The namesake of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a container used to heat and burn substances. Like the namesake, the grudges of the townspeople of Salem provide a container for the fires of the witch trials to burn. The long suppressed grudges of Thomas Putnam, Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams are what keeps the fires of the trail in Salem. Thomas Putnam had long held grudges against many people in Salem. Putnam had long held grudges against the Nurse family, who had prevented his brother-in-law from receiving the office of Minister, and Putnam, “meant to right matters however he could” (15). Putnam saw the witch trials as an opportunity to get revenge for the past slights against his family by the Nurses and others by putting Goody Nurse on trial for witchcraft. By continually using the trials in Salem to take …show more content…
During the witch trials, he feared what others might have said about him and his niece Abigail being associated with witchcraft, telling others to, “speak nothing of unnatural causes” (9). Due to his position as minister, Parris’s reputation would be forever tarnished by any that attempted to point to witchcraft, so he despised anyone that attempted to point to it. Due to his fear of being discredited, Parris held grudges against anyone that could have done so Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris, used the trials to attempt to complete her own dreams. Some time before the events of the story, Abigail had slept with John Proctor, and believing she loved him, charged John Proctor’s Wife, Elizabeth with witchcraft, accusing Elizabeth of stabbing her with a needle, saying, “it were [Elizabeth]’s familiar spirit that pushed [the needle] in” (74). By accusing Elizabeth, Abigail hoped to free John Proctor to love herself, and not his husband. Abigail attempted to use the trials to act upon her grudge of Elizabeth Proctor receiving her John Proctor’s love and not
The song “Rollercoaster” by the Bleachers is a good song that can be easily relatable with the character Abigail Williams from The Crucible. Abigail and the song share many characteristics that help them relate. Abigail gets a lot of people killed, she is exciting, and she is like a teenager who ran away.
For some, the proceedings in Salem served as an opportunity to improve on their social or economic standing. Those who felt wronged by society, like the Putnams, the trials provided a chance to correct some of the wrongs that they felt had been perpetrated against them. Additionally, revenge could be sought by making false accusations
Everyone has something to be defensive about. All people have different qualities that they do not like about their personality or their body that they are very defensive about. The most despicable character or most admirable character could be a sum of people.
According to Maya Angelou, “Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean” which explains why the bitterness and anger in Abigail Williams over losing John proctor in The Crucible by Arthur Miller causes her to seek attention by accusing many of witchcraft. Guided by their strict puritan beliefs, many of the townspeople believe her, causing several to die and countless more to suffer. Set in 1692, the town of Salem is very religious, and their puritan beliefs guide their everyday life; however, by living in such a strict environment, small arguments affecting only a few people can turn into a tragedy for the whole time. The girl most responsible for the death in Salem is Abigail Williams. She
Abigail Williams is a 17 year old girl whose parents were murdered, so Parris has taken care of her since they’ve been murdered. She had worked for the Proctor’s as their servant, but she was fired by Elizabeth Proctor. John Proctor was having an affair with Abigail until Elizabeth had discovered what they’ve been doing so she fired Abigail. John knew he was sinning and this sin would ruin him. He realized that he loves his wife Elizabeth, so he stop seeing Abigail for love. Abigail was upset that he didn’t love her, so the only way for her to have him was to get rid of Elizabeth from his life. Abigail tried to get rid of Mrs. Proctor by dancing in the woods and talking to the Devil. In act one Betty screams out the truth about the night and what Abigail’s plan was. She said “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor.” (pg
Arthur Miller is trying to tell the reader that there were plenty of times where people in Salem have tried to protect their reputation. The people in Salem have tried to protect it in order to look better in the town. If they weren’t able to protect it, then they would be just an ordinary person breathing in the town.
Fear can motivate people to do despicable things; actions people would never commit in their right minds. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about Salem, a small town in Massachusetts, and its outrageous witch trials conducted in the spring of 1692. The accusations started out of pure fear, and then others in the village began to accuse for their own benefit. Eventually, the situation escalated out of hand, resulting in the deaths of some very innocent people. Out of the many motifs presented in this play, one that was particularly prevalent was accusations made with specific intentions. This motif is displayed when Thomas Putnam, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam accuse others because of their personal motives.
The Crucible shows bravery and cowardice throughout the book. Abigail Williams is a cowardly girl who doesn’t want to get in trouble for her foolish acts, who is then is offered a way to blame others for her actions by giving the names of “witches” in the town. John Proctor starts out as a cowardly man who cheated on his wife and didn’t want to give away Abigail’s secret that her accusations were false, but he ends up being a man that will die for his friends and the goodness of his name.
She screams and writhes as, "Stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, [Parris] draw a needle out." (Miller, ) Envy even pushes Abigail to inflict pain on herself. To frame Elizabeth, she resorts to extreme and desperate means of proof. She casts away all shreds of morality, religion, and common sense to pursue her treasure. Anne Putnam exposes similar motives for accusing Rebecca Nurse. Francis Nurse quotes the arrest warrant for his wife, "For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies." (Miller, ) Goody Putnam envies the Nurses because they already have a large clan of offspring while they are left with one weak child. Envy and jealousy play a key role in Goody Putnam's decision to blame Rebecca. To obtain vengeance, they accuse Rebecca in hopes to solve their own misfortune. The Putnams envy her success and instead of celebrating their happiness and cherishing their only child, they choose the immoral action and strike back at their scapegoat, Rebecca. Abigail plays a cruel trick on Proctor to try to resolve her envy, and the Putnams condemn Rebecca Nurse to death for some false hope in their lives. Envy encourages ordinary people to feel disappointed, but it encourages the ones without strong ethics to strike back and take revenge. In The Crucible, this revenge takes the form of unreasonable trials of innocent people.
Patty Jenkins, an American film director and screenwriter wrote,“Every villain has their belief system that makes perfect sense to them.” This quote is reminiscent of Abigail Williams, a character in The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller. In Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, four girls were caught doing witchcraft. The girls accused other innocents of witchcraft, so they would not be framed for it. Due to the girl's actions, many of them, accused were hanged to death. Abigail Williams was a villain in The Crucible.
In 1692, when the Salem Witch Trials thrived, everyone feared a common enemy, witches. Abigail Williams, the niece of the powerful Reverend Parris, begins accusing women of being witches after she herself is accused of conversing with the devil. “...I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”(45) The people of Salem originally had nothing to fear until Abigail William’s wild accusations. These claims led to the majority fearing that anyone was capable was witchcraft. This turned friends and even family members against each other. John Proctor, a seemingly innocent man, had been accused of participating in dark magic. Reverend John Hale is conversing with his wife to convince her to persuade her husband to confess to his sins.
Within today’s society, an individual’s morals determines how one is scrutinized, judged, and reprimanded. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a character with compelling moral principles. Abigail’s disoriented moral constitution allows the theme, the detrimental effects of mass hysteria, to be constantly reassured throughout the play. Through the egotistical, manipulative, and deceitful rhetoric of Abigail Williams, Arthur Miller is successful in conveying how the spread of misinformation can tear apart a small town.
The devastating Salem witch trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. By the end of the trials many people were accused, nineteen were executed and several more died in prison. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, captures the hysteria that developed during the Salem witch trials. Crucible character, Abigail Williams, represents the repressed desires that many of the Puritans possess. Abigail’s readiness to abandon Puritan social restrictions sets her apart from the other characters, and eventually leads to her downfall. Abigail Williams uses manipulation and cruelty to create an atmosphere of terror and intimidation in her town. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams leads the hysteria in Salem by taking extreme measures to succeed in attaining John Proctor's love.
Mr. Putnam is a very wealthy and influential man in Salem. As a result of him being driven by power and wealth he uses the witch trials to his advantage. In the past, the Nurses and the Putnams have had disputes: “Thomas Putnam’s man for the Salem ministry was Bayley. The Nurse clan had been in the faction that prevented Bayley’s taking office” (Miller 27). Thomas Putnam would have gained power by having his choice for the Salem ministry chosen. He would gain status and the favor of the leader of Salem, but the Nurse family stood in his way. This incident sparked anger in Mr. Putnam against the Nurse family and now he is out for revenge and he is using the trials to get it. Another grudge he has against the Nurses is connected to land: “Another suggestion to explain the systematic campaign against Rebecca, and inferentially against Francis, is the land war he fought with his neighbors, one of whom was a Putnam” (Miller 27). The Putnams have a history of fighting over land with the Nurse family and this gives him a motive to go after them and their land. Putnam’s desire for land and wealth also gives him the motivation to take the land from the Nurse family in any way he can, including blaming them for witchcraft. This dispute is important because it gives motive to the Putnams and shows their determination to get what they want.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail’s flaws- lust, jealousy, and mendacity- that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem. The Crucible focuses of the finding of young girls and a slave messing around in the woods, trying to conjure spirits from the dead. Rather than admit to their actions and face the consequences, the girls accuse everyone else of the crimes they were guilty of. Abigail Williams is the person who caused much of the drama in this story. She bears much responsibility for everyone meeting with Tituba in the woods. Once Parris discovers this meeting, Abigail attempts to keep her actions a secret because it would possibly reveal her affair with Proctor. Abigail lies to cover up her affair with proctor, and to stop the charges of witchcraft in order to prevent the terrible punishments that go along with the accusations.