In the tragic historical play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays a more intensified version of the Salem witch trials in the 1600s. In the beginning of the play, Betty Parris pretends to be under the influence of Satan, which by the temptation of Abigail Williams, the niece of Samuel Parris, the other children accuse innocent lives. One such life is John Proctor, a farmer who pleads to save his wife's life using the evidence that the girls are lying. In all this trauma, many citizens have an internal conflict, which destroys their reputation. Miller develops this idea by how Parris seeks his family to be righteous, how Abigail wants to have the feeling of love and trustworthiness, and how Proctor prohibits the viewing of himself as a saint during his hanging. Explaining the conspiracy in the town, the bewitchment of Betty makes Parris’s respect disparaging. Knowing about people wanting to remove him from the church, Parris commands Abigail to explain what the girls were doing in the woods. Parris’s protection of his reputation is on full display during his fervent accusation, “Now tell me true, Abigail. And pray you feel the weight of truth upon you, for now my ministry’s at stake, my ministry and perhaps your cousin’s life” (Miller 11). Struggling to find answers from Parris, the citizen’s demeanor raised extremely …show more content…
Bombarding by Parris’s allegations, Abigail refutes the rumor about her and Procter, “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!” (Miller 12). Seeking to gain Procter’s love, Abigail ensues the idea of witchery and accuses many candid people, such as Goody Procter. However, Proctor reproves such lying proclamations, which strengthens his courage to refuse Abigail’s love. Hence, Abigail pursues her purpose to perceive herself as a innocent child harmed by
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the antagonist, Abigail Williams, sparks the 1692 witch trails in Salem, Massachusetts. Early on, Abigail has an affair with John Proctor, a local farmer. At first, Abigail had once worked for Proctor as a house maid, but when Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, discovered that her husband was having an affair with the maid, she fires Abigail. In the middle of seeking revenge on Elizabeth for coming between her and Proctor’s “love”, Abigail also brings the entire village down as well. Miller demonstrates that Abigail William’s flaws- mendacity, lust, and spitefulness- led her to be most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem.
Proctor after a long day of work comes home and has dinner, complements Elizabeth's food, and talks with Elizabeth about her day, and then Elizabeth tells proctor that abigail is the leading accuser in the court, accusing innocent people of witchcraft, and finally tells proctor to confess to the court but he cowardly says, “I know I cannot keep it. I say I will think on it“ (Miller 4.481). Knowing that many people will die the next morning, Proctor, restrains himself of going to the court to confess that Abigail is a fraud, thus he knows that if he confesses, Abigail will accuse him of adultery and his good name in the town will be
Abigail has faith that Proctor loves her even when he constantly dismisses her accusations. She believes Proctor is lying to himself
Alexandra Torres September 12, 2016 English 11 5 period The Crucible Essay In the play, The Crucible , by Arthur Miller, reputation plays an important role. The people of Salem fear that the sins of their friends will ruin their name. Many characters in the play base their actions on the desire to protect their reputations. For example, Reverend Parris only seems to care about his reputation instead of his sick daughter Betty.
Although Salem, Massachusetts was founded on religiously centered morals, nevertheless it turned to sinful behaviors because Arthur Miller wants to demonstrate that community can be shaped by social pressures. Arthur Miller portrays the detriments of a close-knit community and illustrates how small Salem truly is through everyone knew each other's business. One night, John and Elizabeth Proctor had an argument over Abigail Williams. Elizabeth accused John of cheating with Abigail and told him “if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not” (Miller 52) Elizabeth Proctor supports her accusation of adultery with this statement.
Among the obviously innocent is John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail gains integrity for her “duty [of] pointing out the Devil’s people”, and therefore uses this to accuse Mrs. Proctor. Abigail’s ultimate goal is to get rid of Elizabeth in order to be with Proctor.
As life goes on, we learn that there are many struggles that we go through that change us for better or for worse. In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, a series of witch trials occur in the town of Salem and innocent people get accused and executed, but throughout the trials, many characters develop into something unexpected. A crucible is a container that can withstand heat and it shows the impurities of a metal. This is significant because the true characters of many people in Salem are revealed. Throughout The Crucible John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Giles Corey are all pushed to their boiling point as they go through the trials.
Despite Proctor’s adulterous affair with Abigail which diminishes his innate rationalism and morality, the strained dialogue between him and Elizabeth ‘I cannot speak for I am doubted, every moment judged for lies’ suggests Proctor’s shame of such doings. This evokes a sense of sympathy in the reader and thus Proctor’s moral empowerment. Proctor’s ultimate decision to be ‘hanged’ rather than give up his ‘integrity’ displays Proctor’s morality due to his refusal to use his power to exploit others. On the other hand, Reverend Parris draws upon irony as a religious authority due to his complete manipulation of power to gain more, the irony evident in ‘they will have me out of Salem for such corruption in my house’ evocatively conveys Parris’ valuing of superiority over integrity. Corruption of the Church is further noted through Parris’ valuing of material possessions ‘golden candlestick’, displaying how those with authority manipulate situations to fulfil self-serving desires.
Reverend Parris is somewhat to blame for the trials. In order to save his reputation, Reverend Parris supports Abigail’s act to cover the impropriety in the woods, as his daughter, Betty, was one of the girls involved. Parris supports the trials vigorously and would accuse people of being against the court or try to get them arrested if they believed the trials were an act. For an example, when Proctor tries to prove to Danforth that Abigail is lying about the witch trials, he brings up that Parris saw the girls in the woods dancing naked. Parris lies and says that he “never found any of them naked”
This says a lot about Abigail, she was capable of turning a godly man, who loves his wife and children, to a man guilty of adultery. The way Abigail interacts and treats Proctor, shows her manipulative and lustful characteristics, which is highly discouraged in the Puritain
The contention between the characters have intensified as the argument escalates, and Proctor's failure at pinning the blame on Abigail has frustrated him. When Abigail begins another self righteous fit of possession and calls upon Heaven, Proctor can no longer stand her hypocrisy. He cries out in a “roaring voice” “breathless and in agony: It is a whore!” (Miller 109, 110).
In the beginning of the movie, Reverend Parris questions Abigail about why Elizabeth Proctor let her go from working at her home. Parris knows something occurred between John and Abigail. In the play, Parris suspects something happened between the two, but does not come out and say it like he did in the movie. Parris only hints at knowing about why she was asked to leave the Proctor house. Parris says to her in the play, “Is there any other cause that you have told me, for your being discharged from Goody Proctor’s service?”
Reverend Parris is a tentative and hypocritical minister who focuses more on his social rank rather than the well-being of others. Parris stumbled upon a number of Salem girls, including his daughter and niece, dancing in the forest like freethinkers gone wild. Parris told Abigail that “his ministry is at stake” (Lines 112-119). He found his daughter and niece dancing and “conjuring spirits” in the woods, and the thing on his mind is the reputation of his ministry. Also, he says that Abigail is “blackening his name” when she talks about his reputation around Salem.
Elizabeth Proctor, speaks out against Abigail and damages her reputation. “Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be… She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!
The lies of Salem linger in the atmosphere as a wicked young girl’s sins fill the villagers with fear and shame. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, presents many figurative and metaphorical trials. Abigail, the protagonist and root of Salem’s evil, in 1692. Abigail and Proctor are compulsive liars throughout the trials they face. There are numerous sins, but only three are looked upon (thesaurus).