Character Foils In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Character foils are important to any story or play as they compare and contrast character traits as the story unfolds. The use of character foils allows the audience to understand a characters way of thought and the actions that they take. Character foils show the moral behaviour and can help the audience see contradictory factors that help advance the plot. Although characters may seem similar, the use of character foils can show their differences. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the use of character foils proves Fortinbras is a stronger political leader over Hamlet, the contrasting view of Laertes as a son in comparison to Hamlet and Horatio being thought of as the better man in contradiction to Hamlet.

Foil characters are two characters that are complete opposites of one another. In the story The Crucible, there are plenty of characters that differ from each other. Two of the characters that have the biggest foil are Abigail and Elizabeth. Abigail is manipulative and attention seeking child. However Elizabeth is suspicious and a very relaxed wife of John Procter. Abigail and Elizabeth show their two very different personalities in three different ways, one being their traits, two being how they both change threw out the story, and their effect on being different from each other, therefore; characters in the story The Crucible are shown to be very different from each other.

Abigail is a selfish and manipulative person which gives her the courage to do the things that she does. In act 3, Abigail says "Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; It's God's work I do" (III.115). Abigail claims that she is doing God’s work, but she is actually doing the devil's work because she is lying and forcing her friends to agree with her and go against Mary. She has the courage to go through with anything that comes to her mind, no matter what harm it could cause. “The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris's house tonight, and without word nor warning she falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demanding of her how she come to be so stabbed, she --- testify it were your wife's familiar spirit pushed it in”(Act II.1282). This explains how Abigail is willing to go through with anything to be with John Proctor. She shows a monstrous amount of intrepidness just to do so. Abigail Williams has the courage to do anything when it comes to John Proctor. She stabs herself with a needle just to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.

How many people have you met in your life that is stronger because of a difficult experience they went through? Most people are because we take these difficult experiences and grow from them and become better people. This is the exact case is expressed in the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The story begins in Salem, Massachusetts 1692 right in the middle of a period of witchcraft hysteria. During this time many people were accused of being witches and wrongly convicted by judges Danforth and Hathorne. The characters in the story are struggling because of a girl named Abigail who gets caught practicing witchcraft and then starts naming and accusing others so that she doesn’t get in trouble; one of these people being a well-respected farmer, John Proctor’s, wife Elizabeth. The title, The Crucible, refers to a test, trial, ordeal, formation by fire, and vessel baked to resist heat, and the entire story is an allegory meaning it has a hidden meaning. John Proctor symbolizes a crucible by embodying the definition of one, as he went through a test and was formed by fire.

Their differences would also become evident when Abigail William goes on her path of vengeance. This trait becomes evident as Abigail Williams does whatever it takes to get her name cleared, including lie or commit murder. She then accuses Elizabeth of being a witch in an attempt to take her bed from her. Elizabeth, however, becomes the light of reason and sanity as she refuses to judge her husband, even to save his life. She knows that her husband is a good person and refuses to take that away from him. This was a very different view as compared to Abigail. Abigail held on to the notion that John Proctor would choose to run away and be with her instead. Wherein Abigail Williams had a somewhat weak background and character, which fed off of the fears of others, Elizabeth Proctor has a relatively strong character. Elizabeth refused to surrender her beliefs in the face of hardships, whereas Abigail would abandon her beliefs in order to save herself. Although Elizabeth spoke on the side of truth, Abigail would be the one that is believed because of her ability to change her belief to feed off of the fears of the community, a very powerful tool in puritan Salem.

Abigail is a highly jealous character, concentrating her jealousy on Elizabeth Proctor. This jealousy is driven by lust and her desire for John Proctor. Abigail served as a servant in the Proctor household and after an affair with her husband John, Elizabeth fired her. She still resents Elizabeth for this as she is still in love with John. She clearly says to John, "You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!" Abigail is still in love with John and she assumes the converse. Her love for John only causes her resentment for Elizabeth to strengthen. She hates John Proctor's wife and in her conniving ways she attempts to inspire the same views of Elizabeth in John's mind. Saying things to him such as, "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me, She is a cold, sniveling woman." Abigail fabricates stories in attempt to steel John from Elizabeth. She is a manipulative liar that does and says as she pleases in order to get what she wants.

Throughout the play Abigail tries to show the other characters that she is not to blame for her mistakes. An example of her trying to blame other people is when she tells her uncle that he should go and deny the witchcraft accusations. By not denying the allegations herself and having someone else do it, shows that she has support from other townspeople. Elizabeth Proctor is a strong woman who is blamed for witchcraft because of Abigail's accusations. Abigail claims that Elizabeth is a liar and is bitter, but when the reader meets Elizabeth for the first time they realize it is just Abigail exaggerating.

Firstly, Elizabeth Proctor is a foil to Abigail Williams because they are both women that are in love with John Proctor. However, Elizabeth differs from Abigail because she is kind, merciful, and honest, as opposed to Abigail who is unforgiving, jealous, and a liar. Arthur Miller portrays Elizabeth as a character that never does anything wrong, and that “she has never lied” (Pg. 116).

People are known to change, whether it is liked or not, there is no way of stopping change, and people know this; what most people don’t know, is how similar character change is to human change. In the wonderfully written play 'The Crucible', by Arthur Miller, many of his characters change in big ways as the story progresses, and three of these characters that changed the most are; John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Elizabeth Proctor. These characters change a great deal throughout this play.

One definition of  "crucible" is "a severe test of patience and belief, or a trial". This definition pertains to Arthur Miller's four-act play, "The Crucible."  The definition is suiting, because it is during this play that the wills of innocent women and men are put to the test when they are accused of things they did not do. It was the ultimate trial of determination and willpower to withstand such a wretched ordeal. Abigail Williams, Elizabeth and John Proctor, Mary Warren, Reverend Parris and even Reverend Hale had changed drastically because of what they had to go through during the course of the play. However, other characters such as Ezekiel Cheever and Marshall

The first reason that Abigail Williams is not the perfect Puritan woman is because she acts strange in church. For example Abigail started to laugh during church at the prayers that were being recited by the community. Next Abigail started acting like she was getting attacked by a familiar of the accused witch during each trial, from being choked and fainting, being extremely cold to saying that the familiar is in the court room with them.

Abigail Williams is Reverend Parris’s niece and is the most arrogant and deceitful character in the play, even more so than Danforth, Parris, and Putnam. Abigail uses her power and intimidation to manipulate friends and eventually the entire town into accusing others of alleged witchcraft. The start of Abigail’s terror is in response to John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth Proctor removing Abigail as

A foil character contrasts the personalities of another character, which particularly enlightens certain characteristics of the individual. This element portrays these characteristics in an obvious manner, as it benefits the reader or audience. By showing the characteristics of one, it directly heightens the character traits of the other, creating a foil illustration of an individual. Nowhere is this element of literature more prudent than in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, as he effectively engages the use of foil characters. In the play, two lovers from opposing, and hateful families fall in love, but the hatred between households lead to their downfall. Characters in the immoral city of Verona are set to represent key themes and

A foil is a minor character that helps the audience better understand a major character. A foil may exist as a comparison character, with similarities between the two, as well as differences that bring to light an important contrast between the foil and the main character. A foil may also just be someone for the main character to talk to, so we can know and understand their thoughts and feelings. Foils help us understand the obvious as well as the arcane. In the classic tragedy Hamlet, we see William Shakespeare employ foils to illustrate both examples. They become important literary tools that help the reader rationalize the concurrent theme of the play -

Character foils are used in many books to contrast two characters, but why are they important to understand, and how are they relevant? Character foils highlight the qualities of each character, helping indentify the protagonist and antagonist. It can also give assistance in labeling the personalities of the characters, fitting them into their roles in the story. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, the character foil between Don Pedro and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing highlights the qualities between them. This also influences the conflict resulting in the plot, concerning Claudio and Hero.