Abuse Of Power In Oleanna

In act 1, John’s main conflict is dealing with his lust for Abigail, even though their affair has ended, he still every so often does think of her. “Proctor: Abby, I may think of you softly from time

A: John is not being serious. Whether or not he agrees with Abigail, John knows that Congress will not pass laws giving women more rights anytime soon, especially when they are so focused on war. I think he is patronizing Abigail when he talks about how men “have only the name of Masters”, as though this is the only reason why men feel superior to their wives.

he is exercising his ability to gain the favor of the people, by using his powerful persistence and persuasion. One of John’s main interactions with another character is with Abigail. When Abigail was a maid of the Procter family, she and John had an affair. They fired her when his wife Elizabeth found out about the affair. At the beginning of the book, John acts as if he is still in love with Abigail. But as the story unfolds, and Abigail’s true nature is exposed, he grows more and more impervious to her wicked intentions and manipulations. So much so that he

Elizabeth and Johns relationship is certainly not an easy one. Although having been married with two children the intrusion of Abigail could not have come at a worse time. With Elizabeth ill and Abigail’s personality being such a contrast John felt it as an escape from his wife’s absence. The affair that John had with Abigail puts a strain on their relationship creating a physical and emotional divide that the audience easily pick up on. On top of the affair, living in a puritan society which can be demeaning to women makes the

In act II John Proctor is told by Mary that Elizabeth was accused and the court has come to her to take her to jail. John shows a lot of tension with Elizabeth in the beginning of act II. “I am wondering how I may prove what she had told Me.” said John, “You were alone with her?” retaliated Elizabeth. (1116) Elizabeth suspected John of adultery and is still worried about it. John is worried if he calls out Abby then their secret of Adultery will be out. “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, women…” (1116) In this quote it shows what John thinks about his wife after 8 months of not having Abby in their house. John’s attempts to save Salem has failed and he and his wife are sent to

Proctor and Abigail's complicated relationship is already defined in the book. John arrives at Reverend Parris’s house then Abigail and him end up in a room alone together. Abigail confesses to John,”And you must. You are no wintry man. I know you, John. I know you. She is weeping. I cannot sleep for dreamin’; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I’d find you comin’ through some door”(Miller 22). Here Abigail is expressing her desire and love for John. In numerous instances Abigale professes her love to John, and he expresses the same animosity every time. Scene 2.2 restates everything that develops in the book. Instead of letting their relationship play out through multiple scenes, the essence of it is caught in one scene. The play is understandable and smooth with no strange gaps; the play doesn’t truly require the scene. This is recurrent to what is known about their relations; he scene is not really needed, it's just fluff on what the reader already

John attempts to control even her inner life, her writing. She says that "he hates to have me write a word" (482). He says the writing is not good for people who are sick. He tells her that it will slow down her healing. Writing is the only thing that’s keeping her sane, but she is unable to do it freely. She has to hide her words so John does not find them. This shows that John has mental control as well as physical control.

Arthur Miller demonstrates how a character’s obsession/fixation, can result in being manipulative while committing a grave sin of lust towards a male character. Abigail is Proctor’s past maid, who has a love affair with him. Abigail is able to persuade Proctor into thinking, that he needs sexual desires in his life since his wife is sick and is unable to sexual please him. Abigail states:

“What is it, little girl” he said. ”Don’t go walking about like that- you’ll get cold.”(Gilman, ) John’s “love” to her was like a father to their child. It’s as if he’s trying to “protect” her, but she does not feel protected. As a matter of a fact, she is starting to feel oppressed.

Analysis: The above quotations clearly display the similarity between John and the Narrator’s relationship to that of a father and a daughter. John controls the majority of the Narrator’s behavior to the point she feels an overwhelming sense of guilt for her incapacity as John’s wife. The Narrator is restricted in her actions and is therefore unable to fulfil her wifely duties, forcing her to consider herself as a burden. When is reality, John treats the Narrator as his daughter and does not permit her to complete her duty. For instance, the Narrator dislikes the yellow wallpaper and wishes to have it removed; however, John does not allow her to do so and acts as if it would feed into a child’s stubbornness. His continued belief in his superiority disregards the Narrator as is wife and instead infantilizes her. He believes her identity exists only through him, which merely encourages his paternalistic

The first similarity between these two characteristics is that they have limited views of their wives. Throughout the story John constantly thinks of the narrator as a child. First he puts her in a child’s

The unequal relationship between the narrator and John is a miniature of the larger gender inequity in society. Gilman makes it clear that much of John’s condescending and paternal behavior toward his wife has little to do with her illness. He dismisses her well-thought-out opinions and her “flights of fancy” with equal disdain, while he demeans her creative impulses. He speaks of her as he would a child, calling her his “little girl” and saying of her, “Bless her little heart.” He overrides her judgments on the best course of treatment for herself as he would on any issue, making her live in a house she does not like, in a room she detests, and in an isolated environment, which makes her unhappy and

Therefore, with John mentioning a solution to Carol to be, “Your grade for the whole term is an A. If you will come back and meet with me…” defeats the purpose of a teacher as John is not inferring that he will teach her to achieve a better grade. This supports the critical statement, “John fails Carol as a teacher and his arrogant insensitivity towards her jeopardises his apparently successful marriage to Grace.” This is because; to an extent John involves his personal life with Carol by having conversations with his wife whilst being on the phone. Also, with the removal of teaching for Carol’s grade, she can question whether John is fulfilling the profession of a professor. Therefore, it jeopardises his marriage with Grace as Carol sees John as a threat by trying to overpower her. Subsequently, this means that there is an alternative perspectives in viewing Carol as vulnerable and villainy in betraying her teacher. The American Dream can also link as to why Carol betrays John; this is because the concept of the American Dream is that everyone has the opportunity to be successful. However Carol and her group see John as being a barrier to her being successful with him as her professor as they view him as a manipulative sexist man who adores the power. Similarly, Posner betrays Irwin after coming across as vulnerable as he’s viewed as an outsider in the classroom and therefore tries to please Irwin so that Irwin will start to appeal to

His sin is the affair he had with Abigail when she was working for him as a maid.  It becomes evident in the first act of the play that when Abigail and John speak he committed adultery.  Abigail says “I know you clutched my back behind your house”(22).   This sin weighs very heavily on his conscience and causes problems between him and Elizabeth, his wife.  At the beginning of Act 2 conversation between the two of them is very strained but eventually leads to the heart of the matter and it comes out that Elizabeth is suspicious of him and Abigail.  This flaw also leads to his demise when he goes to the court to save his wife and the other people who were to be hanged.  He planned to prove that the court was a farce and that the girls were pretending to see spirits, but was unable to and ended up calling Abigail a whore and admitting to lechery.  Elizabeth, who he says never lies, is brought in to prove whether or not this is true.  In order to save her husband she lies and does not say that they had an affair.  Mary Warren then turns on John and says that he is  “the devil’s man”(118) which the court accepts as fact, deeming him a warlock and sending him to jail.

She speaks as though her opinions to do not count anyway, but she is very accepting of this. She belittles herself several more times throughout the story. "I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and her I am a comparative burden already" (Barnet 747). Having read the text through to the end we know that she is in a mental hospital, a reader could most likely begin to imagine what John may have been thinking to have witnessed his wife go through such disturbing mental anguish and that he was only going off of the knowledge available at this point in time. How would the story be different if it had been written from John’s point of view?