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Essay on jealousy in the crucible
Theme of jealousy and power in crucible
Theme of jealousy and power in crucible
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In life humans tend to want things that are unattainable. When deceptions are involved
most individuals will sometimes go any lengths to get what they want. Abigail is a prime
example why coveting another’s spouse can turn deadly. Abigail in this day and age is
considered a harlot.
The Crucible is based on the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail was hired as a caretaker to
assist Elizabeth Proctor with her daily household activities. While working for the Proctors she
took a fancy to John Proctor, the husband. Goody Proctor had fell ill which is why a caretaker
was hired. Unbeknownst to them, Abigail would strive to break up their relationship.
Abigail wanted Proctor so much that she participated in a ritual with all the town girls
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to get him. They, along with Tituba, an African American worker, went out in the woods to perform their ritual. While they were dancing Reverend Parris came and found them. Later in the movie Abigail lied and said that Tituba was the one responsible for witchcraft and forced the girls to do it. The young woman’s greed was so strong that she was willing to go to extremes. Her demeanor was rather intimidating. While doing the ritual she danced around the boiling pot they had and drank the blood of a chicken. This was all to gain the love of Mr. Proctor. Putting many lives on the line all for emotional gain can cause damage. The lust was so strong not caring how many were imprisoned or killed was not in her plot. Her love interest was also put in harms way. Abigail didn’t know that her lies and deception could be a source of power. She used her peers with threats of harm seemed to excite her. Within the first couple of minutes of the movie it is prevalent who the leader of the pack is. Being caught doing something which was considered disgraceful in that period is what gave the movie life. In order to hide their transgressions the girls fled from the scene. They were caught. While most fled the scene, Abigail and her young cousin were not able to. So to get out of trouble they formulated a plan. Which in turn led to a rollercoaster of events. What started out as a game of fun turned into a life or death situation. Covering up their actions in order to save face, they continued their trickery. The deceitfulness of young Paris and Putman evoked mayhem within the town. This caused the parents to call an outsider to town to investigate the situation, John Hale. John Hale’s arrival within the town had many on edge.
Being called into question ones
religion can cause chaos. In the news a couple days ago was a pastor who had been infected with
HIV. He in turn had been accused of infecting other members of the church and also doing other
negative acts. Now people are questioning his faith, just how Hale was doing with Proctor.
Envy and jealousy are strong emotions that play in people, especially Abigail. These
emotions make you act in ways that are considered crazy. Abigail was so jealous of Elizabeth
being married to John Proctor that she wanted her dead. She used any tactic to make sure that
Elizabeth, in the end, didn’t have John. She was so envious that she thought if she couldn’t have
Proctor, nobody could have him. “Oh, I marvel how such a strong man let such a sickly wife
may be...” say Abigail. She is bad mouthing Elizabeth in hopes of John proctor coming to the
conclusion that she is right and leaves her. It takes one action and a couple words to destroy
someone’s life and Abigail did just that.
Fear can make a person take drastic measures according to their life. Fear was a big
thing during the movie. People were getting accused left and right. Nobody knew if they
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were going to die or rot in prison. I think all the girls feared Abigail and her threats that’s why they went along with her wicked plans. They also feared getting caught so they just stuck with Abby. People will do anything to save themselves from being criticized by others.
If a person
does one thing to dent that person’s self-image they will go to extreme measures to make sure
that they aren’t exposed. Reverend Paris does not tell Hale about the dancing he saw the girls
doing in the woods. Nor does he tell that Abigail and Betty were there. He did not do this to
protect his family he did it so the town wouldn’t slander his name. “Abigail, I have fought here
three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good
respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character.” – Reverend Paris.
He was more worried about how people would react that the Reverend’s family is out doing
“ungodly” activities.
Abigail was just like her uncle. When trial came and the judge was questioning her she
got very defensive. People only get defensive about things like being questioned if they believe
that their reputation or self-image is on the line. Abigail said that if the judge didn’t believe her
than she would leave Salem, and tell of the things going on in the town.
Usually when one is guilty they blame somebody else to save themselves. There was a
lot of scapegoating going on in The Crucible. Practically all the people in town were blaming one another for being witches. Abigail blames Goody Proctor for being a witch and also trying to kill her and take her soul to the devil. We all know that Abigail is the real one to blame. However, when a person knows they will get in trouble for something they will tell a big lie in hopes of getting off. After the implication of so many deaths, Abigail felt that she had power and control. Instead of her being satisfied with the ones that were falsely accused and jailed, she chose to implicate others. Reverend John Hale’s eyes started to open when Proctor had come forth about having known Abigail. He was more on the Proctors side now then he was before. It had taken him awhile but he was finally aware that Abigail and the group of girl were lying on innocent people. He tried fighting for the wrongly accused once this information was brought forth. No one was safe from her wrath. Judge Hathorne had had enough of her when she started accusing him of giving his soul to the devil. It seemed with the new allegation Abigail gave, the Judge’s whole outlook changes. He starts to think that maybe Abigail is at fault and the people were wrongly accused. Once his name was slandered by Abigail was when he started to actually take concern of what was going on and if everything happening and what Abigail and the girls were saying was true. Miller’s underlying message is that one lie can cause so much death and hysteria. Abigail and the groups lie caused multiple deaths and also shook up the town of Salem for two years. In the end Abigail’s lie backfired she ran off with her uncle’s money. Proctor, before his death told her he wanted nothing to do with her so she didn’t have him also. To John Proctor, his name was everything. He wasn’t willing to sacrifice his name for his life. Miller is trying to portray that to most people their name is everything. It’s something to be proud of. Many people would rather chose death than to have something negative hanging over their name. It not only reflects on said person but the wife and kids. Watching her spouse try and save the family name for their children brought them closer together. John Hale couldn’t even convince her to get her spouse to change his mind and admit to witchcraft. In the end Elizabeth was proud of him for standing up for his beliefs. Proctor became a hero to his townsmen in the end. There are many underlying messaged Miller was trying to tell us. We tend to lose ourselves when things get chaotic. In the movie, the townspeople go crazy because they are scared of what is going on and starts accusing people left and right for no reason. They fell for Abigail and the girls’ stupid stories and actions. When things get crazy people tend to forget to breathe and take things out of proportion. Miller is also trying to show that you can’t accuse a person based off of someone else’s accusations. That person could be lying for all we know. There should be real proof and hard cold facts. Otherwise the world, town, or wherever one is will erupt into chaos.
He says he will never confess that. He could be free of charges if he confesses, but it is a false accusation and he doesn't want anything corrupting his name. He is a very good person who just wants to please everyone, especially his wife. He says, "I'll buy George Jacobs heifer. How would that please you?"; "I mean only to please you, Elizabeth.
Have you ever wanted something so badly, that you would do anything to get it? Abigail Williams, one of the main protagonists in the play The Crucible, is a prime example of this. The Crucible takes place in Salem village, where over twenty people are being persecuted for witchcraft. She wanted to be with John Proctor, a married man with three children, more than anything. The extent that she was willing to go is belligerently horrific. Abigail's flaws of immaturity, jealousy, and deceitfulness led to her ultimate downfall of her beloved John being sentenced to death.
The motivation of jealousy is portrayed by Abigail in The Crucible numerous times. In the play, Abigail's motivation of jealousy is shown when Betty says "You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!". (1107) Abigail's jealousy gave her motivation to try to kill Elizabeth because she was convinced that John loved her as much as she loved him. Another example of Abigail's jealousy is when she says to Proctor "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a --". (1110) Abigai...
He also had an affair with a young girl named Abigail who is the antagonist and is the main reason the bloodshed is occurring in Salem. Initially, Proctor hesitates to deal
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
From the start of the play, Abigail already has a bad reputation for committing adultery. Elizabeth Proctor had kicked her out of their home because Elizabeth knew of the affair that was going on between Abigail and John. This tarnished her reputation and for that, Abigail wanted to get revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. “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!” This is the remark Abigail makes to John Proctor about Elizabeth and what she is doing to her reputation. The main reason behind Abigail accusing so many people is so that eventually the blame is put on Elizabeth. Abigail’s hopes are to have Elizabeth killed so her and John can go on living their lives together. Not only does she want to live her life with John Proctor, but Abigail is also angered at Elizabeth because of the reputation she has given her throughout the village. Her actions go to show how willing she is to ruin numerous lives in order to get revenge on Elizabeth and also get rid of Elizabeth to carry on her dreams of marrying John Proctor. Obviously, Abigail Williams was very serious about getting vengeance on Elizabeth for destroying her reputation in the village of Salem,
...nce using fear, Abigail successfully protects herself from any type of damage on her reputation by manipulating the court to believing that there is actually a spirit in the court room.
(Abbotson) Abigail soon comes to find out that her plan to kill Elizabeth had failed. In the end John is put into jail and dies. He risked his life to keep his kids reputation from being ruined. Abigail runs away and takes all of her uncle’s money with
At the end of act 2, Elizabeth Proctor is being arrested, and with rage, John Proctor tells Mary Warren that she will go to court with him to tell the truth that she never saw the devil to make sure that Elizabeth is named innocent. This scene reveals a little about John’s character. I...
because she was afraid of Abigail. As a result of the truth being lied about the truth eventually
Obviously this is a lie and scheme by Abigail to try to kill my Elizabeth. Abigail is a selfish girl for doing this. She just wants Elizabeth out of the way to get to me; what a stupid and horrible idea. This will surely back fire on her part; she should have never done
...than be accused of lying and lose all the power and adulation she has fought to hold on to. As soon as Abigail realized people were beginning to suspect her integrity, however, her initial instinct was to flee. Parris, her uncle, was the first to notice this, telling the court, “My niece, sir, my niece – I believe she has vanished.” This exemplifies her selfish behavior, because instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she would rather cowardly run from her problems.
To further complicate matters, John decides not to reveal to the court that Abigail has admitted to him in private that they were just sporting in the woods. Abigail spreads additional accusations and false rumors about her neighbors. These accusations have no basis in truth and their only purpose is for Abigail’s own benefit. Furthermore, Abigail is jealous of John’s wife, Elizabeth, and she schemes to get rid of her in order to take her place. Abigail’s plot is to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.
In their first meeting, after what can be assumed to be an extended period of time, Abigail attempts to force her love on John: "I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near! I saw your face when she put me out and you loved me then and you do now!" In this statement, Abigail shows that she has no regard for John's wish to let the affair be forgotten. His request of her to "put it out of mind" results in her aggravation. She continues her assault: “(Elizabeth)
When Elizabeth is then questioned about her husband’s relations with Abigail, Danforth asks, “is your husband a lecher” (Miller 113), all she has to say is no but everyone there knows that Elizabeth cannot lie. Elizabeth knows what his reputation means to him. She knows and respects that if his reputation is ruined, that’s how he will feel for the rest of his