Abigail Williams 'Paradox In The Crucible' By Arthur Miller

“The Crucible” is a play about Salem, Massachusetts and its continuous witch trials. In the beginning of the play, the girls are caught by Reverend Parris dancing in the woods (Core 1: Introductory Prepositional Phrase). This is considered a sign of witchcraft. However, the girls blame the act on being bewitched on different people in the town. It all turns out to be a fraud to get Abigail Williams, the minister’s niece, back together with her ex-lover, John Proctor, and to extract revenge on his wife. When Arthur Miller gives a short composition on why he writes the play, he gives a paradox that seems relevant throughout the play/movie (Core 3: introductory Adverbial Clause). A paradox can best be defined as an apparent contradiction and yet is true. Authors often use paradoxes in their works to make them more

Salem was a town that was dignified for having good morals but that was completely the opposite in the play. The witch-hunt would bring townspeople together in the representation of community but it only turned out to be self-interested, driven people who wanted personal and political gain. For example, Thomas Putnam wanted his own daughter to accuse people of witchcraft that way he can get their land. Thomas Putnam, Goody Putnam, and Abigail Williams were greedy people and did this just to benefit for their own well-being (Core 4: Accumulation of Subjects). This act displays that the people are indeed greedy and only look out for themselves. A great line from Miller’s composition describing this situation was, “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom.” This can be explained as the witch-hunt set in a greater fear of panic when they realized how much freedom they had to accuse someone of witchcraft and the accusers would be able to take the accused