Integrity: or the Lack Thereof When many consider the word integrity, much comes to mind: actions, people, or even other words. While and after reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, this word is brought into question very often. In both the play and in reality, there are examples of both integrity and the lack thereof. Integrity is self-knowledge and wholeness while the loss of integrity is often due to one’s lust for power and attention. By this definition, integrity can be seen through John Proctor and his final decision to die rather than confess. At first, John was going to falsely confess to witchcraft so he could be free and following Danforth’s question, “Did you see the Devil?” John responds, “I did.” (139). However, after he hears …show more content…
Although she features self-knowledge similar to John, a more potent subtype of integrity she possesses is wholeness. Taken from Dictionary of Word Origins the etymology of integrity is, “Entire and integrity have the same source - Latin integer. This meant ‘whole, complete,’” (DWO). This wholeness and completeness can be seen in Elizabeth. Elizabeth was not in this wholly state from the beginning however, when the audience sees she and John have dinner, they can see the tension and mistrust that still remains between the couple. John even calls his wife out for her lack of forgiveness, “Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity woman.” (54). Here it can be seen that Elizabeth is not yet whole but ultimately, she will become a staple for integrity. After John is taken to be hanged, Elizabeth has now realized the good in him and has forgiven him. She finalizes her character with the last line to the play, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him.” (145). This line was the last piece her character needed to become “whole” and it left the audience to remember her for her …show more content…
Abigail Williams is an example of an individual who sacrifices her integrity for attention. Growing up as a female in a strict Puritan society is not the most attention-filled lives for a teenage girl and when an opportunity for attention and power is presented to Abigail, she is eager to take it. Abigail raises her power so high that it seems anyone she accuses of witchcraft will be tried for the crime, no questions asked. The loss of integrity comes in when Abigail begins to abuse her power due to personal interest. She wants John all to herself and the only person stopping her is Elizabeth. Her main lie is that of the needle and poppet, “I have been near murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people,” (108). Her integrity is lost when she falsely accuses the innocent woman and her persistent lying solidifies her loss of
Abigail Williams is a very deceitful person throughout The Crucible, she can be characterized as deceitful because throughout the book she often pretended to be a perfect puritan in the courts and during church, but really she had been the opposite the whole time. In the beginning of the book, Abigail can be described as deceitful because she began the whole witch trails by telling Reverend Parris that it was all Tituba and her witchcraft the other night, that she had made her do the things that they did. In the middle of the book, she can be characterized as deceitful through this line, “Suddenly, from an accusatory attitude, her face turns, looking into the air above- it is truly frightened.” Also, shown throughout the words of John Proctor breathless & in agony, “It is a whore!” These lines display her deceitfulness throughout the beginning of the book. At the end of the book, she displays her deceitfulness when she had asked John Proctor how his wife Elizabeth Proctor was when in all reality she had no interest in how she was doing which showed that even at the very end of the book she still had been a deceitful
Abigail Williams is the epitome of self-preservation. Abigail is one of the first accused of witchcraft, but she dismisses the accusations by accusing and blaming others for her suspicious
Adultery. Abigail Williams is the young niece of Salem's Minister, Reverend Parris, she also was once John Proctor's housemaid until his wife, Elizabeth, put her out because of the affair. Abigial was just a young girl, she felt as if her feelings for John Proctor were ‘true love’, this drove her to do some of the most unspeakable things. She was seeking vengeance on Elizabeth since she put her out on the street, “blackened her name throughout the town” and she had the man she loved. Abigail's best way of getting things done was through manipulation, which she was best at. She voluntarily used witchcraft to ‘curse’ Elizabeth and yet turned witchcraft accusations against everyone of Salem. “I will come to you in the black of the night and will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(19), is one threat Abigail used to keep the girls mouth shut. She was a power hungry girl who did anything to keep the power for her own selfish gains. When she realized she was losing her power she claims “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people- and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, question like a -”(100) this was her way out of the truth. This shows Abigail's true
In the beginning of the play, through the dialogue between Abigail and John it is discovered that John has committed the crime of lechery against his wife Elizabeth by once having a relationship with Abigail: “I have a sense for heat, John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness.” (6; Act 1). Later in the play, after growing closer to Elizabeth through the hardships, he asks Elizabeth for forgiveness when he states that “ [Pause, for the first time he turns directly to her] I would have your forgiveness, Elizabeth.” (46; Act
When Elizabeth is talking to him she says, “The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you” (Miller 55). John has very little respect for himself because of this act that he had done with Abigail. At the end of the play he is left with even less respect because he confessed to the court that he had an affair with Abigail and then he is to confess to being a witch. He chooses not to sign it because he wants to keep the last respect that he has for himself. In this time Elizabeth replies to Hale, “He have his goodness now.
Abigail Williams is to be considered a strikingly beautiful young woman. She was the cause of the whole madness of witch-craft by her immaturity because Abigail and with the rest of her friends went out into the woods while having Tituba conjure spirits so the girls could get guys to fall in love with them. Once they were caught by Reverend Parris (which is Abigail's uncle) instead of confessing the truth on what they were doing and owning up to it, Abigail decides to blame Tituba. She blames her for making the girls go into the woods to conjure spirits and help the devil. When John Proctor hears about this though, she quickly tells him in private that its nothing but lie. She wants John Proctor to see her as a women but when she cannot even own
John Proctor expresses his honesty and blunt personality throughout the story, however when time did come to the end of the tragedy, he exposed another trait until his last breath of air. There is such thing of honor and it can be argued that John Proctor died without it. Or that he wasted his breath fighting for his and Elizabeth’s life. But, John Proctor expressed himself as an upright man. He proved many things with the case and even was awarded a second chance to live before he be hanged. Such a thing would not come of any honor but come of disgrace and embarrassment. He chose to die a man of his name with honor and pride because he knew what was right and knew he would not win” I say- I say- God is Dead!” (Page: 198: John Proctor). This quote means John has changed and come to conclusion of things in the story. Although he is portraying things as if Abigail was not lying, he knew he could not fight a losing war. As to him, it was better to die the man he knew himself for and a man of his own name. Even to the moment of impact, John felt peace and change with himself before he was hanged because he died and honest, upright, and blunt-spoken
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
Abigail Williams wanted what was best for her. She did not care of others. Due to Abigail’s actions a whole conflict outbursts in Salem, Massachusetts. The girls have been caught in the woods dancing and even naked. They have been caught and accused of doing witchcraft. Betty is then “very ill” and they believe she is going to die. Betty awakes. Abigail threatens the girls to stay quiet. “You did. You did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (Miller 18). This shows that Abigail Williams was a villain because she was hoping for the death of a person in order to get what she desired. Abigail and the girls were caught doing witchcraft. Abigail comes up with a different story to tell. “Now look you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. 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 back of shudder
This is later confirmed when she threatens to “come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and … bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder” (Pg.175) Mary Warren and Betty Parris if they dare to tell the truth. This shows her determination at killing Elizabeth Proctor and securing her own reputation. Unlike many naive villains in other literatures, Abigail sets out a meticulous scheme to frame Elizabeth. First, she witnesses Mary Warren leaving a needle in a doll. Then she “[sticks] two inches [of a needle] in the flesh of her belly”(pg. 203) to frame Elizabeth of performing witchcraft. So mendacious is Abigail that she is willing to injure herself to accomplish her plan. Under her beautiful appearance also lays a manipulative heart. She is capable of manipulating not only the girls into doing things her way, but also the members of the court to her advantage. When questioned by Danforth whether the spirits she has seen are illusion, Abigail steps it up a notch by making the members of the court feel sorry for her and madly refutes, “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—” (Pg.210) This, following by Elizabeth's failure to tell the truth and the girl’s verisimilar acting toward the “yellow bird”, further demonstrates her manipulative power which brings the court in her favor. Altogether, many
However Abigail takes pride in her hysteria. This highlights the fact that the age difference between these 2 women is phenomenal. “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” Elizabeth is much more composed than Abigail, even though she is losing her husband she is happy for him, as she believes he is now at peace. Throughout the play John struggles with his feelings that he was not a good man. Hale tried his best to save John from being hanged to death but Elizabeth believes that he is finally going to be cleansed of his sins, as he has finally come out the dark about his affair. She loves him so much that she is willing to let him go. She feels that he is doing the right thing. She takes the name of God to justify herself.
Abigail was being accused repeatedly of lying and making up all of the accusations which were of false nature. The many people who were hung because of her testimony was what would now hang over her head. When she was brought before Mary Warren her false tears and outcries of pain were all an act, but in her mind she was the only one who was correct in her dealings. Abigail was for unfathomable reasons a port of knowledge through which the judges and lawyers convicted and sent to death those who were accused. The awful girl was but of one mind. She wanted revenge and to be back to her “love”, John Proctor. Abigail tried and tried repeatedly to get her hands on John, she tried to get his wife hanged, and when she couldn’t have him she decided that no one else could. Abigail soon began to accuse John Proctor of the precise thing she was known for, witchcraft. Abigail had been in the woods when the young Mary Warren went mute from the shock of seeing Abigail drink chickens blood and curse Goody Proctor, all of these happenings had to do with Abigail Williams, and now she would have to suffer through her own crucible, to figure out how she was going to get out. And though Abigail did narrowly escape the major shackles of her crimes, the guilt and foreboding of being a treacherous liar found her rumored to be a young prostitute in Boston. Forever to be alone and used. That was Abigail’s crucible and punishment for all the problems and
"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody is going to know whether you did it or not" quoted from Oprah Winfrey. Integrity is defined as being honest with strong moral principles, and many believe that once it is lost, everything is lost with it. Arthur Miller wrote his play, The Crucible, to directly relate to McCarthy reign of the 50's. This was a time where the accusations of innocent people being communist ultimately laid them to rest. If one were accused, they were able to save their life by admitting to communism or lying, giving names of other communists.
People are not always who they say they are, and this is true for Abigail Williams. Abigail pretends to be innocent in front of more than one person, including Reverend Hale, Betty Parris, and John Proctor. Abigail portrays herself as pure in front of Hale
One trait that Elizabeth has is loyalty to her husband, John. Although John was unfaithful to Elizabeth, she was always loyal and supported him. In Act II, Elizabeth assures John, “I will be your only wife, or no wife at all!" (Miller 62). After John has an affair with Abigail, he asks for Elizabeth’s forgiveness. Elizabeth states, “It come to naught that I should forgive you. Will you forgive yourself? It is your soul, John” (Miller 57). Elizabeth realizes that she has already forgiven John. She knows John needs to forgive himself. Elizabeth will do anything to keep her loyalty. This relates to the theme of reputation because she is always a loyal and moral person. Elizabeth has a large respect for John and her own reputation.