How Did Arthur Miller Use Jealousy In The Crucible

Fear, greed, and jealousy had a huge impact on the mass executions in Arthur Miller’s Salem because they not only characterized the whole witchcraft hysteria, but they further intensified it. At the time of the witch trials in The Crucible, the residents of Salem were very religious and superstitious, and some of them genuinely thought they were doing God’s work by getting rid of anyone who were possibly a witch. While others were genuinely fearful of witches and associated them with the Devil, most people took advantage of the trials and falsely accused their enemies of witchcraft so they could settle a score or simply get revenge, and yet others simply used the trials for their own personal gain. The young girls were able to make such accusations and convict innocent people of witchcraft because they preyed on the fear of the residents of Salem. At the time, most people in Salem were Puritans, and they were strictly gullible; leading them to follow the biblical teaching that witches were real and dangerous, which incited fear in the society. Without fear, people would have simply disregarded the rumors as rubbish and the witch trials may not have happened; fear allowed the witchcraft hysteria to get as big as it did.

Abigail and John Proctor gets intimate one night and ever since then, Abigail clings on to the hope of having Proctor all to herself. She becomes jealous of Elizabeth Proctor and she decides to get rid of her, attempting to poison her through witchcraft, and when that fails, she accuses Elizabeth herself of witchcraft. Ann Putnam also shows her jealousy when she accuses Rebecca Nurse of supernaturally murdering her seven babies, all because Rebecca Nurse has been grandmother twenty times. Jealousy could even be the theme of Salem since there was so much of it