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Characters and characterisation in the crucible
The crucible character analysis essay
The crucible character analysis essay
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The characters in The Crucible are often viewed as callous and ignorant to their surroundings but such quick judgements can lead a reader to overlook each character's importance and what message they try to convey. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible chaos ensues as accusations of witchcraft fly about turning neighbor upon neighbor and exposing the seedy underbelly of a Puritan New England town. The accusations are lead by a young girl and her devoted followers whose vengeance damns anyone that opposes them. Whether virtuous or wicked the women in The Crucible are strong influences within the community of Salem and the overall effect of the play.
Abigail Williams’ vindictive nature is fueled by her newly found influence over prominent members
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When one of the girls turns against the group and tries to expose their false accusations Abigail is quick to accuse her of witchcraft in the court and says this :
Abigail Williams. I - I know not. A wind, a cold wind has come. (1147)
Subsequently the group of girls led by Abigail all start shivering and say that the girl is sending her spirit upon them. The girl fearing for her life pleads with the court and rejoins the group of accusing girls. This group of girls not only show the mass hysteria in the town but are direct victims of Abigail’s manipulation and power. The group including Abigail go on to condemn 19 people to death. The girls are conflicting on how a reader may view them on one hand they are victims of manipulation and hysteria but on the other their sins may outweigh any sympathy a reader may have.
Elizabeth Proctor a completely innocent victim is cold and unlikeable but is the character who warrants the most compassion out of any of the other major characters. As her husband is about to hang, Reverend Hale pleads with her to save her husband :
Hale. Woman, plead with him! … Go to him, take his shame away!
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Upon further inspection characters can become more real and humanlike than with a brief skim of The Crucible. Most of the women in less direct ways the males show a great deal of strength and power over Salem. Though the protagonist is male and most influential town members are also male the power of women rivals the power of any man in The
Abigail and her friends start to accuse people in the town of witchcraft; by saying a person’s spirit attacked them. The people who were accused were usually the outcast of the town or someone Abigail and her friends
In the Crucible there was three characters that stood out from all the other ones in this wicked story. Abigail Williams was a big influence in this story she would lie and lie to get out of things and she was also the leader of the girls in the woods. Furthermore she also had an affair with John Proctor which made John and Elizabeth relationship unstable. Also John Proctor runs into a situation at the end of the story where he is put in the position if he wants his pride of not signing that paper full of lies or die knowing he did the right thing of not lying. Additionally, Elizabeth Proctor has never lied ever until the day John was being prosecuted for his witchcraft and possibly adultery and Elizabeth lied so that his name wouldn't be ruined.
During the early years of the colonies, there was a mad witch hunt striking the heart of Salem. Anger, reputation, and even religion play an important part during the play of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The author allows us to witness the vivid idea of the hysteria taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, and why it was so vulnerable during the time.
At that instant, Abigail was able to abuse her new found authority and use it as power against the people of Salem. This new found power led to 91 citizens of Salem to be accused of witchcraft. To begin with, Abigail had her own amount of authority that she had used as power in order to keep the other girls quiet about what had happened in the woods. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you (20).” Abigail Williams had her own personal conflict of confusing authority for power. Abigail and the other girls thrived on this chance to take control of the situation. It was an opportunity for Abigail to not have to follow rules, speak hesitantly, or be precautious of her actions. At the time of the Salem witch trials, everyone had their own duty to preform. The woman would cook and clean and the men would work to provide. Having an opportunity where the tables were turned and the young women had the possibility to have an input was overpowering. It was easier for Abigail to have power over others rather than having the power to control herself.
In conclusion I ask this again: how can a girl who condemned seventy two to a death sentence and drank a charm to kill a man’s wife, a man she slept with on more than one occasion, be the victim? Abigail is truly a victim just as much as one of those she condemned to death, because of Salem’s judgemental, self-concerned and oppressive views and beliefs led her to it.
One of the girls has an infatuation with John Proctor, a married man, and her determination to get rid of his innocent wife, Elizabeth fuels the hysteria. Reverend Hale is a unique character because he is both a catalyst and a preventer of this hysteria. His main character flaw, like many a people, is failure to defend his beliefs. In order to characterize Hale as a
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.
Also important to the play is how Arthur Miller depicts how one selfish, evil person like Abigail Williams can bring others down and make others follow her to commit evil acts. These evil acts affect even the most honest people in the town like John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse who cannot fight the accusations made against them by those following Abigail. Those following Abigail are considered to be holy men that are full of honesty and justice, but the play shows that even those who are thought to be respectable and right, like people of government or community leaders can bring death to innocent people if they are driven by something wrong. II. Plot: The plot begins with the inciting incident where Rev. Parris finds his niece Abigail Williams and his daughter Betty along with his slave Tituba doing some dance in the forest.
Abigail Williams the main character in The Crucible by Arthur Miller draws the interest of the reader as she is a wicked, confident girl who lies to get what she wants and defends her name and her life.
Throughout time one of society’s weaknesses had been it willing to follow and be affected by one individual. This is seen in Arthur Miller's play the crucible. Miller's play is set in salem during the infamous witch trials. The crucible critiques society being able to follow and believe in on person. Abigail sets an example of this when gains control over and initiates the hysteria in salem through her selfishness and manipulative qualities.
Throughout The Crucible power is distributed to corrupt, self-interested members of the theocracy. Abigail manages to warp the puritan religion into a method of forcing the community to give her power. John Proctor and Reverend Hale are the most notably outstanding characters in the book with the most honorable motives. Both of them end up being truly selfless in the end. If the characters in this play were not so worried about themselves, the tragic deaths of many innocent men and women would never have occurred.
John Proctor is portrayed as the protagonist or “hero” character. Although he was responsible for many of the wrongdoings in Salem, he ultimately saves the day. At the
Although it is saddening to think of how people used to interact back in the old times, it is very interesting to really analyze their thought process. The Crucible occurs in the town of Salem during the Puritan time period. Most of the people are dull and bland, but in the shadows lurks scandal and mischief. The reason that all of the immoral behavior is kept under wraps is the society’s importance of dignity. Citizens of Salem value their names more than anything else in this world.
This play is characterized as unsettled because many people in the society were hanged by the people of Salem. Abigail one of the girls who were dancing in the woods manipulates the people of Salem to prevent themselves from getting killed. This causes mayhem upon Salem, as people accuse each other of assessing with the devil. Salem becomes a city where everyone is possible of assessing the devil. Abigail was a servant of the Proctor household, she left after begin caught in an affair with Elizabeth’s husband. Abigail is intelligent, crooked, deceptive, and vengeful. The importance of reputation within ones family causes Abigail lies to the people of Salem. The people of Salem are scared of sins from their friends.
“Oh Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (Miller 1209). When Abigail is doing all of this, it is after Mary Warren has confessed the entire idea that any witches are here is a lie and it was all for fun. Abigail decided to try and incriminate her friend as a way to protect her reputation in the town. Her reputation as seen from this quote is more important than honesty to the court and most of all moral actions at all. In the end, Abigail did get Mary back on her side from this lying as a way to get her truthful reputation back on track. This is leading to her doing worse more destructive things in the near