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How Does Arthur Miller Present Jealousy In The Crucible

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based on the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in the Late 17th Century. It shows how people's lives were affected during that time and how people were affected during the Salem witch trial where Fear, Manipulation, and Jealousy are prevalent and will affect the characters presented to us throughout the story. The character who displays signs of jealousy throughout the book is Abigail Williams. Abigail accuses many characters of witchcraft throughout the book on page 23 of The Crucible. Abigail, is jealous of John Proctor and how John’s wife had Abigail, who was their maid, fired due to an affair with John Proctor. Abigail's jealousy is shown on Line 27, and 28 when Abigail becomes jealous of John Proctor not wanting her anymore. Abigail is still in denial …show more content…

This shows the extent to which Abigail was willing to go for John Proctor to get back to her, manipulating people in the village and threatening anyone who tried to stop her plans; it also shows the readers how Abigail's actions had affected the story and altered it to a major extent. The reason Abigail was able to go this far or even was able to do what she did was because of other characters weakness. Its stated early on in the story (Page 23) that John Proctor wasn't mentally strong enough to resist Abigail's non-traditional Puritan restrictions that were enough to tempt Proctor in having an affair. When Abigail had revealed partial events before the story, we find out that Elizabeth Proctor had been sick and Abigail, who was still a servant under them, had taken advantage of John’s weak mental power and was able to break away from the traditional Puritan lifestyle. Another way weakness is portrayed in the story is when Mary Warren is unable to tell the truth about what happened in the woods and quickly folds under pressure placed by

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