In Arthur Miller’s the Crucible, the lies told by the characters are human acts of self-preservation, sometimes told at the risk of other, and sometimes told to try and assist others, which begs the question, is it ever exceptional to lie? Miller’s play begins in Act I by presenting all characters whom instigate the Salem Witch Trails. The main protagonist and the character that can be mostly accredited for the lies and accusations which cause the uproar would be Abigail. Abigail’s character is static because her actions always appear malicious and she shows great will for self-preservation.
In the play “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem is dealing with girls dealing with witchcraft and this caused a huge ruckus and basically destroys the town. We learned that the girls were just having fun, and were following Abigail’s lead. Abigail was the master of this plot, the one who started all of this, just over a crush and jealously over a John Proctor and his wife. To the prompt of this, why is Danforth, Harthorne and the other authorities such as Parris, so resistant on believing the claim that Abigail and the other girls are lying? From this paper we should realize why this is such a doing in the play.
Zi Liu Ms. Elder College English 11 The Crucible Break Assignment ACT ONE 1. Why did the Salem settlement need a theocracy? Why had the settlers begun to turn toward individualism?
In The Crucible, there could be many suspects to blame for the innocent deaths that happened in Salem. Proctor could be blamed for the innocent deaths because he lied about his affair with Abigail. Speaking of Abigail... in my opinion Abigail Williams is the one to blame for the innocent deaths because of the lies she told, the accusations she made, and the affair she had with John Proctor. Abigail Williams told many, many lies in The Crucible. The reason the witch trials began in the first place was because of the lie she told about being in the woods.
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.
Proctor says, “In the proper place - where my beasts are bedded. On the last night of my joy, some eight months past, she used to serve me in my house sir” This act of confession shows how much he loves Elizabeth and what he’s willing to do to protect her. Abigail had told proctor that she had never seen any spirits, but she had told him when they were alone. Proctor had to confess in order to prove that abigail would want to hurt Elizabeth and she had been lying about the witches and the devil.
Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.
Abigail believed that Proctor actually loved her and she waited every night for him. She was brainwashed to think he would leave his wife for her. The witchcraft accusation came from the beginning of the story when Abigail and the girls were dancing naked in the woods and chanting. She made false accusations that people in the village were worshipping the devil to cover what she had done. Many lives were taken but Abigail had no empathy for anyone who was hanged.
Some people use lies to cover up or solve problems. Abigail feared being accused of witchcraft, so she accused others of witchcraft. She tried to use lies to solve her problems, but ended up creating a worse situation. Abigail’s lies had affected many of the characters.
In times in hysteria and crisis, people will do all they can do to redirect blame from themselves. This is exemplified in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and “Half Hanged Mary”, by Margaret Atwood. The Crucible is a story about a Puritan village that experiences a major crisis in which people, predominantly women, are believed to be witches. This causes a series of events in which people are hanged, simply for being alive. Half Hanged Mary is a poem about a woman who is hanged for being a witch, but does not die.
Abigail finally sees the outturn of her lies she has made for what she wants. Proctor is hanged which she didn’t attend to do, but now pays the price. She also found out what lying can do “They’re pretending, Mr. Danforth... Mary, please don’t hurt me!.”(miller 120-121). Lying has made her corrupt and is used to persuade to make harm with.
Lying is the most committed sin. Everyday people lie whether small or big. Every human knows that lying should not be exercised, but sometimes, in certain situations, lying is necessary due to the consequences of telling the truth. In the Bible, James 3:8, quoted is “But no human being can tame the tongue, it is a relentless evil, full of deadly poison.”
She wants to kill his wife so she can marry John Proctor. Abigail is trying to be on both sides in the situation so that she can save herself. When she is accused of being a witch she rats out other people to try and make it less of a problem for
Also, in attempt to tell the truth about Abigail, John Proctor admits to cheating on his wife with Abigail, but Elizabeth lets her fear assist her in lying. John Proctor tells everyone in the court, previous to Elizabeth arriving, “she [has] never lied” (III.891.). With everyone now knowing that she does not lie, it makes her trustworthy and believable. Deputy Danforth then brings Elizabeth in to confirm what
(Lines 689-690). Abigail Williams is a prolific liar, and she led many people of Salem to their deaths with her lies, when she was trying to keep her name in Salem innocent. She tries to convince John Proctor to leave Elizabeth and to go with her, after he cheated on Elizabeth with her. She lies multiple times throughout the lay, and the devastating effects that they have on
