Through the characters of Abigail, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth, the female archetype of women in the 1950s is closely mirrored to the women in The Crucible. Women in the 1950s had no power of their own and were only supposed to listen and obey the male roles in their lives. Women in the play possess power but their inferior usage of it suggests immaturity and dependence upon others. Arthur Miller uses his work The Crucible to portray his visual image of women during the time the play was written. Through the women characters in The Crucible, Arthur Miller conveys the negative, stereotypical image of women in the 1950s. Abigail attains an immense amount of power for her own benefit throughout the play. As Wendy Schissel says, “she is the consummate seductress; the witchcraft hysteria in the play originates in her carnal lust for Proctor” (462). Her main goal is to use her power to get rid of Elizabeth so that she can have Proctor for her self. The reader perceives …show more content…
that Abigail has built up this realm fixated around her to use her power in a immature and selfish way. Her and the girls manipulated everyone in Salem so that they are envisioned as saints. Just one cry from them and a person of the town is accused of witchcraft. Women in the 1950s were not allowed to obtain power or speak their own opinion. Abigails corrupt character relates to the way women were identified in the time Miller wrote the play by showing that women can not handle power the way men could and that power in a women’s hands will always lead to chaos. Female characters were expected to obey and take orders from the men. Elizabeth condemns herself for Proctor's adulterous affair with Abigail. Elizabeth says, “John, I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did; I never knew that I should say my love. It were a cold house I kept!” (Miller 144). She is telling Proctor that it is her fault that she did not open up and show her love for him when she had the chance; she is blaming herself for something she had no control over to make her husband feel more innocent. Proctor shows dominance over Mary Warren when she refuses to collaborate with him to prove Elizabeth’s innocence. Proctor threatens her to do what he says, “I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me!” (Miller 85). Mary is skeptical about testifying against Abigail because she knew that Abigail would kill her. This is an example of how women were expected to obey men even if they did not want too or when it may cost them their life. In the 1950s women were the minor race to men. The scenes with Elizabeth and Mary Warren relate to the treatment of women in the time period the play was written because they were expected to take orders from the superior race and honor their deference. Women throughout the 1950s were expected to acknowledge their trifling significance and accept whatever it was that a man had to say.
As Roobix says, “the role of women in the 1950s was repressive and constrictive in many ways” (Coob). Women had little access to education at the time and were unlikely to receive a degree of any kind. In that, the women in The Crucible were considered extraneous because they were uneducated. They can not even defend themselves when they are accused of being witches. After World War II, women lost their jobs due to the men coming back home from war. In the 1950s less than 50 percent of women where in the labor force. Women were assumed to stay at home with the children and make their husbands happy. They had no viewpoint in society and remained mute when anything had to do with politics. Women were deemed the benighted class. Although Miller wrote a few scenes where women were portrayed in a positive way, he still suppressed the idea that women are to any
importance.
Although women were beginning to work the same jobs as men, their wages were drastically different, with men being paid a lot more for the same job. More women started to go to university in order to gain the qualifications that would enable them to do the jobs that men did. Some parts of the play reflect the feminist issues that were happening at the time the story was written. In 'The Crucible' the issues surrounding the time of when the play was written was McCarthyism. Arthur Miller was interested not only in the Salem witch trials, but also the more current affairs of the USA.
In his article, “Why I Wrote The Crucible,” Arthur Miller speaks of the 1950’s “which nobody seems to remember clearly”- a time of fearful insanity and unrest. Anyone could be accused. Showing excessive opposition ensured prosecution. Most shrunk back from disputing the McCarthy hearings for fear of their safety. Now, this period of panic is viewed as absurd. As Miller describes Hitler as being almost comical to his generation, the modern generation sees the Salem witch trials as foolish scuffles between ignorant people. The actual events were much different as perceived. Just as a feud with a neighbor seems trivial to those not involved but of intense frustration to the embroiled , the trials were not silly and insignificant. The trials were more about personal issues between rivals than witchcraft itself- the witchcraft was a weapon for Salemites to obtain revenge on their enemies. A tool Miller uses to show the reader this emotion is Rebecca Nurse, seventy-year-old grandmother, wife, and respected member of Salem society. Miller modifies her character in his play. Some facts remain true in the play, others are altered, and some have been neglected altogether. What did he change, and what did he regret to? Why did Miller take such liberties with Rebecca’s character in his play?
She does everything that is physically possible to get rid of her. She drinks a charm to kill Elizabeth, she stabs herself with a needle to accuse Elizabeth of a crime, Abigail also accuses Elizabeth of being a witch. The whole play, those were the only intentions that Abigail had, exterminate Elizabeth Proctor. Even though John decided to attempt to make the court look differently at Abigail and see what she has done to many people in the city of Salem. The misleading trait that Abigail has, helps her get out of a rocky situation without harm. The threatening of the girls, drinking a charm, stabbing herself with a needle, and accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft are all the reasons that Abigail is also an evil individual. Abigail was the most misleading and evil character in the play written by Arthur Miller.
Throughout the many acts of the play, we sense the anger rolling off Abigail’s words. “I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” By these words, we know that Abigail Williams is angry. She’s angry at John Proctor for trying to hide the crime he committed with her, and for the lack of closure she
The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t...
Throughout the entire play, Abigail is angry at John for not loving her back after the affair which preceded the play. Abigail is speaking to John, and she claims that he is still in love with her. As John rejects this idea, Abigail stills desires love from John. In Act I, Abigail says,“It’s she that put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now (Miller I).” She is using her words to manipulate John into loving her. Later in the play, she accuses John’s wife of witchcraft to get back at John. This backfires on her when John dies at the end of the play. Abigail quickly becomes an adversary of John after she harasses his family and his life. Abigail shows her anger towards John Proctor by accusing his wife and eventually hanging
The Crucible is a story of mass hysteria in a period of time in which men dominated women. However, Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Procter as two women with drastic roles to play. John Procter is a man who has great influence over the people of Salem. They speak to him because he is a man of truth and integrity. There are many other characters in the novel, although these three stuck out in my mind the most.
The absence of a healthy mind also can make a person evil, or do evil acts.Throughout the play, Abigail’s main objective is to replace Elizabeth Proctor and to save herself. She turns to extreme plans to do accomplish this. Convinced that she is doing the right thing, Abigail attempts to call upon the Devil to kill Goody Proctor. This delusion and ignorance to the severity of the situation is evil. Williams does not realize that calling the death upon another is a sinful act of harming one's neighbor. Instead she believes it is for the greater good. In Arthur Miller’s deleted scene, he touches upon Abigail's possible mental issue in another encounter with John Proctor. Displaying both a vulnerable side of Abigail and a violent one was deleted in hopes of stopping the reader to view her as innocent. However her mental state helps give reason to her actions. Abigail grabs and shouts at John, yelling, “Never in this world! I know you John-- you are this moment singing secret hallelujahs that your wife will hang!” (Miller 143). She manipulates her own mind to believe that the arrest of Elizabeth will be good for the two of them. With these thoughts Abigail continues with the evil acts of manipulation. The story sways her goals of killing a woman for her own advantage to killing others in order to save herself. Due to her feelings toward John, she not only schemes a plan to accuse Elizabeth of
In the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, men and women are treated unequally due to gender roles during this time period. In the play they are treated differently, And woman would be accused of something they didn’t do just because they weren’t “normal”.
The first thing that I wanted to point out is that while the majority of the accused are women, they are still given a chance to prove that they are not a witch. It just so happens that they would rather confess to it. Getting a chance at all shows that this society respected their rights almost as much as anyone else. Women are extremely important in the play because of the fact that they make up most of the characters, and in them is where the problem lies. If they simply didn’t respect, or care about women, then the Salem witch trials wouldn’t have been such a big deal. In some countries, women are restricted from wearing certain types of clothing. This seems like the case in the Crucible as well, but it very well may also be that they do not have any other styles of clothing yet. I assume that even if they did have other styles, women would wear exactly what they are now. They do not want to go against their Puritan religion.
Abigail’s character is one of extreme manipulation; however it does not start out like this. In the beginning Abagail is an unwedded “orphan” (1.8) who lives with her uncle. This means she is only a little higher than being deemed a slave. This low social status is what drives her lust for John Proctor. Abigail’s main goal is to marry John Proctor and doing so displace his current wife Elizabeth. Abagail and John become seduced by each other and have an affair. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge into my heart.” John however has tried to move on from his mistake with Abagail “And now you bid tear me the light out of my heart” (1.24) and redeem his marriage. This hurts Abagail, but then the witch trials begin. Abigail like other towns folk uses these trials to their advantage. Motivated by her lust for John she begins manipulating others around her and eventually schemes a plot to get Elizabeth hanged for witchery. “Abagail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Rev. Parris house tonight and without a word she fall to the floor, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly he draw a needle out. She testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed it in.”(2.74) this shows Abigail’s manipulation of deceiving the people around her and planting false evidence to get Elizabeth accused of witchcraft, so that she may be with John.
Firstly, Abigail is one figure that blatantly abuses her newfound power in the play. " 'You are charging Abigail Williams with a marvelous cool plot to murder,
The play contained many scenarios of good versus evil, and the characters that generally possessed these feelings and intentions. But it must be understood that there were the intentions, the incentives, and then the actions taken out on a person or a group of people. Every character could either be placed in the intentions under good or bad intentions. After that, almost every character has mixed feelings of evil or good actions. The fight between the center of evil and the center of good is the foremost important of the points. Abigail Williams is the nucleus of all evil in the story. She is the one who triggers off this sense of hate in the play. She tempts Proctor into lechery, and commits unlawful acts which all are against the Puritan religion. To escape punishment for dancing, she deflects the actions and blames them on someone else, and does not care how many lives she ruins. Later when she grows into power and influence, she seems to enjoy sending these innocent people to their deaths. She takes pleasure in her lies, and thrives on the attention and power that they bring her. All these are the aspects of being the evil character, power, attention, and acts of wrongful doing. Therefore she can...
The first reason Abigail is to blame for the deaths of the innocent Puritans is her lustful personal ambition to be John Proctor’s wife. John and Abigail previously had an affair, which basically began the hysteria. An exasperated John attempted to tell Abigail the affair is a thing of the past, by saying, “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.” Abigail, however, relentlessly strives to keep their “romance” alive. Because of this intense jealousy of John’s wife, there is an enormous amount of tension between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail even goes as far as to consume a potion with the intent to murder Elizabeth, which Betty confronts her about by saying, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” Abigail is so envious of Elizabeth, she does the unthinkable by accusing her of witchcraft. She claims that Goody Proctor’s spirit came to her and stabbed her with a needle. She felt that if she could dispose of Elizabeth Proctor, she could take her rightful position as John’s wife.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, women are constantly looked down upon. This play shows the sins of everyone in Salem, but it highlights the sins of women. In Salem, some of the townspeople, mostly women, are accused of being witches; however, these accusations and trials show how crazy society can be. The Crucible is both written and critiqued in a way that makes men look better than females. Critics point out all the flaws of women, but they do not highlight the just as guilty men in the play. The men should be just as criticized as the women for their mistakes throughout the play.