In Today’S Society Women May Have Their Full Rights, But

In the Crucible, there are only a few types of woman being displayed. There are three contradistinctive personalities show in three different women. A few are shown to be moral, truthful people, while others are shown to be dishonest and deceitful. It can be concluded that the playwright is not a feminist. The author, Miller does not portray the females as impeccable and immaculate. Instead, Miller shows many slipups and vulnerabilities of the females being displayed.

It’s important to note why and how Abigail inherited her selfish behavior in the first place, and what caused her to act a certain way. Abigail claims that she is in love with John Proctor, and the two characters were discovered to have an affair with each other. John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, finds out about the affair and

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.

The 1950s, often categorized as a time of great conformity was when everybody wanted to act, think and dress the same. Seen in Image 3 in the index, conformity was an action from people in correspondence with socially accepted standards, conventions, rules, or laws. The men and women, who had broken from social norms in regards to gender roles during World War II, were now following back into more traditional roles such as…. (3-5)

The main quality admired and expected of women in The Crucible is submissiveness. It is clear from the play that Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, was largely a patriarchal society. Power in the hands of women was looked down on and even feared. Any leverage that women had was gained solely through manipulation. If the men suspected a woman of interacting with the Devil, she was expected to submit to their authority and confess her crime. If she rebelled and refused to confess, she was sentenced to death, no questions asked. However, the same was also true for men, though they were much more seldom found guilty of witchcraft.

During the 1650s in Salem, Massachusetts, there were many beliefs about women perpetuated by society. They were considered to be impulsive, selfish and subservient. Women were pressured into conforming to these social standards. This is shown numerous times in Arthur Miller’s play, the Crucible. However, despite these social pressures, there were a number of instances where women we shown to have more power than men. The action of female characters were influenced by the beliefs, stereotypes and expectations promoted in their society.

Her actions killed the man she once loved. She contradicted love for herself and love for another. Threatening the lives of others for her benefit. This manipulative girl that has an affair with a respectable and honest man. The deceptive girl, Abigail is the cause of a major incident in salem. “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller tells the story of how theocracy in courts failed the innocent people. Abigails true nature is shown in the play, while trying to show her love proctor.

Women are portrayed in three distinctive ways in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Some are appeared as great, moral, upright people, while others are the opposite. Miller is not a feminist, his intentions are not to make women appear to be spotless, however, he is also not a misogynist, he does not condemn all women for the sins of their sex. He demonstrates a balance between various individuals, with a specific end goal to make the story more believable. There are three distinct women in the play with three different personas.

In every story there is an archetype of character. In the drama by Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the villain archetype. The makeup of this character all implies that she acts as an evil foil to the hero’s personality, who is John Proctor, and is a challenge to be overcome by him. Throughout the play she is portrayed as the villain by her thoughts, feelings, and attitudes presented. During the first act of this drama Abigail Williams tells lies, she threatens the other girls, and despite all her actions she believes she is still good. In this drama Abigail Williams contradicts herself by saying, “We never conjured spirits.” (Miller 1219) and “She made me do it” (Miller 1233) referring to Tituba and how she was the one who

Abigail, the mistress, represents the opposite. She is young, attractive and brings forth a zest of life. A zest that Elizabeth lacks. John Proctor conveys this when he seasons the pot of stew Elizabeth is cooking.

There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Some are raised with high expectations, morals, and the majority are raised in a Christian household. And some are raised the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she often views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary also shows how women portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.

The main character I chose to analyze is Abigail Williams. Abigail is a very intelligent, manipulative, and cunning character in The Crucible. Some would call her the puppet master of the play, as she almost seems to have all of the other characters on a string, controlling their destiny with her sly and devious ways. A main example of this in the play, was her use of Mary Warrens poppet to manipulate and control Elizabeth Proctors fate. A poppet is somewhat of a voodoo doll, which Mary Warren had innocently created, and left in the Proctor household. Abigail saw this as opportunity to finally destroy Elizabeth once and for all, after having an affair with her husband John, and still wanting to get him back. The only way to do this, was to kill Elizabeth. Abigail stabbed herself in the abdomen with a large needle, and cried witchcraft at Elizabeth, insinuating that Elizabeth had been the one to stab her through witchcraft. The courts fell for her ingenious plan, and Elizabeth was innocently sent off to jail. This is only one example of the scheming ways of Abigail, shown throughout the play. Her main motivating factor has a theme of jealousy and revenge on Elizabeth. She is clearly the “villain” of the play with her deceitful ways, and never shows any remorse for her actions. She is also a large example of irony in the play, as she is the one that was first accused of witchcraft, but ends up successfully blaming everybody else.

Throughout history, women have always struggled to hold power in American and religious societies. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the author depicts women in early Puritan societies who struggle with the same issue. Women in The Crucible are incapable of successfully holding power over their society unless they are using fear against others. Characters such as Abigail and Elizabeth, although they may appear to hold some status or control over others, are ultimately powerless.

There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Women are raised with high expectations, morals, and majority are raised in a Christian household. Although there’s the other types of women that are the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” also uses a woman to portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.

The Crucible is filled with witches, from the wise woman/healer Rebecca Nurse to the black woman Tituba, who initiates the girls into the dancing which has always been part of the communal celebrations of women healers/witches.11 But the most obvious witch in Miller's invention upon Salem history is Abigail Williams. She is the consummate seductress; the witchcraft hysteria in the play originates in her carnal lust for Proctor. Miller describes Abigail as "a strikingly beautiful girl ... with an endless capacity for dissembling" (8-9). In 1953, William Hawkins called Abigail "an evil child";12 in 1967, critic Leonard Moss said she was a "malicious figure" and "unstable";13 in 1987, June Schlueter and