In the society that people live in, there are many among whom are despicable and there are also those who have morality. The Crucible is a play that takes place in Massachusetts in the spring of 1962; based on the true story of the Salem Witch trials, where many of the people in the town of Salem turned against each other because of their belief of witchcraft. Since Salem was deeply religious and believed in the words of the Almighty God, most of the people considered witchcraft as evil. Similar to the characters by Miller, his characters reflects on Kohlberg’s stages of development; for example in stage one of development, “We obey authority figures in order to avoid punishment” (Kohlberg), that reflects on the ideals of the people of Salem against their religion which they take very seriously. They must obey God and go to church every Sunday in order to go to Heaven rather than Hell. One character that the author introduces in the play is Abigail Williams, a young teenage girl that once held responsible for the well-being of a group of other innocent and naive girls in Salem but certain unforgivable acts caused her to become a cheater, and a liar. In the play, The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, the most vice character is Abigail Williams because she stole all the money of Reverend Parris, she had a love relationship with John Proctor, and she lied about many things just to get away to protect herself. To begin with, Abigail Williams along with Mercy Lewis stole all the
After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded a total of 20 people were hanged all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is responsible because he is not concerned about justice, all he cares about is being correct about the witch trials. Lastly Thomas Putnam is guilty of causing the witch trials because he was able to have people accuse other people
The novel, The Crucible, written by the great Arthur Miller himself, portrays the historical events of the Salem witch trials through a mass of enduring characters. What drives these Puritans is fear which shall expose their true emotions while facing their accusers in the extremely bias courts before inexplorable judges. While eventually all of the people of Salem join this madness, two women distinguish themselves way above the rest. Shame along with revenge lie themselves in the heart of the teenage lady, Abigail Williams, while righteousness and actuality reside into the soul of John Proctor’s faithful wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Although they both raise the tension for the play, Abigail William's and Elizabeth Proctor's differences lead to
“ There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” - Elie Wiesel. This quote communes the struggles of the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts who were unjustly condemned of witchcraft during 1692 . They were vulnerable while they were convicted but a few people managed to speak out against this injustice -John Proctor, Martha Corey, Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse - eventually giving up their lives for this cause. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, tells of a forbidden affair between married man John Proctor and his servant Abigail Williams. Their liaison is eventually discovered by John’s wife, Elizabeth, leading John to call off the affair. In an endeavor to get vengeance, Abigail and other local girls attempt to place a curse on Elizabeth in an occult rite in the forest one night. When their ritual was discovered, allegations of witchcraft spread around town. When Elizabeth is convicted of being a witch, it ultimately leads John to cease the paranoia and hysteria plaguing Salem. Abigail Williams applied scare tactics in order to manipulate fear in the citizens of Salem.
“Hale: Quail not before God’s judgment in this, for it may well be God damns a liar less than he that throws away for pride” (206). Reverend Hale’s eye-opening words make Elizabeth realize that John Proctor should do the right thing for God, even if that includes lying. This quote relates to the Salem witch trials because during this time, the court was getting involved with the town, so everybody had to constantly tell the truth. Overall, the play gives a feeling of the Salem witch trials by using facts and events relevant to the time period. On a similar topic, Arthur Miller feels that everybody is vindictive, manipulating, and betraying each other; therefore, Miller uses his troublesome experience to commemorate the demeaning investigations of witches. Miller’s high disapproval of the American government, especially how the court handles situations, is greatly represented in his play. The characters change throughout the story, and they start to realize that it is not all about what the government wants for their life. They soon enough start thinking and speaking for themselves which leads to big decisions and disapproval from the American government. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he artistically manipulates the authentic facts of the Salem witch trials’ victim John Proctor to fiction in order to similarly represent his interrogation during the Red Scare while also putting a spin on the trials through his style, characterization and tone.
As philosopher Sissela Bok once said, "Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived." This insight on the nature of humans shows astounding similarities to how Abigail Williams acted throughout The Crucible. Written by Arthur Miller in 1953, Miller used his play to show similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and Joseph McCarthy's ideal of "McCarthyism", and prove that McCarthy was framing him. Miller wrote this as a play in order for the reader to develop a full understanding of his hidden message. Taking place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year of 1692, the Salem Witch Trials helped create parallels to what was occurring in 1953. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the most despicable character in the play because of the lies which led to the deaths of many townspeople.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the Salem witch trials in the 1600s written during the Red Scare in the 1950s. In The Crucible, the girls of the town are convicted of practicing witchcraft in the woods. Witchcraft in Salem causes paranoia and hysteria. Thirty-nine people were convicted of practicing witchcraft, and twenty people were executed as a result. Of all the characters in The Crucible, the one that stands out the most is Abigail Williams, a 17-year-old girl who is gifted with the power to lie all the time. To start off , Abigail can be seen in Act I when she speaks out that she saw others practicing witchcraft in the woods when she was among the group of girls, therefore being a hypocrite. Second, Abigail lies when she denies
Decaying Morals Terror swiftly invades the town of Salem in Arthur Miller’s book The Crucible as accusations and fear play with the minds of the bewildered and ignorant citizens. Because Abigail and the girls fear that they will be hung, they say what they did, which was dancing in the forest, was against their will, saying they were bewitched by others. Abigail and the girls then go on accusing almost everyone in the town. Arthur Miller reveals that fear and hysteria can destroy relationships and tear apart a society through Abigail Williams’s clever but deceitful ways of trying to avoid punishment. For example, in order to avoid punishment, Abigail and the girls accuse people in the town of bewitching them, and, in doing so, begins the
The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the year of 1692 and during this time, the Salem witch-hunts began. The Salem witch-hunt was one of the oddest and most fearsome epochs in human history. The numerous amounts of people that were prosecuted were all innocent and their lives were taken away due to the fallacious accusations of the Puritan’s belief in superstition and their paranoia that witches had walked among them. One accuser that is the reason this all started was Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams is to blame because she possesses the evil qualities of being remorselessness, jealous, and also having the quality of vengefulness. These qualities that Abigail have are direct contributions to the murder of many people who were unjustly hanged to death.
Hysteria is the vital aspect in the act “The Crucible” about witchcraft which spreads throughout the small town called Salem and involved having tragic events without any facts. Abigail Williams is a major character in the play “The Crucible” Arthur Miller, but she is portrayed as an great antagonist who drives the wheel in the play. She has an unnatural power to manipulate others and gain control over them. Abigail states "I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! (Miller 48). While confessing to witchcraft gets Tituba positive attention, and makes her a believable to accuse others, along with Betty she uses same technique to develop trust toward others. A major theme of the play is blame, revenge, and mistaken innocence. Abigail shifts the focus away from herself by accusing others of witchcraft. This furious act of selfishness soon becomes Abigail drive of power.
The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, takes place during the 16th and 17th century in colonial America. The play is based on the events of the Salem Witch Trials. During this period, many Puritans were executed or jailed on accusations of evil and witchcraft. Many false accusations came from others who were simply just trying to save themselves or cast revenge upon their enemies. The play presents readers with an example of the evil through characters like Abigail Williams, Abigail’s friends, and the officials of the court. Abigail, the girls, and the court are all equally responsible for the deaths in Salem.
Arthur Miller states "Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets." The quote of this meaning is that people are falsely accused, but they may be innocent. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play based upon events that occurred in Salem circa 1690s. Through Abigail Williams, Miller was trying to state the injustice in Salem because she targeted the innocent people, leading to their death. Many of the conflicts that occurred in the play were caused by Abigail Williams. Abigail's jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor was triggered by Elizabeth's husband John Proctor. Abigail was a hypocrite because she used the name of the Lord for her own interests. She lied in order to save herself by denying her involvement in witchcraft. The character selected is Abigail Williams because of her three main character flaws which are jealousy, hypocrisy, and mendacity.
The devastating Salem witch trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. By the end of the trials many people were accused, nineteen were executed and several more died in prison. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, captures the hysteria that developed during the Salem witch trials. Crucible character, Abigail Williams, represents the repressed desires that many of the Puritans possess. Abigail’s readiness to abandon Puritan social restrictions sets her apart from the other characters, and eventually leads to her downfall. Abigail Williams uses manipulation and cruelty to create an atmosphere of terror and intimidation in her town. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams leads the hysteria in Salem by taking extreme measures to succeed in attaining John Proctor's love.
The Crucible is a historical play by Arthur Miller, and is set in the town of Salem during the late 1690s. The main characters are John Proctor, the protagonist, and Abigail Williams, the antagonist. The conflict occurs when Abigail falsely accuses others of witchcraft. This leads to hysteria in the town, with people turning in innocent people for witchcraft. Many people including John and Elizabeth Proctor are arrested and put on trial, despite their innocence. John Proctor is sentenced to death after refusing to denounce his friends as witches, forgiven by Elizabeth for his affair with Abigail, and restores his reputation of being a good man. The Crucible delves into the extent people will go betray others in order to benefit themselves
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, depicts the hysteria that came to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Miller attempts to combine the idea of witchcraft illustrating a similar modern day example, called McCarthyism. In the mid twentieth century, Senator John McCarthy, an advocator of the Red Scare, used similar tactics to hunt communists and send them into exile. These communists then used the same defense mechanisms as citizens in Salem, to clear their names and put the liability on someone else. In the play, a young orphan, named Abigail Williams, felt inclined to attack others in order to dismiss the accusations made against her, and she did so successfully. In order to clear her name, Williams framed many people and victimized herself. As a result of her cruel tactics, Abigail is characterized as a selfish, merciless, and destructive villain. Abigail Williams is the antagonist of the play because she manipulates the other young girls, the court judges, and the life of John Proctor through malicious lies.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an elaborate play that tells the story of the village of Salem and how the community slowly falls apart because of a strategic witch hunt ploy. The fear of witchcraft turns the once peaceful village upside down and accusations destroy the lives and reputations of so many people. Different characters’ actions have different impacts on the community, but one character stands out the most. Abigail Williams from The Crucible is a clear representation of how impactful the power of manipulation and deception is in a vulnerable society to create mass hysteria.