Abigail Williams And Mary Warren In The Crucible

446 Words1 Page

In The Crucible through the moral dilemmas Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and John Proctor face Arthur Miller conveys that it is more moral to choose one’s integrity over reputation.
In Act One Abagail is faced with this choice when she’s accused of dealing with the Devil. Abigail has to choose to either truthfully say she didn’t yet be accused of lying, or to lie that she had and name others. Abigail first claims she did not see the Devil, but eventually gave in: “Abigail: I want to open myself!...I 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!” (44-45). This quote demonstrates that through choosing her reputation, Abigail has fatally affected the lives of other women. Abigail chose to present herself as a savior who’s naming the Devil’s minions, consequently in doing so she knows these women will be accused of witchcraft.
One of the characters who has to make this choice is Mary Warren. In Act Three Mary Warren comes to Deputy Governor Danforth with John Proctor to announce that the accusations she had made before were false, and that the …show more content…

John Proctor is given the choice to either confess to crimes he didn’t commit and be saved, or be hung for refusing to confess. Proctor signs the confession, but then thinks better of it, and explains why he can have the judges say he confessed, but cannot sign his name to the confession “Proctor: No, it is not the same! What others say and what I sign is not the same!” (137) Proctor realizes he is alright with having his reputation smeared, but cannot sign to these lies himself, because that would be false, and would ruin his integrity. In this line we see Proctor decide to sacrifice himself for his morality, a fatal

Show More
Related

  • How Does Abigail Williams Get So Much Power In The Crucible

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crucible How does an individual gain so much power through trials? In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as a powerful individual by revealing her control over the younger girls and the continuous accusations she makes until the end of the play. Throughout the entire play, it is made clear that Abigail has control over the younger girls in the village. In Act 1, it is right away noticed that her way of controlling them is through causing fear by making threats.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Abigail Williams And Elizabeth Proctor

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Near The End Of The Play John Proctor Says To Elizabeth ‘I Am A Good Man.’ How Does Miller Present John Proctor? Is He A Good Man In Your View?

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Miller presents the character of John Proctor in an important way to show two sides to his character. These qualities make him have the most important role in ‘The Crucible.’ The key events that show him in this way is when the audience find out about the affair, how he tries to defend his wife, his confession in court and his hanging for the sake of others. Through the events in The Crucible, Miller then portrays John Proctor’s character with tension and suspense. This then makes the audience question whether or not he is a good man.

    Read More

  • Proctors Grave Mistake In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity. He also had an affair with a young girl named Abigail who is the antagonist and is the main reason the bloodshed is occurring in Salem. Initially, Proctor hesitates to deal with his sin, but as the play progresses, he begins to understand its effects; this ultimately leads him to find goodness in himself as he stands for the truth.

    Read More

  • Abigail Williams Influence In The Crucible

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abigail's necessity for revenge makes her threaten the young ladies into following her idea of deception. “Let either of you breathe a word,” Abigail threatens, “or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(835). Abigail knows that all the girls in the woods fear her to death. Which made the witch trials easier for her to get by. Another thing is that Abigail ends her affair with John Proctor to try to get revenge on him. “A man may think God

    Read More

  • Integrity in The Crucible

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    ?What is left when honor is lost?? Publilius Syrus' quote, though dating from 100 B.C., still seems pertinent to our era (Quotations). Many people still feel that once integrity is lost they are nothing and many are willing to stand up to keep their integrity. Without integrity, we are nothing. During the time that Arthur Miller wrote his most famous play, The Crucible, innocent men and women are accused of having Communist leanings. Their whole lives are ruined in a short amount of time because they refuse to compromise themselves by selling out their friends. Miller tries to make a statement about these unfair trials by comparing them to the Salem witch-hunts and trials of 1692. The main protagonist of his play is a man named John Proctor who is accused of witchcraft but stands up to maintain his name and his honor, even though he is hanged for it. During the H.U.A.C. trials some took stands for their beliefs with the knowledge of possibly being shunned by society. Knowing this, instead of taking the cowards' way and giving the names of their friends, they refuse to tell the committee anything in the same way that John Proctor stands up against a court that is ruining the lives of innocent people.

    Read More

  • Who Is Abigail Williams Innocent In The Crucible

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband. Later on Abigail begins to accuse innocent people of doing witchcraft which causes them to die. Abigail Williams uses the Salem Witch Trials to put out all the resentment she has toward everyone.

    Read More

  • Honor in the Crucible

    1778 Words  | 4 Pages

    Honor, dignity, and integrity are traits that are becoming more and more rare in our society. The Crucible, a play written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, is based on the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and parallels the Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s. In the play, Miller attempts to focus his themes around traits such as honor, dignity, and integrity, and as a result, the theme "is it better to die honorably or live dishonorably" becomes vital to the story and well conveyed throughout it. The characters that exemplify this idea are John Proctor and Giles Corey, both of whom die by the end of the play, and Reverend John Hale and Abigail Williams, who live through the trials.

    Read More

  • Free Essays on The Crucible: The Character of Abigail Williams

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abigail is wicked and confident and is not afraid to take control of situations. This is shown when she is with Parris, Abigail is respectful on the surface but she hides her resentment and disrespect. She talks back to defend her name and in Act One, she suggests to Parris," Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about; I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself." She is also aggressive and forceful, the other girls are afraid of her. When Mary Warren suggested that they should confess to dancing in the woods. Abigail threatens them,."..I have seen some reddish work done at night and i can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!"

    Read More

  • Mary Warren In The Crucible

    496 Words  | 1 Pages

    “What a grand peeping courage you have!” This quote was said by Mercy Lewis referring to Mary Warren in The Crucible during 1692. Mary and the other girls were dancing in the woods when Reverend Parris found them. When the girls were asked who all danced, Mary said that she was just watching. Mary Warren and I have a few of the same personality traits and that we both are caring, shy, and honest.

    Read More

  • The Crucible: Abigail Williams is to Blame

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Foolish Death of John Proctor in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, a proud and frustrated farmer of Salem, chooses to die rather than to give a false confession to witchcraft. Many might view this act as that of a selfless martyr; on the other hand, it can more readily be seen as the height of human stupidity in the face of vanity and pride.

    Read More

  • Values and Morality in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first, the importance of personal integrity, is brought to light through John Proctor, who finds himself facing personal conflict when making the decision of whether to lie and 'confess' to the court, saving his own life, or to tell the truth and be condemned by it. Upon first deciding to confess and live, Proctor acknowledges he has given his soul to the devil, but refuses to also tarnish his name by allowing his confession to be stuck to the door of the church.

    Read More

  • Abigail Williams in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    3729 Words  | 8 Pages

    Abigail Williams is the troubled niece of Reverend Parris of Salem. She is an orphan; made so by brutal natives who killed her parents before her very eyes. The witch-hunt begins when Abigail is at the age of seventeen. She has a large role in this novel, especially on these dark events and also her relationship with John Proctor.

    Read More

  • Free Essays on The Crucible: Pride Crucible Essays

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is left when honor is lost?' Publilius Syrus' quote, though dating from 100 B.C., still seems pertinent to our era. Many people still feel that once integrity is lost they are nothing and many are willing to stand up to keep their integrity. Without integrity, we are nothing. During the time that Arthur Miller wrote his most famous play, The Crucible, innocent men and women were being accused of having Communist leanings. Their whole lives were ruined in a short amount of time because they refused to compromise themselves by selling out their friends. Miller tried to make a statement about these unfair trials by comparing them to the Salem witch-hunts and trials of 1692. The main protagonist of his play is a man named John Proctor who is accused of witchcraft but stands up to maintain his name and his honor, even though he is hanged for it. During the H.U.A.C. trials some stood up for what they believed even though they would be blamed and shunned by society. They knew this, but instead of taking the cowards' way and giving the names of their friends, they refused to tell the committee anything in the same way that John Proctor stands up against a court that is ruining the lives of innocent people.

    Read More

More about Abigail Williams And Mary Warren In The Crucible

Open Document