Examples Of Power In The Crucible

In the beginning of Miller’s play, Abigail, and other girls, are found by Reverend Parris dancing in the woods with Tituba. This event led Ruth Putnam and Betty Parris to lie still in fright, which in turn led to the summoning of Reverend Hale. When Hale arrived in Salem, he questioned Abigail’s innocence and good name by asking if she was the one who called the devil to Salem. Being the selfish character that she is, one of the most important things to Abigail was protecting her good name. Therefore, in response to these accusations, Abigail used Tituba as a scapegoat and ruined Tituba’s name, instead of having her own tarnished. By doing this, Abigail indirectly forced Tituba to choose death or confessing to witchcraft. In doing this, Tituba would eventually be forced to tell Reverend Hale who she saw with the devil, causing the beginning of the hunt for witches within Salem. Abigail should therefore be the character who is blamed the most for the tragedies in the play, as she indirectly caused the first accusations of witchcraft in

Abigail Williams is introduced as an innocent seventeen-year-old girl who was mistreated by the male figure. Since she has an affair with John Proctor, a thirty two year old married man, she becomes manipulative and power hungry. Her thought process and actions are driven by the jealousy she has over Elizabeth. The first occurrence of Abigail’s abuse of power is near the end of Act 1 regarding the activities being done in the woods. Abigail knows the dancing around the caldron is no longer a secret after her uncle Reverend Parris saw them “Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now”(10). Soon after Abigail is questioned about the so-called dancing that occurred in the woods. When Reverend Hale arrives he starts questioning everybody and the answers make her look bad. She starts putting all the blame on Tituba by saying “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba . . .” Reverend Hale responds in shock” She called the Devil” (42). Abigail realizes if you confess to witchcraft and start-naming names you’ll be okay, if you deny it they will think you are trying to

In Act 1 scene 1 “ Abigail - Uncle, the rumor of Witchcraft is all about; … But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft; Betty not witch.” “ Tituba - You beg me to conjure, Abby! She beg me make charm.” “Abigail - I want to open myself ! I want … I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil !” Abigail and her Uncle reverend Parris are going back and forth about what her and her cousin Betty were doing in the Woods last night. Abigail finally cracks down and lies and says the the house slave Tituba forced the girls into the woods to do witchcraft. Once part of the truth came out about what was going on in the woods Abigail starts to accuse people

One of the characters who was responsible for the madness in Salem is Abigail Williams. In the play Abigail hides the fact that she danced in the woods with the other girls (Miller143). She then proceeds to threaten the other girls so they don't say anything (Miller144). Because she refused to tell the truth she accused Tituba. She also accused Goody Good and Sarah Osburn which starts a chain reaction. When Mary Warren tried to expose Abigail and the rest of the girls, Abigail then

Throughout the span of the play, Abigail mostly displayed the flaw ‘dishonesty’, which is what caused the deaths of twenty innocent people in Salem. At the beginning of the play, Abigail and all of the other younger girls around Salem were dancing, and casting spells in the woods, (which were against their Puritan religion) in attempt to get the Salem boys to like them. Reverend Parris catches all of the girls dancing and casting spells. Reverend Parris asked Abigail “Then you were conjuring spirits last night”?

The Crucible’s theme is based on greed; several characters show this by taking actions to their selfish desire. Foremost Abigail slept with John Proctor, a married man. She commits witchcraft, a crime in Salem, to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife. Betty Parris greatly proclaims “You drank charm to kill John Proctors wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor.”(Miller 19) Betty tenses what Abigail has done proving Abigail is willing to go far for John Proctor. She is willing to do whatever it takes to be with John including drinking a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Following Abigail’s incident, was John Proctor’s affair. He let his desires get the best of him by having an affair. Abigail tells John “I look for John Proctor

Abigail is the person most responsible for the hysteria brought in Salem. She started the whole thing by asking Tituba for a charm. When Betty pretends to be ail she threatens all the girls with “a pointy reckoning” making sure they will not tell the truth (26). If they did tell the truth Abigail, who wanted the charm to kill Goody Proctor, would be punished the most and her name would be tarnished. When Reverend Hale believes it is the work of the devil Abigail lies saying Tituba made her. When Tituba confesses to witchery in order to save herself Abigail sees her chance to manipulate the situation, bringing in the girls with her.

Abigail gains this stature through the manipulation of her friends and Salem governors. Her manipulative character is seen in Act I after the entry of Reverend Hale. Hale is an intellectual man that has studies witchcraft extensively. As a man of great knowledge he is known as the “spiritual doctor”. Everything he explains about witchcraft is believed by the majority of the population of Salem. Throughout the play Abigaile takes great advantage of Hale’s provided knowledge. When the accusation of witchcraft comes her way, she turns the tables and points to her uncle’s slave,Tituba, screaming “she made me do it!” (43). Choosing to accuse Tituba instantly, shows Abigail's strategic way to manipulate not only the situation but people too. Tituba is a marginalized person in the community because of her ethnicity. Her low status amongst everyone in Salem makes her an easy target for Abigail. Tituba was already suspected by the community for witchcraft because of her Barbados songs. This gets people demanding that “[Tituba] must be hanged” (44); showing, Abigail’s manipulation has worked. In this situation she has pressured on Tituba’s weak position

Abigail gained power and a voice within the town of Salem. The community listens to everything that she says and takes her word as credible. She and the other girls confess to practicing witchcraft so people, such as the court, believe that she and the other are telling the truth. The town is scared of witchcraft and unnatural things, so they will listen to even young unreliable girls over well-respected citizens. When some unknown evil comes into a town everyone is scared and will listen to anyone who speaks out and seems as though they are telling the truth. While in the courtroom, the girls follow in Abigail’s footsteps as she pretends to see the devil and spirits lurking in the courtroom, throughout the town, and at night. While Elizabeth was talking to John Proctor, her husband, she describes how the girls follow Abigail and how much power she has in the courts decisions: “Abigail brings the other girls into the courtroom, and where she walks the crowd spits like the sea for Israel And folks are brought before

Abigail’s behavior reflects on her past when her parents were killed by Native Americans. After her parents were killed, she went to live with her uncle, which is the Reverend of the town, and her cousin Betty Parris which she is part of the girls that were accused of witchcraft. Abigail lies get bigger to cover up the things she did. Stated in the textbook

Power comes in many different forms and is used in many different ways. Power in the hands of a righteous person is beneficial. Power in the hands of a corrupt person corrupts. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Miller illustrates the effects of power in the hands of his characters. Miller uses the setting of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in his backdrop to show both the good and bad effects of empowering certain individuals who were previously powerless.

Abigail Williams is always making sure the people of Salem believe her act of innocence and lying to keep her name white in the town. She wants everyone to think she always tells the truth and is pure, so she will never get in trouble for the dreadful acts she does. She secretly deceits others to keep them on her side and will make up any story to get the blame off of her and on someone else. When Parris confronts Abigail about what the girls did the in woods she says to him with assertion, “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it- and I’ll be whipped if I must be. But they’re speaking of witchcraft. Betty’s not

Before the play actually starts, Abigail and the other girls were actually practicing witchcraft and got caught by Reverend Parris while doing so. Since the girls didn’t want to get caught by the others, they started to point and blame others for what they did. Everyone that is accused is either imprisoned or executed. Abigail threatened that she would

Mary adds that the girls must inform the town of what they did in the forest: dance and cast charms. However, Abigail does not want her actions revealed and threatens the other girls, “Now look you. All of 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 black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (1.353-9). Abigail knows that she committed witchcraft by drinking blood in order to curse Elizabeth Proctor. the wife of the man with whom she is infatuated; therefore, she threatens to kill Mercy and Mary if they make any attempt to tell anyone that they did anything in the forest except dance and witness Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris, conjure the dead sisters of Ruth Putnam, daughter of Thomas Putnam, a land-greedy townsman of Salem, thus protecting herself from it being leaked that she practiced witchcraft. For all of that, hysteria is created, as Abigail will not let the truth of the girls’ activities in the forest be leaked, so false lies will flood the town. Next, Reverend John Hale, a well-known expert on witchcraft, has been called upon by Parris to determine whether or not the cause of Betty’s unconscious, unresponsive state is indeed witchcraft. Abigail,

Who would’ve ever thought that a whole town would want revenge on everyone? In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, there are many instances where revenge comes into play. The most important plots of revenge are when the character, Abigail, wants revenge on someone. Some of the main plots are seen when she tries to plot revenge on Elizabeth but it is also shown when she uses her anger to control the girls and when she steals her uncle’s money in the end of the play. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows that many people in the town want revenge, but in a negative way.