Malfeasance In The Crucible

“Abby' s lust threatens Proctor in many ways: she tempts him to sinning adultery in the first place;

”(Miller 100). At that point in time Mary Warren and John Proctor both tried to prove Abigail Williams and the other girls of faking it until, act 4 when she backstabbed John Proctor and made her own claim that John Proctor was satan. ”You’re the devil’s man.” (Miller 110). Mary knows what Abigail was always a threat and being on her side was an advantage, John Proctor was foolish for thinking Mary would keep her word and tell on the girls.

The author, Arthur Miller, wrote “The Crucible” that tells us the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. The society in Salem in 1692 was full of McCarthyism and fear because they thought their other citizens are doing witchcraft. Miller tells us that ignorance and fear combined can destroy a town’s social well-being. On the play, “The Crucible”, the citizens of Salem’s reacted with fear when they hear that someone has a sign of being a witch.

He falls to the false accusations of the girls and begins to believe them. It could also be Danforth's fear of witches that causes him to act so blindly. Danforth may be so scared of the devil that he does not act rationally when accusations of witchcraft are made because he takes the accusation with the utmost concern. Because of this Abigail takes advantage of his incompetence. This is displayed when Abigail fools him after screaming.

Elia Kazan a Greek-American director once said, “Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy” In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the town of Salem gets warped into a loop of lies and false accusations. A group of girls claim to be able to see spirits to avoid being called witches, and accuse others of being witches, starting a chain reaction. Now others accuse people of being witches in order to get rid of those they don‘t like, and so they be hanged. Hysteria and conformity cause an uproar of lies that kill innocent people in Salem.

Proctor then tries to stop the trials when he realizes that the girls have faked it. Later on, he is accused of witchcraft and will not falsely admit to it and is hanged at the end of the play. Throughout the play, Proctor shows both honorable and flawed traits. However, many of Proctor’s flawed actions overshadow those that are honorable. Some of Proctor’s actions could prove that he is honorable.

The emotions of people can be blinding and problematic. The emotions a person feels can cause people to do unimaginable things to themselves and other people. Throughout the book, people's emotions bring out the worst of the people of Salem. The people of Salem begin accusing people of witchcraft for their own personal vendettas and gain. In the book “ The Crucible” by Arthur Miller the people demonstrate, When reason fails, emotions control and results in the destruction of what is morally right or good.

Instead of interrogating Abigail, he is silenced by her which most likely shows that he has accepted her demand of not being judged. At this point, there is a flip in power dynamics at the witchcraft trials, Abigail has overpowered Danforth in courtroom. Judge Danforth an honorable Judge of the supreme court has easily been dominated by a seventeen-year-old Abigail, proving that he is gullible to her lies. Lastly, right after the Andover witchcraft trial revolt, Abigail runs away and also steals Reverend Parris’s money (The crucible). The sheer act of fleeing away shows a sign of guilt and fear of punishment along with her act of stealing Reverend Parris’s money clearly speaks a lot about the criminal character of Abigail Williams.

The Crucible is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-93. The main antagonist Abigail is trying to be with John Proctor after having an affair with him but Elizabeth isn't having it. Abigail is trying to convict Elizabeth of witchcraft, so she can be killed and have John Proctor all to herself. Elizabeth Proctor is one of the protagonist of the play.

Their heads were smashed by Indians while Abigail, at a presumably young age, watched. This undeniably has caused some sort of psychopathy to have emerged in Abigail’s psyche. She has all the symptoms of psychopathy, being manipulative, apathetic, and ruthless. She wishes to rid herself of Elizabeth so that her and John can be together and this on its own signifies some sort of mental delusion, but the measures that Abigail takes to make this realization point to her true insanity. Abigail not only tries to make a charm to kill Goody Proctor, but when this attempt on her life fails, she convinces the Salem court that Elizabeth is a witch.

The authorities questioned the girls, and Abigail confessed that the servant Tituba sent her evil spirit upon them, and made them write in the Devil’s book. It only went downhill from there. Soon many were accused, and they would accuse others in order to save their own lives. It only started however,