weak In The Crucible
1127 Words | 5 PagesThis is one example of Mary Warren’s cowardly nature. She contradicts herself throughout the play with a lack of structural values that the audience, or even other characters, can rely on her for. Her weak nature becomes a source of frustration on several occasions, such as at the end of Act II, when after a long struggle between herself and everyone else in the court, Mary turns completely against John Proctor and proclaims that he is, “...the Devil‘s man!” This is a much different claim than the one she made when first arriving in the court, and when speaking to John himself. This shows why Mary Warren is a character most notable for her weakness and
Character Analysis Of Reverend Hale In The Crucible
554 Words | 3 PagesShe blatantly admits to pretending about seeing spirits, along with all the other girls, but Abigail turns on Mary and accuses her of sending her spirit out which leads the judge to be even more suspicious. The situation escalates until Mary turns on John and screams that he’d come to her to make her sign the Devil's black book. That was the final straw for Hale, as he saw John as one of the only sane people left in town, and he denounced the church before
Why Does Proctor Use Coercive Power In The Crucible
427 Words | 2 PagesDanforth’s expert position further weakens Mary because as a Judge he has the power to make the final decisions. Despite this Mary continues to use her informational power to share her knowledge about Abigail’s deceitfulness, she also provides reasoning for the seeing of spirits and fainting. Once she reveals to Danforth and the rest of the court that her fainting was just a pretense, Hathorne questions “Then can she pretend to faint now?” (Miller 3.736). At this moment Mary has the potential to stop Abigail, for if she faints she can prove she and the girls were previously faking.
The Crucible Honesty Analysis
688 Words | 3 PagesIn the beginning of the play, Hale was one of the people investigating the accusations of witchcraft, and he was the one that suggested witchcraft might be involved. He believed Abigail’s lies, and he believed Betty’s “illness” to be true. However, he began to disapprove of what was happening in the court once he learned of everyone who was accused. During a trial, he angrily shouted before he walked out the door, “I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court!”
Mob Mentality In The Crucible
751 Words | 4 PagesAfter continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.
How Does Abigail Williams Use Power In The Crucible
444 Words | 2 PagesHis job is to diagnose witchcraft if it is presented. During the play Hale is getting manipulated in his own beliefs, by Abigail and the girls. His power starts to slowly fade as the play goes on. ”I-quite the court” In this line Hale is trying his best to find out the witchcraft situation, but Abigail is making it worse, and taking over.
The Role Of Women In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
971 Words | 4 PagesTwo women in the play that display this ability are Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. The first example of an influential woman, is Elizabeth Proctor. She is wife to John Proctor and, though she may seem to wield little power in her relationship with him, she has great influence and power over his eventual fate. Many women in this novel are submissive and often hysterical but Elizabeth holds her ground and when accused and put on trial, is confident in her innocence.
Fear In The Crucible
819 Words | 4 PagesHale went to the houses of those accused because he was starting to worry that they were actually innocent. He acknowledges, “No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence now to deny it” (II.469-473.). Hale tells John and Elizabeth how the accusations are attacking the village, and how there is more evidence making it more difficult to not believe Abigail’s lie. Hale is worried that innocent people are being accused, but he also feels obligated to agree with the court.
Madness In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
683 Words | 3 PagesMary starts to get scared and lets her fears get out of hand a little bit. She starts screaming and crying saying she can’t go against Abigail that Abigail will kill her. On page 1181 Mary screams in terror saying “ i cannot I cannot they’ll turn on me”. Mary believes that if she tries to tell the court the truth about Abigail that Abigail and the other girls will all turn on her and tell the court that Mary is a Witch also. Mary’s outburst is uncontrolled fear of Abigail.
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