Mr. and Mrs. Putnam portray their fear of witchcraft in this event by believing that witchcraft exist even though they have no actual proof. In the article, Beware the Loss of Conscience; The Crucible as warning for today, by Judith A. Gerjak explains how as we lose ownership of our conscience there's consequences. This happens when Mrs. and Mr.Putnam portray their fear of witchcraft even though they have no proof. Gerjak comments, “Mass conscience which leads to mass hysteria
Bearing in mind the facts about her distressing childhood life, her love for John and terror for her life it is possible to deduce that it was the fault of Abigail for the tragedy to occur in the town of the Salem. Her deceitfulness almost makes her impractical because she practices witchcraft in order to win back her lover, Proctor, she laid false evidence of witchcraft in Elizabeth’s home with a hope to direct her to the scaffolds and she persuades young women to dance in the woods which was an illegal act. The writer progresses from sightseeing the unconscious to exploring the unconditioned and raw responses that go deeper than basic desires and ambitions, particularly when challenged with ones’ mortality. A deduction can also be made that the more Abigail Williams learnt how to use her interim capabilities to upset the townspeople, the more she appreciated the power she had. Abigail Williams collects the information necessary to style the position of supremacy for herself.
He does not think he will have any trouble ridding Salem of its troubles. When Hale starts his investigation of Salem he begins to believe witchcraft could be responsible. When Parris tells Hale about the night he found the girls dancing in the forest, and Hale tells Parris that he wants to talk to those girls. Once Hale starts asking the girls what happened in the forest, they think they might hang for witchcraft. Because they think they are in danger of being hanged, the girls begin to beg forgiveness from God and confess to Hale who they saw with the devil.
The main character, John Proctor, may seem to be a normal, middle aged man living in the Puritan town of Salem, but however, he holds a dark secret: he cheated on his wife with a girl named Abigail Williams. What he doesn 't know, is that by cheating with Abigail, he partly started the Salem witch madness; John makes Abigail very envious of his wife, and thus, she begins accusing others of dark sorcery and witchcraft. John, at first, is very reluctant to tell everyone the truth about why Abigail and other young girls are accusing his wife and other older women of being witches because he fears it will ruin his good name and reputation. However, after he realizes that the situation has truly gone out of control, he tries to confess his wrongdoing, but is only imprisoned and accused of witchcraft as well.
She starts accusing people that she doesn’t like of practicing witchcraft, including Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth Proctor is John Proctor’s wife, and Abigail doesn 't like her because she wants to be with John, who she had an affair with. Abigail thinks that by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft Elizabeth will be killed and then she can finally be with John. During these witch trials, many other people were accused and blamed for things that they did not do. It was mostly because of Abigail and her friends were lying about innocent people doing witchcraft.
John, pity me, Pity me!”(1099). This means she thought John loved her which led her to be angry and to start blaming people to be witches because she wants to be pitied. This point seems convincing enough for John to be blamed but Abigail is the one who makes up the fake story and admits to doing witchcraft but later on saying she was saved and started to blame the others who had nothing to do with the situation. This is why Abigail Williams is most responsible for the uncontrollable witchcraft situation in
When the three witches met Hecate it appears that the three witches wanted to harm Macbeth. “ ]Hecate[ Have I not reason, beldams as you are, Saucy and overbold How did you dare To trade and traffic with Macbeth In riddles and affairs of death …” (William Shakespeare, page 106) Hecate declaring that the witches has just wracked her enjoyment of seeing Macbeth suffering and enduring pain. Hecate is saying that the witches are helping Macbeth, but the witches are not cause they planted the seed of ambition in his head. Meanwhile Lady Macbeth hates seeing her husband plummeting in troubles.
At the beginning of the story, many girls, including Abby, get caught dancing in the woods by Reverend Parris. Many of the girls are not recognizable, and Abby one of them. Abby eventually tells John the truth, who then tells Elizabeth. Abby is eventually confronted with the truth, so she has to do something about it: ABIGAIL: “My name is good in the village!
She accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft so she can be with John and she is lying to force Mary Warren to join their side again. In the beginning of the play, when the girls are just about to try to wake up Betty but Mr. Parris will come in while, Abigail says, “No, he’ll be comin’ up. Listen, now; if they be questioning us, tell them we danced-I told him as much already” (Miller 174). She is lying to save herself and she is expecting others to do the same and they will. In middle of the play when John Proctor just tells Mr. Hale that Abigail told him she is lying the whole time, “Abigail Williams told you it had naught to do with witchcraft” (Miller 200).
Macbeth encounters three witches in the forest at the beginning of the play. They tell Macbeth that he will one day be king. It is this in which incites the influence from Lady Macbeth and what drives Macbeth’s greed. Macbeth does not know what the witches are. When they first meet he exclaims “Speak if you can: what are you?”
Once the idea of witchery took deep root into the hearts of the people, many were accused and arrested. Out of the selfishness of her heart, Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft in an attempt to be rid of her so she could have John. She kept telling herself that she was in love with him, and she would use any opportunity to her advantage to be rid of Elizabeth. This however, would not bode well with John.
Abigail’s scorned hart leads her down a vindictive path. Parris is concerned about all the talk about witchcraft, because his daughter Betty has fallen ill. “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it- and I’ll be whipped if I must be.
Reverend Parris is the father of Betty Parris and the Uncle to Abigail Williams. In the opening scene, he catches both girls, including some others dancing in the woods. This was very forbidden during this time because of the threat of witchcraft. The next day Betty starts acting very strange and they start to assume it’s witchcraft. Especially once they question Tituba and she admits to being a witch.
Though there were many people who contributed to what happened in Salem, I believe that Abigail Williams was mostly to blame. I think this because she lied to save herself, made up false scenarios and blamed innocent people, and enjoyed the attention and power. In the beginning of the play, Abby is caught dancing in the woods. She herself drank a blood charm in which she wanted to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Though Abby wasn’t the only one who was caught, she lied to Reverend Parris so that she would not be hung once witchcraft was being talked about throughout the village.
Aside from that, people accused others of being witches or having something to do with witchcraft if they had a grudge against them or needed something. People were able to accuse others of being witches for having too much land or for owning too many cattle. Witch trials were not only a way to get rid of the Devil, but also a way to get rid of people that you disliked. In the case of The Crucible, the witch trials began because of religious beliefs and the fear that Lucifer was controlling the children of Salem. To get out of trouble during the witch trials, those who were accused simply just accused others to be seen as innocent and avoid execution.