Arthur Miller's depiction of Abigail portrays her as manipulative and intimidating with underlying vulnerability. Abigail's manipulative nature is shown through her lies and intimidation. She weaponizes accusations, stating, "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" to avert suspicion from herself, exploiting the fears and religious superstitions of the townspeople to preserve her reputation and elevate her social status. Her threats of violence, such as “I will come in the black of some terrible night and will bring a pointy reckoning,” further illustrate her ability to feed off fear and hysteria, and control others through her pursuit of power. Her dramatic statements force …show more content…
Despite having great amounts of power as a court official, "it's God's work we do. I am an official of the court" she still falls for societal expectations and is entrapped by Abigail. The witch trials give Mary Warren status and sense of purpose in society as she used to be near the bottom of Salem's social hierarchy as a servant girl. This also shows that Mary Warren has good intentions but is misinformed and too caught up in the hysteria caused by Abby to see the fakeness and superficiality of her work. Through Mary Warren’s relationship with Abigail, Miller illustrates how to maintain power by bullying and destroying those on the lower end of the social hierarchy. Mary has power through her role as a court official, but she is manipulated by Abigail and loses her power as she tries and fails to do the right thing, as she says to Abby, “we've got to tell. We must tell the truth Abby!” This quote shows Mary’s drive for the truth and goodness, but also how manipulated she is towards Abigail. However, she isn’t afraid to use her power with others like Proctor as she says to him, “I'll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single!” reiterating her power by disobeying Proctor despite being his servant because of her role as a court official. This also shows how important marriage is during these times, as a woman has no power if she isn’t married. Despite this power, Abigail’s power over Mary is stronger, as Mary says, “[Sobbing, she rushes to Abigail.] Abby, Abby, I‘ll never hurt you more!” This shows that Mary fears Abigail’s power. However, she fears being alone, which makes her go along with her lies, and fears death and punishment within the witch trials and eventually chooses self-preservation over the
“What a grand peeping courage you have!” This quote was said by Mercy Lewis referring to Mary Warren in The Crucible during 1692. Mary and the other girls were dancing in the woods when Reverend Parris found them. When the girls were asked who all danced, Mary said that she was just watching. Mary Warren and I have a few of the same personality traits and that we both are caring, shy, and honest.
Throughout history, every story (or at least the ones worth telling) changes us for the better. We change because the characters change, whether they change for the better is up for debate. In The Crucible, Mary Warren goes through a rare form of character change; she evolves, and then goes through a stage of devolution. In other words, she begins to change, and then regresses back into the state she was in at the beginning of the story.
She didn’t care about those lives that vanished because of her nor did she care about lying and turning against her own friend, Mary. One of the reasons why Mary was scared to tell the truth to the court was because of Abigail, She frightened her, and the other girls with threats. Mary knew that if she spoke Abigail would turn against her use everything in her hands to rid her and make sure she never spoke the truth again like Mary says on page 80, when proctor and the others were trying to convince Mary to tell the truth. “She’ll kill me for sayin that” Were the words that came out Mary’s mouth.Those words are the ones that prove that Abigail Williams is not innocent but if not guilty.Once Mary spoke the truth, Abigail turned against her just like mary knew it would happen, She began saying things that were not true once again. She began to pretend as if Mary’s spirit had left her body and were hauting her, She said things such as “Mary please don’t hurt me” making it seem as if Mary was hurting her.This made the other girls also begin to pretend and repeat everything Mary was saying making seem as if they were bewitched by her. This is another thing that shows how she manipulates
Mary Warren is a villainous character due to her poor choice of actions. Mary uses excuses to avoid trouble and gain some power through this. Elizabeth states: “It is a mouse no more… ‘I must go to Salem, Goody Proctor; I am an official of the court!’” (192) It is given that Mary had the changed the tables on her masters and decided to set her foot down. She claims that because she is an official of the court, she cannot be held back by anything that is not as important as going to court to do her work. If she was a real hero, she would keep her word to fulfill her duties at the Proctor house when it is time, not to go off to her pretense of a job of declaring wheth...
Mary Warren is an important character in Arthur Miller’s play, THE CRUCIBLE. Much of the action in Act III revolves around Mary’s testimony in court. She is a kind and basically honest girl who tries to do the right thing, saving her friends from harm. However, throughout Acts I and II, Mary is a follower who allows Abigail Williams to negatively influence her good judgment. To make matters worse, Mary is terrified of Abigail’s threats. Because of her weak will, the reader isn’t certain if Mary will maintain the courage to help John Proctor to win his court case in Act III.
First, in her attempt to save herself from embarrassment, Abigail starts the awful witch-hunt by lying about what she was doing in the forest around evening time with other girls. In conversation Mary Warren pleads with Abigail to “tell the truth…you will only get whipped for dancin”(Miller 39). Abigail will stop at nothing to keep her reputation and she even threatened the girls to keep their mouths shut .Later, Abigail continuously demonstrates that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants and one of her real desire is John Proctor. With her newfound power, Abigail takes the chance and names Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, as a witch. Elizabeth is stunned upon discovering she was named in the court. She knew that Abigail would “Dare not call out such a farmer’s wife but there be monstrous profit in it.”(Miller 104). Finally, Abigail demonstrates her selfishness by exploiting the power the community has given to her. She names a few individuals just in light of the fact that she disdains them or on the grounds that they are a risk to her. Abigail emphatically shows her quality of self-centeredness all through the story and uncovers that she will do anything as long as it is in her best
She is now extremely powerful and confident. More than all the women and men in Salem, Elizabeth Proctor is Abigail's target. Abigail wants John Proctor all to herself and Abigail gets it through her head that in order to achieve her goal she is going to have to kill Goody Proctor. During Act Two of The Crucible, Elizabeth states “ Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made. She may dote on it now-I am sure she does- and thinks to kill me, then to take my place.” (59) Elizabeth knows what Abigail has planned and begins to feel very scared and threatened. Mary, Abigail’s own friend, also feels very threatened by the confidence that Abigail has gained. Mary states on page 77, “She’ll kill me for sayin that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor… I have known it, Sir. She’ll ruin you with it, I know she will.” Abigail’s threats give her power because now Proctor and Elizabeth cannot defend themselves without telling the court of John’s act of adultery.The confidence that Abigail has gained throughout the Acts, have caused a downward spiral for the well being of the town. Innocent people are now being accused for witchcraft. Just because Abigail has created such a massive
As any tragic hero, Proctor is overcome by Abigail, a true symbol of evil. Proctor faces defeat when the court officials come to take Elizabeth away. Proctor is so infuriated by this assault on his house that he rips the warrant and tells them to leave rather forcefully saying, “Damn the Deputy Governor! Out of my house!”(77), demonstrating his intense love for his wife. Proctor shows signs of being a tragic hero when he attempts to go into court to save his wife and prove the girls liars. However, he ends up being accused himself. Mary Warren is in court testifying when she suddenly breaks down “hysterically, pointing at Proctor, fearful of him: My name, he want my name.
When Abigail and the girls go against Marry Warren, they pretend that Mary is trying to hurt them through her spirit. They repeat whatever Mary Warren says and act like she will attack them. Mass hysteria can be seen during this scene. Overwhelmed, Mary, who was on John Proctors side, blames everything on him. “No, I love God; I go your way no more. I love God, I bless God. Abby, Abby, I’ll never hurt you more!” (Mary Warren, Act 3, pg. 52) She goes back to Abigail and John Proctor is arrested.
Mary has to show great willpower to oppose Abigail; e.g. “I have no power.” In the stage directions it shows Mary summoning all her determination from within to stand up to Abigail. In this scene we can see how powerful Miller’s characters can be. Our first impression of Abigail is accurate because she is clearly capable of sending people to death to save herself.
Her ability to lie, her outspokenness and developing sexuality, is unlawful against the Puritan views and deemed as evil. If convicted of the acts she has committed, including her apparent interaction with the Devil, she would face severe consequences. But to avoid this, Abigail realizes that through deceiving innocence she can control and manipulate murderous acts to save herself and her reputation. This was a new opportunity for her to expand her rule over the town. Controlling the young girls around her, Abigail uses her newfound sense of power to manipulate the group in fear. Driving them to aid her accusations, she uses them in the court to prove her claims. Abigail quickly strikes fear into the girls when she begins to hit and threaten the girls screaming, “And mark this. 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 you a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller 19). By threatening the girls, Abigail easily frightens them enough to do her bidding. Using fear to her advantage is evil and this act of manipulation only furthers her antagonism. Abigail now has the ability to use facades and delusion with the loyalty of the other girls, to convince the people that it is not her conjuring spirits, but others in the town attacking
Abigail is wicked and confident and is not afraid to take control of situations. This is shown when she is with Parris, Abigail is respectful on the surface but she hides her resentment and disrespect. She talks back to defend her name and in Act One, she suggests to Parris," Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about; I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself." She is also aggressive and forceful, the other girls are afraid of her. When Mary Warren suggested that they should confess to dancing in the woods. Abigail threatens them,."..I have seen some reddish work done at night and i can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!"
Sometimes, things are not what they seem. In the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a character named Abigail Williams does not fit the description of a typical, Puritan girl. Puritans are dedicated to their religion and the young girls are meant to be well-behaved and proper. Yet Abigail is found breaking some of the Ten Commandments. What drives her to do such evil things? She partakes in forbidden rituals, commits adultery, and lies under the oath of God, but Abigail is not at fault. Any young girl in Salem during the witch trials would have done the same, as a whole crowd of other girls did. She is used for sex by a man named John Proctor. She lies to receive the human necessity of respect, security, and belonging. She behaves the way a young girl would act. Abigail is portrayed as a dishonest, corrupt, and vicious girl, but in reality, she is the victim of the Salem Witch Trials for she is only following her natural impulses, is blinded by her love, and carries out the mess the adults have created only to try to protect herself.
The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a story partially fictionalized and dramatized, that portrays the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. Miller was inspired to write this play when the congressional committee was questioning him about his activities with the American Communist Party. The play is an allegory of the time when mass hysteria caused no one to be safe; it petitions for freedom and tolerance. When there is frenzy, in this case witchcraft, people act upon an impulse to deviate from what is moral, jump from evidence to conclusions, and fall under others’ influence. In the play, Mary Warren is John and Elizabeth Proctor’s maidservant who becomes one of the accusers during
It is evident that Abigail is being so at the beginning of the story when she is attempting to convince John Proctor to continue their wrongful affair when she says “you loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John, pity me, pity me!” (Miller 24). Abigail is insulting her lover John’s wife (Elizabeth Proctor) and is trying to regain his love and affection. In writing this, Miller’s intention with the scene was to show Abigail’s fervent efforts with her words to change John’s mind. As in the beginning of the play, Abigail continues to have great selfishness and manipulative ability to get things to be done in her way. For example, later in the story, she depicts the same tendencies when Mary Warren tries to cross her or even overthrow her power. She persuades all the other girls to say her words and tries to get inside Mary’s head to make her return to their side by saying “Oh, Mary, this is black art to change your shape. No I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (Miller 115), which ultimately works. She maintains her power over Mary and the girls for her benefit. Miller uses this to show Abigail’s established dominance over the other girls. Once again, Miller shows Abigail’s remorselessness by making her wrongly influence others. Although the story develops and situations change her character traits remain the same.