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Arthur miller the crucible characters essay
The crucible arthur miller analysis
The crucible arthur miller analysis
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In act two of The Crucible, a poppet with a needle in it’s stomach is how Elizabeth is accused of stabbing Abigail. Abigail cannot let the affair she had with John Proctor seven months ago. She will do anything she can to get John Proctor for herself, even accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft. While Abigail Williams isn’t physically in act two, her dark shadow is noticed throughout the act causing trouble for the characters, especially Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail and John’s affair seven months ago is still causing problems between Elizabeth and him. There’s a lot of tension in one of the beginning exchanges between Elizabeth and John. “Elizabeth: ‘Then go and tell her she’s a whore. Whatever promise she may sense- break it, John, break it.’ John:
At the beginning of the play Abigail’s motive is to save herself and her reputation; at the end of the play she realizes that she only wants to be with John. She even accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft to get rid of her, so she could be with him. According to the text “Why-! The girl is murder! She must be ripped out of this world!” Page 76 Act Two. This quote shows that Elizabeth knows that Abigail wants to get rid of her. Elizabeth changes by how she treats John throughout the play. At the beginning she is cold towards John because of his affair with Abigail. Towards the end when he finally confesses that he committed lechery; she treats him better by loving and caring more for him. At the end she just wants John to be free with in his decision with the confession. According to the text “I am not your judge, I cannot be. Do as you will, do as you will.” Page 138 Act. This quote proves Elizabeth cannot be the judge of John in this decision, but it is his will.
In the play “The Crucible” Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Proctor are all concerned with their reputation. Even though, Abigail Williams started the whole thing all together she is still concerned about her reputation only. Elizabeth Proctor cares about her and John her husband's reputation. Mary Warren cares about how people look at her and her personal reputation of what others think about her.
Among these are the adulterous relationship between Abigail Adams and John Proctor, Abigail’s intense hatred of Elizabeth, numerous accusations towards Salem citizens, and the pressing of Giles Corey‒ only to name a few. Abigail and Proctor’s relationship has a major influence on the play as a whole. This conflict is the driving force of the plot. Abigail’s loathing of Elizabeth is also portrayed in the film. Abigail claims that Elizabeth’s possessed spirit stabbed her with a needle; this needle was found in the poppet gifted to Elizabeth by Mary Warren. Abigail forms a devious plot in hopes that Elizabeth will either be arrested or killed, so she can take her place as the wife of John Proctor. What Abigail does not intend is for John to be the one hanged. Giles Corey is pressed to death for his refusal to give a name. Without these events, the themes of injustice and selfishness would no longer be important to the
In the Crucible there was three characters that stood out from all the other ones in this wicked story. Abigail Williams was a big influence in this story she would lie and lie to get out of things and she was also the leader of the girls in the woods. Furthermore she also had an affair with John Proctor which made John and Elizabeth relationship unstable. Also John Proctor runs into a situation at the end of the story where he is put in the position if he wants his pride of not signing that paper full of lies or die knowing he did the right thing of not lying. Additionally, Elizabeth Proctor has never lied ever until the day John was being prosecuted for his witchcraft and possibly adultery and Elizabeth lied so that his name wouldn't be ruined.
Elizabeth Proctor is being judged unfairly in the book The Crucible. She's being treated unfair while at her home, because she is being blamed for witchcraft. Abigail williams had accused her of being a witch, because she wants her out the picture, so she being with John Proctor. She is also being accused of stabbing Abigail with a needle with her spirits while Abigail was eating dinner at her house with Rev. Parris, & Gov. Danforth, and Judge Hathorne. Abigail had gotten stabbed in stomach two inches deep, and when Ezekiel Cheever and Marshal Herrick showed up at the Proctor house they had a warrant for Elizabeth. While Cheever and Herrick were at the Proctor house, Cheever had asked for any poppets she may have, and she says that she hasn't
Elizabeth is angry that John was having an affair with Abigail. John feels that he has endured enough. He knows what he did was not right, but he demands to Elizabeth that he needed a passion that she was not giving him. John uses emotional appeal to enforce his claim. She is offended at his suggestion that it was her fault that he was cheating on her. John says that he is only
to dancing round a fire in the woods but she says that it was not
Elizabeth is often cold and not open towards people yet she changes as the novel progresses. Abigail accuses her friends and the townspeople of witchcraft; her motivations for turning against her friends are mainly because of Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth's husband, which made Elizabeth fire Abigail. Abigail is in love with John and while talking to him she says, "I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through some door" (Act I). This illustrates her love towards John and that she will never forget their affair and how Elizabeth broke them up.
In Act I, when John and Abigail have a private exchange in Betty’s room, Abigail pleads with John for his affection, imploring, “Give me a word, John. A soft word” (Miller 22). Abigail evidently still wishes for involvement with John, pleading with him to ‘give [her] a soft word’. This hints that her devotion to John takes place on an emotional level, rather than just a physical one, as she wants him to comfort her. After John denies her, Abigail snaps, “[Elizabeth] is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a - “ (24). Abigail’s jealousy is most noticeable in this quotation. She uses the words ‘cold, sniveling woman’ to describe Elizabeth, reminding John of his wife’s reaction to the affair and her ‘coldness’ towards him, attempting to prod at a weak spot in their marriage. By telling John, a man, valued by his reputation and implacability that he ‘bends to [Elizabeth, a woman]’, Abigail also seeks to hurt John’s self worth. Abigail’s overly emotional responses correspond with the stereotypical behavior of a woman in this time period. She leads with her heart rather than with her head, both when she refuses to accept that John does not love her and when she verbally berates Elizabeth when she realizes the only way for her to truly have John is for Elizabeth to be out of the
Abigail would tell John about his wife and say “she is blackening my name in the village; she is a cold sniveling woman”. (Miller 23-24) John tries to end the affair but Abigail will not let him go because she is in love with
She is the niece of Reverend Parris and the cousin of Betty Parris; she used to work as a servant for the Proctors, before being sent away by Elizabeth Proctor; she is the ringleader of the “afflicted” girls. Abigail Williams was the initial instigator of the witch hunt in Salem in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. She lied and accused others of witchcraft in order to save herself. During the Salem Witch Trials over 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 were executed (Blumberg). Abigail Williams is a member of a strict Puritan society. Witnessing her parents being murdered right in front of her, being forced to live with her selfish inconsiderate uncle, and having a love for a man she
Love is a simple and fundamental concept of life and emotions. In The Crucible, John and Elizabeth Proctor struggle with this innate emotion, but as time goes on, they learn to share this feeling once more and use it as a solution to their relationship. Furthermore, the incorporation of the Proctor’s changing marriage displays how even in a world of dishonesty and distress love will always prevail.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a mean and vindictive person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Through out the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out. Although John told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again, she tried desperately to rekindle their romance. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) She claimed that she loved John and that he loved her. Before the play began, Abigail tried to kill Elizabeth with a curse. She thought that if Elizabeth were dead John would marry her. Further into the play, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Marry Warren, the Proctor's servant, making a poppet. Mary put a needle into the doll, and Abigail used that for her accusation. She stabbed herself with a needle and claimed that Elizabeth's soul had done it. Although Abigail claimed she loved John, she may have just loved the care and attention he gave her. John cared for her like no one else had. In a way he could be described as somewhat of a father figure to her. When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) After her traumatic experience, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris, who is somewhat of a villain. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak." (Page 4) Therefore, it is obvious to see that Abigail grew up without any love or nurturing.
In the beginning of act two of The Crucible, Elizabeth confronts John Proctor, her husband, about him seeing what looks like his mistress, Abigail. Elizabeth knew he had an affair with Abigail while she was sick. She knew John would go into town to see Abigail while she was at home and ever since then, she’s had suspicion of what John is doing when he goes to town. “John, if it were not Abigail that you must go to hurt, would you falter now? I think not.”(pg.163) While John is trying to put in effort into their marriage, Elizabeth ignores him because she is hurt that her husband would betray her with another girl. John trys to show her that he is not longer interested in Abigail says, “Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband any more. I have forgot Abigail…”(pg.163)
John realizes that his good name was at risk of being destroyed due to his edgy marriage. After his wife is accused against, he sacrifices his good name himself to get his wife to be released. Elizabeth has the reputation to never tell a lie, and John knows this so he decides to confess to the court about his affair with Abigail while Elizabeth isn’t in the room because he thinks that she will tell the truth about the affair and not lie to keep his name. But when Elizabeth came in she lied to save his name, because she did not know what he did. Having this occur, shows that John And Elizabeth may be lying about the whole situation which makes them look