More handpicked essays just for you.
What are the actions and motives of abigail williams in the crucible
Analysis of the Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Crucible as an allegory
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible’, many conflicts come to light in the little Puritan
town of Salem. Because justice is served in a continuous cycle, justice caught up to john Proctor
as he was hung after having an affair with another woman, Abigail Williams. John Proctors wife,
Elizabeth, became aware of their maid, Abigail, having an affair with John. This, and with john
having sour feelings towards the church, justice understandably comes back to bite john later on.
With lies and deceit already being a major conflict in Salem, with the “calling to the
devil’, incident, a married man, John Proctor, secretly has an affair with his maid. Elizabeth is so
internally conflicted by John’s affair that she believes, “no honest love could come to
…show more content…
me!”(Miller208) Elizabeth, because she believes John’s heart fluttered to another woman during their marriage, truly believes that no one could ever really love her.
This internal conflict inside
Elizabeth Proctor follows her throughout the play. Along with Elizabeth’s inner conflicts, there
are conflicts John feels inside himself as well.
John knows and feels his adulterous acts were wrong, yet he continuously struggles with
getting Abigail to leave him be. In every meeting between Abigail and John, Abigail tells John
wild and crazy ideas to draw him back in, making john aware Abigail is, “waitin’ for you every
night.”(Miller149) The fact that Abigail is still this crazy about John to be waiting for him every
night, shows her jealousy and lust for him which adds to the tension as John is doing his best to
Swor 2
avoid her. In his guilt, John also does his best forget, move on, and all around make sure
anything like his affair doesn’t happen again.
John is determined in such a way to not commit adultery again that he is certain he “will
cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again.”(Miller150) John is seemingly this
determined to not commit adultery again because he sees and hears of the distress he put his
wife in and his guilt takes him over. Another link of tension in the conflict, John’s guilt is constantly weighing over him. Even though John’s guilt is constantly weighing over him, this does not take away from his attempts to make up for his sin. As soon as John committed adultery with Abigail, he instantly felt bad and knew what he did was wrong. Ever since that moment, he has been trying to not only make up for his sin, but also show Elizabeth the love she deserves and wants. With this being said he does little things to please Elizabeth. Although it is hard for Elizabeth to grasp, given John’s affair, John continuously tries to remind Elizabeth he means “to please you, Elizabeth.”(Miller164) Even though the tension between the couple is high, John is relentless in attempting to win Elizabeth back. Even after John’s relentless attempts at winning Elizabeth back, justice comes back to bite him as he claims God is dead at the end of the play, and is hung. Because justice is served in a continuous cycle, justice caught up with John as he was hung after having an affair with another woman. This matters because it might make others think twice before doing something that will affect them negatively later.
Later in the story Robert Olen Butler introduces a handsome stranger by the name of John Marsh. At this point the reader is able to assume this unexpected houseguest will intrigue Abigail. Butler then
ABIGAIL WAS A MINISTER’S DAUGHTER ( REV WILLIAM SMITH ) FROM THE NEARBY TOWN OF WEYMOUTH. SHE KNEW OF JOHN THROUGH A COUSIN, HANNAH QUINCY. JOHN WOULD COME TO HER HOUSE WITH HER SISTER’S (MARY) FINANCEE (MR CRANCH). JOHN AND ABIGAIL BEGAN DATING ON THE DAY THE FAMILY PLANNED HER SISTER’S WEDDING. JOHN THOUGHT ABIGAIL WAS THE MOST EDUCATED WOMAN HE HAD MET. ABIGAIL’S MOTHER, ELIZABETH QUINCY, DIDN’T THINK TOO HIGHLY OF JOHN BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT LAWYERS WERE WICKED. THEY COURTED FOR SOME TIME. MRS SMITH WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DELAY, SUPPOSIVELY SHE COULD NOT BARE TO LOSE TWO DAUGHTERS IN ONE YEAR. UPON MARRIAGE TO JOHN, ABIGAIL MOVED TO BRAINTREE. SHE HAD TO TRANSITION FROM THE POSITION OF A FIRST FAMILY OF WEYMOUTH TO THE MODEST SOCIAL STANDING OF THE ADAMS. SOMEHOW ABIGAIL FOLLOWED THE SAME STEPS AS JOHN’S MOTHER (THE BOYLSTON, WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FAMILIES OF MASSACHUSETTS) WHO THOUGHT TO HAVE MARRIED BENEATH HER WHEN SHE CHOSE JOHN ADAMS.
Abigail and John’s affair seven months ago is still causing problems between Elizabeth and him. There’s a lot of tension in one of the beginning exchanges between Elizabeth and John. “Elizabeth: ‘Then go and tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense- break it, John, break it.’ John:
that he is a brave man. As soon as his wife is accused, John quickly
John is a loving husband. He proves that by telling Elizabeth, “It is well seasoned” (p. 48) in reference to the rabbit she cooked, in which he had to add salt to. He likes to make her happy, which shows he loves her, and so he asks, “Would that please you?” (p.48) He is asking in reference to buying a heifer for her if the crops are good. He assures her he will “fall like an ocean on that court” by which he shows his love in caring for her freedom (p.73). To the court he admits he has “known her” he is talking about Abigail and their affair (p.102). He is showing his love towards his wife by throwing away his freedom, life, honor, dignity, and pride to prove Elizabeth’s innocence and have her freedom. He tells Elizabeth to “show honor now” as he is to be hanged in the gallows (p. 133). He is showing his love for her by letting her know he cares about her enough to want her to be strong even though he is to die.
Elizabeth is angry that John was having an affair with Abigail. John feels that he has endured enough. He knows what he did was not right, but he demands to Elizabeth that he needed a passion that she was not giving him. John uses emotional appeal to enforce his claim. She is offended at his suggestion that it was her fault that he was cheating on her. John says that he is only
John says ‘No, no Abby. That’s done with… Put it out your mind, Abby…Abby I never give you hope to wait for me.’ This shows John’s regret in having had an affair, he wants Abby to forget it, as... ... middle of paper ... ...
A soft word” (Miller 22). Abigail evidently still wishes for involvement with John, pleading with him to ‘give [her] a soft word’. This hints that her devotion to John takes place on an emotional level, rather than just a physical one, as she wants him to comfort her. She is telling lies about me!
(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
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a crucible can be defined several ways. One of these definitions is “a place or occasion of severe test or trial.” All characters in this play have some kind of test they must face. The morals of each character are also tested in this play- their goodness, their evil, and even their ignorance of the truth behind unfolding events. The roles of victim and prosecutor in this play are twisted to depict a theme of perspective and the finding of truth. Abigail Williams is the character who does the most to twist these roles, and it is at her hands that the people of the town die.
John and Elizabeth continue to argue. John Hale appears at their doorway. He is traveling to each house, talking to those who were mentioned in court, trying to find out more information about them. John says that he knows that Abigail and the other girls are not telling the truth. Two Salem citizens that have had wives arrested show up and a short time passes before a party comes to arrest Elizabeth.
John’s approach appears to be logical as he decided it would be better for his wife to escape her depression by moving temporary to an isolated estate where air, water, greenery, and calmness should be the uplifting factors in his wife’s journey towards gaining strength and getting better. The narrator disagrees with her husband’s decisions on how she should stay and do what he decided for her in this retreat, but follows his orders regardless. John’s treatment of his wife consists of medical prescriptions, “I take phosphates or phosphites-whichever it is-and tonics,...
“John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him."(162). She feels that she should be "a good girl" and appreciate the protective love John offers to her.
...hung from the church’s walls john has ended the pain for his family and John was hung. All the event that occurred showed that John’s action effect the people around him in a positive and negative way, having cheating on his wife had an major effect on his wife and there relationship he completely took away all the trust she had for him, also form being a very selfish man and only caring for himself to a man who gave him life for his wife so that she can live a easier life.
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.