A dynamic character is defined as one who undergoes significant changes that all contribute to the overall plot of the piece. This serves as why over the course of a novel, play or poem, one may notice the specific changes of certain characters. In the play The Crucible several Puritan girls began showing signs that they have been performing acts of witchcraft. One specific character in the play who goes by the name of Mary Warren, is a victim of the multitudinous witchcraft accusations. Warren plays a pivotal role in the town when it comes to witchcraft and the falsely accused. Mary’s persona changes as the play progresses, as during the beginning of the play she is quite …show more content…
To enumerate, justice in the colony of Salem comprises of punishment for witchcraft crimes as well as dancing. Warren’s cowardliness shines in this particular portion of Act I as she didn’t participate in the rituals but still wants Abby and the others to confess, which ultimately would keep her name clean. Warren is one of the weakest characters in The Crucible. She is at an age where she is no longer a child, but at the same time not fully seen as an adult either. This is used to other character’s advantage, because they can easily get her to say and do things of their liking. By way of illustration, the Gale Database states. “Abigail threatens Betty and the other girls; Proctor (significantly) does not ask Mary Warren to tell the truth but demands it of her, and so on.” In this case, Proctor is using his age to his advantage, and is getting what he wants out of Mary Warren, the truth. Warren’s weakness was evident in this portion of the play. She made no effort to stand her ground and resist Proctor’s orders though her age may have had an impact how the plot unfolded.
Warren gained a significant amount of clout as the play progressed. Mary’s appointment to the court helped her grow as an individual. The court gave her a sense of pride, as she felt like a “court necessity” and was making a difference in the witchcraft accusations amongst the Salemites. Towards the end of the play,
Like many others, one of Mary’s greater fears includes being accused of witchcraft. Mary Warren is a
Finally, the last reason why Mary Warren is a outwardly conforming character is throughout the play she is very quiet and scared which shows that she’s afraid to say anything or do anything that doesn’t go with the “rules”. In the play John Proctor states” You will tell the court what you know.(Act II, 38)” In the play Mary also says” I cannot, they’ll turn on me--(Act II, 38)” This shows that Mary “cannot” tell the truth about what the
When Mary Warren is in court she also tries to blame someone. On page 195 Mary Warren says to John Proctor “Mr. Proctor, in open court she near to choked us all to death.” Even though Mary Warren knows this is a lie, she says it so she doesn’t get blamed anymore. But this isn’t the end of the girl’s similarities.
In the play, Mary Warren was one of the girls that was seen in the woods by Reverend Hale. When they go caught she told him that she was not participating she was just watching. In the book she felt guilt for the poppet, and it causing suspicion on Elizabeth. She was also scared of Abigail, because of the things that she did and she she wanted John Proctor to love her the way she loved him. ( Miller 2)
Some feel as though it is Mary’s fault because she ended up accusing Proctor of witchcraft and getting herself out of trouble by siding with Abigail. By her telling the court that Proctor is “the Devil’s man” and saying that he forced her to “overthrow the court”, Mary manages to get Proctor arrested and taken to jail (118). While she did discredit John and cause him to be thrown in jail, she was not responsible for his death. Proctor set himself up for Mary betraying him because he physically forced her to talk to the court by grabbing her throat and throwing her on the ground. All she was doing was finding a way to get out of trouble and get away from Proctor. In addition to setting himself up for this situation, he set himself up for death by trying to be a hero. Attempting to show the court that the girls were just pretending may have opened eyes in terms of realizing how wrong the trials were, but Proctor ended up getting himself killed in the process. Marry Warren may have made Proctor look bad, but she is not responsible for his
Defense of Mary Warren When it comes to Arthur Miller’s allegorical work, The Crucible, very few characters can be deemed completely innocent. While just about every person in this story has a flaw of envy, pride, or selfishness, characters can often be sorted into the “accuser or accused” categories. One exception to this is Mary Warren. Throughout the story, her loyalties switch back and forth between these two sides. Due to this, she may seem like a selfish and unsympathetic character; that is not the case, however. Mary Warren is an abused and manipulated child, whose decisions in the story are certainly justified, given her situation. The first we see of Mary is when Betty falls ill after the the girls are caught congregating in the woods. Immediately, we see she is terrified, fully aware that them being accused of witchcraft would be “a hangin’ error” (1268). Abigail responds to her fear with an order to lie; she threatens them with violence should they not obey her. Abigail is one of Mary Warren’s main abusers in the story. John Proctor, Mary’s employer, enters the scene next. When he sees her away from his house, he scolds her in a humiliating fashion, even threatening to whip her. From the stage directions, we see she tries “to retain a shred of dignity” (1269), when this happens, leading to the belief that this reproach from Proctor is common in her life. We don’t hear from Mary again until the beginning of Act II. She
The townspeople of Salem feared that they would be called witches so they lied and blamed their family and friends. Mary Warren being one of those people feared being hung and Abigail’s vengeance. When John tells Mary to go to court and confess, Mary refuses, knowing that Abigail will act out of revenge and in court she faces what she had been avoiding “ABIGAIL. Her eyes fall on Mary Warren. MARY. Abby!”(101). Mary Warren knows that Abigail will claim she is a witch so Mary goes along with it to escape death and she blames John Proctor by saying “You’re the devil’s man!”, instead of possibly ending the trials once and for all.
Furthermore, many aspects of Mary's character contributed to the reasons behind her actions and therefore, why she is partly responsible. Accordingly, Mary Warren was not an intelligent character and this can be seen by the fact that she saw the accusations of witchcraft as "only a sport.” Arguably, this could be interpreted as a naivety for not realizing the sometimes fatal consequences of her actions. Meanwhile, some may also see elements of cowardice within Mary's character, a passage which demonstrates this in the play, "Don't touch me!" when Mary was about to re-confirm all the accused's innocence, yet suddenly changed her mind after had seen the threat of her own accusation by Abigail, who claimed to see Mary in the form of a bird. This cowardice then guides onto the main reason why Mary Warren is responsible for Proctor's death. Moreover, the author of “The Crucible” is trying to point out that her cowardice have got her reputation towards Proctor a let down. John Proctor’s death was not simply due to an affair, but the people he had conflict with, whereas himself. John Proctor, Mary Warren and Abigail Williams, all contributed to what ultimately ended his life, in which holds the blame for their actions, thus led to his
Mary Warren is a girl who is faced with this inner turmoil throughout this play. At the outset of the play she is perceived to be a very shy girl who will never speak her mind as shown when
Miller utilises Mary Warren's repeated refrain of "I cannot, I cannot" to reflect how crazy she has become. Despite Abigail's wrongdoings Mary states that she "cannot charge murder on Abigail" which shows how much Abigail has manipulated her. She then states that "they'll turn on [her]" which demonstrates the pressure placed upon Mary to lie to the court. Mary's mind has been twisted into believing that staying loyal to the girls is more important than saving the lives of innocent people accused of witchcraft and this gives the audience a glimpse of the absurd ideas implanted into the brains of the Salem community. The curtain falls on Mary repeatedly sobbing "I cannot, I cannot" and this tells the audience that the madness is not at an end but will continue into the scenes to come.
She lied when she and the other girls got caught doing Witchcraft and dancing in the forest. This is against the belief of the town’s people. Mary and the girls blamed their actions on Tituba, so she would get in trouble instead of them. Mary Warren’s change indicates that she went through a significant transition during the movie The Crucible. Lawrence Kohlberg’s research explains what
For instance, Mary Warren says, “‘I’ll murder you,’ he says,’ if my wife hangs!’” This illustrates how far Mary Warren would go to lie about John Proctor in front of court like that. This also illustrates that Mary Warren disliked John Proctor from the start. Mary Warren also says, “Abby, Abby, I’ll never hurt you no more!” This proves that Mary Warren did in fact leave Proctor’s side for Abigail.
The doll she made Elizabeth “I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair; and passed the time with sewing.” Was really a generous gift until Elizabeth got arrested for it. At first she told the court that she made the doll but now since Abigail…”She’ll kill me for saying that! Abby charged lechery on you, Mr. Proctor!” When she went to court she knew she made a mistake, Danforth sais “Then you tell me that you sat in my court, calloulsy lying, when you knew that people would hang by your evidence?” But when she told the truth Abigail turned on her saying a bird is trying to get her. In order to try and save herself she blamed Proctor “You’re the Devil’s man!” Mary Warren is lie most people in real like they know what’s right but end up doing what’s
People are expected to change over a period of time, whether it's their personality or style. Different events that comes around changes people, sometimes for good or bad. The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an example of this. Miller writes about a ridiculous court trial that changes many characters in a small town. This ludicrous event causes many to have trepidation and it leads to lie after lie. Mary Warren, a character with momentary parts in the play is an example of a changing character due the wicked witch trial events in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.
Crucible written by author Arthur Miller. Abigail and Mary Warren are two of the most important key elements about their plan. Abigail and Mary were most important part was seeing them being admirable and despicable. Mary Warren is a young girl who used to live with John Proctor.