In Miller’s The Crucible the main conflict is centered around a group of girls who trick the town into thinking there is witchcraft in the village forcing the judges in the village to trial all of those who are accused of witchcraft. During this time of conflict and confusion grudges and greed are revealed by those who accuse friends and neighbors for their own personal gain. This chaos formed and continued do to Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and the Judge Thomas Danforth.
Abigail was not only the reason why the trials lasted as long as they did, she was also the reason the trials began. Abigail was a beautiful, but manipulative and conniving young girl. Abigail was the housemaid for John and Elizabeth Proctor before she was fired do to Elizabeth finding out that Abigail and John were having an affair. After Abigail was fired she began to think of ways to get John back. One of the ways Abigail does this is by trying to get Tituba, a slave from barbados, to put a spell on John to make him forget about his wife. When Abigail does this she is with a group of girls in the woods, dancing naked around a fire in the woods. During this time that was considered a sure
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sign of witchcraft. When Abigail was discovered and question Abigail begins the endless cycle of accusations and false confessions that turned into the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Abigail also continued to accuse many people of witchcraft which led to villagers losing their belongings, and in extreme cases their life. John Proctor also allowed for the trials to continue by refusing to voice the knowledge he had.
John was a respectable and honorable man, unfortunately John became entangled in the sin of adultery with the young maiden Abigail. When the accusations of witchcraft begins John immediately suspects falsehoods in the claims being made, but for John to reveal how he knew they were false would have to admit to the sin of adultery. “I am only wondering how to prove she told me Elizabeth. If the girl’s a saint now, it think it is not easy to prove she's fraud, and the town's gone silly” ( 1164). John, after being pushed to his breaking point, finally confesses to end all the unjust deaths ,but unfortunately he only managed to get himself thrown in jail because his wife tried to protect his good
name. The final reason the trials continued as long as they did is do to Judge Thomas Danforth own negligence. Danforth became completely blind to the truth when he allowed himself to be fooled by a group of young girls. Once Danforth became manipulated by the lies he refused to accept anything else as the truth. “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between”(...........) . In conclusion The Salem Witch was a time of chaos and confusion caused by three main character who were Abigail Williams with her lies, John Proctor with his pride, and Judge Thomas Danforth because of his blind negligence.
¨I have known her, sir. I have known her.¨ A crucible is a test or severe trial, and no trial is more severe than that of a man’s soul. The entire story of Salem is ridden with tests of character and the humanity of the citizens as they respond to the mass hysteria created by someone crying witch. Every single character in this play is given a trial through which they must come to achieve their greater purpose, and these trials expose the skeletons in their closets and the blackness of their sins. However, the similar message is presented in different ways by the cinematic portrayal and Miller’s original play. Lies, unsubstantiated accusations, jealousy, and self-righteousness are the main factors fueling the flame of deceit and hatred. John
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller. This play centers around the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. In Act II, Abigail and her friends accuse several innocent people of witchcraft. Once they leave the court, Reverend Hale goes to John Proctor’s house to inform Elizabeth Proctor that people in the court have mentioned her name. Then officials of the court, Herrick and Cheever, arrive at the Proctor’s house. They claim to have a warrant for Elizabeth’s arrest because the court declares she practices witchcraft. After, Herrick and Cheever take Elizabeth to jail. Injustice in Act II prevails because of the inability to see the truth. Reverend Hale and John Proctor illuminate the theme that closed-mindedness
Abigail's necessity for revenge makes her threaten the young ladies into following her idea of deception. “Let either of you breathe a word,” Abigail threatens, “or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(835). Abigail knows that all the girls in the woods fear her to death. Which made the witch trials easier for her to get by. Another thing is that Abigail ends her affair with John Proctor to try to get revenge on him. “A man may think God
Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a mean and vindictive person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Through out the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out. Although John told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again, she tried desperately to rekindle their romance. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) She claimed that she loved John and that he loved her. Before the play began, Abigail tried to kill Elizabeth with a curse. She thought that if Elizabeth were dead John would marry her. Further into the play, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Marry Warren, the Proctor's servant, making a poppet. Mary put a needle into the doll, and Abigail used that for her accusation. She stabbed herself with a needle and claimed that Elizabeth's soul had done it. Although Abigail claimed she loved John, she may have just loved the care and attention he gave her. John cared for her like no one else had. In a way he could be described as somewhat of a father figure to her. When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) After her traumatic experience, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris, who is somewhat of a villain. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak." (Page 4) Therefore, it is obvious to see that Abigail grew up without any love or nurturing.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is set in Salem village where an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust has been created through the conflicts and disagreements many villagers experience throughout the play. Many of these are caused by or, similar to the conflict between Parris and Proctor, are inflated by the many accusations of witchcraft occurring in the village.
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
Explore Miller’s dramatic presentation and development of the theme of power and authority. Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court
In Act One alone, Abigail is seen as a lady like young woman, a caring
The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.
Though at the beginning of the play, Abigail is portrayed as a slightly vulnerable, misguided girl, this notion is quickly dispelled as she embarks on her murderous spree of dishonestly and false allegations. While some aspects of Abigail’s character are a result of her parents’ brutal murder, an oppressive society and Parris’s behaviour, this does not excuse the person she later evolves into and her deceitful behaviour and actions lead to the overall conclusion that Abigail is unmistakably villainous. However, Miller’s main message throughout the play is that while the malicious Abigail was directly at fault concerning the deaths and hysteria that swept the community, it is the community itself who is also largely to blame. The distrustful and corrupt society used the trials for personal gain (for example: Thomas Putnam who used them to gain land) and revenge, and it was this community that -though the selfish Abigail was certainly culpable for the devastating events that engulfed Salem- is ultimately to be
By sleeping with Abigail Williams he had completely lost his honor and all hope for a reputable reputation, but towards the end of the story, John begins to realize his sins and the mess that has been made by one foolish act. John slowly beings to attempt redemption to his prestige. In the final act of this performance, John has a choice to make; save his own life by signing a confession to witchcraft, or be sentenced to hang if he did not. At first he began to lie, signing the false confession, then he snatched it back, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows my how black my sins are! It is enough!” John does not want his name and his false confession hanging in public for all to see, his name means too much to him. John also talks about the effects it would have on his sons, “I have three children-how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” In John’s eyes it would be more honorable to die than to hang his lie for all to see. All would know it was a lie, and how could John raise his sons, living a lie? In short, John’s reputation meant more to him than his
as we find out that she has no parents. Also, because we are told she
John Proctor faces many decisions in response to his moral dilemma to try to save his life. One of the difficult decisions John makes is to reveal that he had an affair with Abigail Williams and thereby has committed adultery. If the local court convicts him of this crime, he faces being jailed. Also by admitting this crime, John reveals a weakness in his character. This flaw in his personality will make it harder for him to stand up in the community as an honorable and believable person. In trying to convince others that witchcraft does not exist John’s dishonesty with his wife will make him less convincing to the community.