Imagine losing everything: your job, family, and good name all because of someone accusing you of something that there is no sound evidence for. Now imagine people losing their lives for insubstantial reasons, and anyone who spoke out against these would lose everything themselves. Wouldn’t corruption reign from personal vengeance and create an aura of hysteria? Readers see this exact effect in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as well as in the historical event of The Lavender Scare, in both of which people were wrongfully castigated for unjustifiable accusations. The Crucible and The Lavender Scare were both similar and different. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible took place in the late 1600’s when the people of Salem, Massachusetts conjectured that …show more content…
In The Crucible, the acting of the girls was the principal source of propaganda to continue the trials. Abigail, the young girl who commenced all of the accusations, acted in such a hysteric way that she caused people to believe her. A faultless example of this was when another young girl, Mary, attempted to inform the court that all of the girls were just acting bewitched and that none of them were actually affected by witchcraft. In response to this, Abigail made a Colossal scene in the courthouse; claiming that Mary sent her spirit out in the form of a bird to attack her. “Abigail (to the ceiling, in a genuine conversation with the “bird,” as though trying to talk it out of attacking her). But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary,” (Miller 3. 999-1002). Hectically, Abigail claimed this because she recognized that if she didn’t make a scene to convince the court of Mary’s bewitched spirit, all of her lies would’ve been figured out. In doing this, Abigail effectively intensified the people of Salem’s tenacious confidence that witchcraft existed in their village, which in turn acted as propaganda to fuel the fire of
Abigail’s mischievous behavior molded the start of salem witch trials. In Act 1 Abigail lie’s about what happened to Parris and threatening the girls to say what she want’s. Abigail tells the girls to say something or they wish they had never seen the sun go down. Abigail's type of behavior lying and threatening to cover her own self so she does not get in trouble.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, A strange phenomenon takes place in the town of Salem Massachusetts. Innocent people were killed because they were accused of being a witch. A man by the name of John Proctor gets thrown in to this event when his wife Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft. Salem was a very small and quiet New England town, this of course didn’t last very long.
Also, throughout the play Abigail accuses many people of witchcraft in order to save herself. An example of this is when Hale questions Abigail in act 1, and Abigail accuses several girls of
Abigail additionally guaranteed that she saw Mary Warren's spirit as a flying creature. " But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary" (Page 115). These are cases with respect to why Abigail utilized a past occasion so as to control many characters in The Crucible. As expressed some time before, Abigail Williams is the undeniable reprobate in the play,
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, focuses on the town of Salem, Massachusetts, during the deplorable witch trials revolving around the 1600's. Within these trials, there were multiple accusations that were made about who was really involved in the witch trials, many of the characters who were falsely and baselessly accused were innocent. The falsification that were created by the main character of The Crucible, Abigail Williams were only for her own benefit to protect herself from being accused as one of the “witches” or had she had been there in the forest the night there was witchcraft . For example, in (Act 1.Scene 3)ABIGAIL: She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer! ABIGAIL:
Mass Hysteria In the Salem Witch Trials Abigail is the one who starts the whole witch thing, when her and all the girl from the village were in the woods doing a ritual about who they wanted to marry. The girls didn't notice that someone had followed them into the woods and they were caught and a young child fell to her knees and into a comma. The townspeople thought it was to be witchcraft. Abigail didn't want the towns people to know so Abigail threatened the girls and told them if they were to talk she would kill them.
Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. During this time, many people are hung for being accused of performing witchcraft, but who is there to blame? During this time, many people feared for their lives, and others used this as a time to get rid of people. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Deputy-Governor Danforth are responsible for the witch trials in Salem. The play begins with many girls dancing in the woods and people being accused of witchcraft.
Spencer Davis Mr. DeMello American Literature 3/16/2023 The Crucible Essay Rough Draft Intro Paragraph: Truth/Lies From 1692-1693, 25 people lost their lives as a result of the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were fueled by lies and misinformation. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, details the severe effects of the Salem Witch trials on a Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1600s.
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.
The Salem witch trials and McCarthyism have an uncanny relation to one another. In Salem people were afraid of not appearing christian enough, meanwhile during the 50’s Americans feared of being accused of communism. Also during the McCarthyism era and the witch trials innocent lives were ruined when people were forced to accuse others or be accused themselves. Though The Crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism, it focuses some of its attention on the question what is more important, your honor and reputation or your life?
But the mainly because everyone thinks she is a witch. Due to the women in the court room continuously repeating it with details to support, making everybody believe Mary warren is a witch. Mary was the one caught in the dancing in the forest and being accused of witch craft. When Mary was in court she admitted she was witch craft but, also made everyone to think it was an act. In act 2 page 80 Mary Warren is pressured by Proctor to go to court and confess that Abigail is guilty.
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'
The Spread of Hysteria in Salem In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, multiple factors fueled the hysteria leading up to the Salem witch trials, such as Abigail’s deceiving plots, Reverend Hale not establishing the truth, and citizens’ mindless accusations. Abigail is the most guilty of causing outbreaks of panic starting with dancing in the woods with other girls, then moving to framing Mary Warren with a doll, and fake acting out seeing otherworldly entities. One example of Abigail’s manipulation is when she stabbed herself with a needle to frame Mary Warren: “Stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out” (176). Abigail also has a habit of accusing falsely and gets to girls to gang up during hearings, but everyone believes
Abigail forces the girls of Salem to dance in the woods with her to help conjure spirits and make the charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail threatens the girls right after Betty took fright by saying, “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.” (Miller, 144). Later on as the trials prolong Mary Warren turns on Abby and is telling the court that she lied. When Abigail then accuses Mary of witchcraft she turns back to Abby and obeys her once again.
In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, a play set in Salem a town in Massachusetts in the spring of 1692, we are introduced to John Proctor. At the time