Vengeance In The Crucible

In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts a small group of girls joined together to go in the woods at night to meet a slave woman name Tituba. Tituba is a slave of Reverend Parris. During their meeting all the girls are dancing

Abigail is to blame for the mass hysteria in Salem because she wants to be with John Proctor. John and Abigail both had an affair when she started working for him. John tries to get over his sin and forget about her, but she is very persistent in him remembering their love and to

Abigail wants to get rid of Elizabeth, who she describes as John Proctor’s “sniveling envious wife” (Optional scene Pg. 158)! One can infer how Abigail is jealous and is doing anything to steel Elizabeth’s place in Proctor’s bed. It reaches a degree were Abigail is lies so much she starts to believe her lies, and stabs herself in the stomach with a pin to blame Elizabeth for attempting to kill her. She later goes on trying to convince Proctor that “the jab your wife gave me’s not healed yet” (Optional scene Pg. 155). The revenge that Abigail is seeking to find is directly related to the theme of vengeance that is profound throughout the play. Additionally, other people in Salem, such as the Putnam’s, take advantage of the crisis to help achieve their

Abigail Williams fed the flames of hysteria throughout the trials by masterminding a plot to get rid of Goody Proctor, John Proctor’s wife. “Never in this world! I know you John- you are at this moment singing secret hallelujahs that you wife will hang!”(152). Proctor replies “You mad , you murderous bitch!” (152). This dialogue between Abigail and Proctor proves that Abigail had intention to kill Goody Proctor so that she can have Proctor to herself. However, her efforts were not just to get rid of Goody Proctor. From the beginning she wanted to divert the shame of the incident in the woods from her, by accusing people of witchery. Abigail, truly proves to contribute to the callous attitudes of the town because she fills the minds of all the girls in Salem that the Devil is loose in the town, so that they do not have to be accused of singing and dancing in the forest.

A dramatist who explores the theme of revenge throughout his play is Arthur Miller in ‘The Crucible. There are different characters in this play that carry this theme of revenge, Abigail being one in particular, as she seeks revenge against Goody Proctor. This is due to Goody Proctor firing Abigail from her job after she had found out Abigail had had an affair with her husband. This seventeen-year-old girl also has an endless capacity for dissembling. John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and the Putnam’s are also characters in the play that are out to seek revenge for their own reasons. It could through the theme of revenge, be said that Miller tries to enhance your application of the play.

The play “The Crucible” demonstrates great themes of spite from many different characters. In a time of such chaos, these vengeful decisions led to many persecutions during the time of the witch trials. For example, Ann Putnam was jealous of Rebecca Nurse, because she had so many kids. This envy turns vengeful, and Ann accused Rebecca of witchcraft.The court believed this accusation because Rebecca delivered her babies,and only one of them survived. Rebecca could not have actually had anything to do with the death of her babies, of course. Francis Nurse in Proctor’s home says to Reverend Hale, “My wife is the very brick and mortar of the church, Mr. Hale...For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s babies” (Miller 174). Ann

Throughout the endurance of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, vengeance plays a prominent role in the actions and fates of various characters. In many ways, vengeance fuels the need for retaliation. Disputes among neighbors has bred hatred and then witch trials brought out the vindictiveness of Salem's population. This leads to the deaths of many citizens in Salem by false accusations to the court. Citizens of Salem were utilizing the court system as a means of "extermination" for people who had interests or beliefs, that were contradictory to their own. As Miller states himself, "This predilection of minding other people's business was time-honored among the people of Salem, and it undoubtedly created many suspicions which were to feed the

Grudges play a huge role in the crucible, family accusing family. It was a good opportunity for those in the community who had a vendetta. The whole judicial system was set up to punish the accused whether they plead guilty or innocent. Being accused was basically a death sentence, because nobody could prove the witness or the accused, and in the court, the witness was never at fault. There are multiple examples in the crucible of this false accusing, whether for greed or revenge.

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.

Salem Witch Trials Abigail Williams is a cruel and selfish person who always wants what she wants, and for many reasons she is to blame for the Salem Witch Trials. First off to show how cruel she is, when they were dancing and ‘conjuring’ spirits in the woods with tituba she tried to kill Elizabeth Proctor with a curse. The reason she did that is because she fancies John and does not want anyone but her to be able to have him, including his own wife, this is one example of how she thinks about her and herself only no matter what cost. Although John had an affair with Abigail seven months prior he and Elizabeth had worked things out and were happy once again. Another reason for her doing this to try and get John is when she was younger her parents were killed by indians in front of her, so you could say that John

Abigail Williams wanted what was best for her. She did not care of others. Due to Abigail’s actions a whole conflict outbursts in Salem, Massachusetts. The girls have been caught in the woods dancing and even naked. They have been caught and accused of doing witchcraft. Betty is then “very ill” and they believe she is going to die. Betty awakes. Abigail threatens the girls to stay quiet. “You did. You did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (Miller 18). This shows that Abigail Williams was a villain because she was hoping for the death of a person in order to get what she desired. Abigail and the girls were caught doing witchcraft. Abigail comes up with a different story to tell. “Now look 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 back of shudder

Since Abigail and her group of girls have been continuously accusing people of being witches, the accused have tried to protect each other as best as possible. When Elizabeth

:”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, said by Martin Luther King, Jr. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller in 1953 introduces us a story of this kind that injustice brought by a character named Danforth brings the social malfunction of Salem accompanied by a breakdown of humanity and faith. In our modern society, the public requires the power and presence of laws and justice system to protect their rights. However, when the structures become shackles and the judges mute off their voice of the truth, it leads the tragedy and misery to the people.

When one is done wrong in a particularly hurtful or offending way, getting revenge is sometimes thought of as the most satisfying way of regaining ones sense of self worth. This plan, however, holds an immense possibility of backfiring in ways never dreamed of. In fact, the outcome of the situation at hand is sometimes made worse than it might have been if this course of action is taken. Arthur Miller demonstrates this in his tragic play The Crucible, by showing the reader that although giving in to feelings of vengeance is easy to do, choosing the path of forgiveness often leads to better results in the long run.

Pride first and foremost fuels the fire of emotion to the point where one’s person is overwhelmed and proper control over decisions is lost. While some self-esteem is essential to the functioning of humanity, an excess of this trait can provoke rash and reckless decisions that a rational person would not make. For example, while Abigail Williams did display a certain envy toward John Proctor’s wife from the very beginning, she only truly acts upon this emotion when her ego is inflated. It is only when she gains power over her town and its court that Abigail frames Elizabeth Proctor in the hopes of seeing her executed. Not only does she create a voodoo doll for Mary Warren to give to her mistress, but she also stabs herself in order to truly convince Salem of Mrs. Proctor’s “witchcraft” (Miller 73-77). Accusing someone and indirectly putting them to death in front of one’s whole town is very bold