Mary Warren Character Analysis

In literature, a dynamic character changes significantly as a result of events, conflicts, or other forces. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren, the young servant of the Proctor’s is a dynamic character. Throughout the play, Mary’s personality takes a turn for the better. At the beginning of the play, Mary is shy, timid girl who hides in the shadows of Abigail Williams and lets people walk all over her. As the play develops, Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing isn’t right and rebels against Abby. Instead of following Abby, she follows in the footsteps of John Proctor to bring justice to the girl’s accusing innocent people of witchcraft.

In the beginning of the play, after caught dancing in the woods by Reverend Parris,

Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing is wrong and she’s the only one who can put a stop to it. Abigail’s frustration grew as Mary announced to the court that, “She [Abigail] sees nothin’!” (121) and tried to accuse her of murder. Abigail saw Mary’s confidence building up as Mary kept denying using witchcraft after she repeatedly accused Abby of it. Transition here Abigail screaming at the “bird” on the ceiling because she thought it was Mary, Mary supposedly sent to attack her as Danforth asks Mary, “Have you compacted with the Devil? Have you?”(121) and Mary replies with, “Never, Never” (121). Mary Warren knows that if she does not admit to using witchcraft she could be hung, but she knows she must put an end to Abby’s manipulation. Earlier in the novel, Mary was too intimidated by Abigail and would never have had the courage to accuse Abby of lying about the events in the woods. To successfully accuse Abby, Mary had to admit that, “I never saw no spirits” (112) which put her own life in danger as well. Until accusing Abby of witchcraft and murder in the court with John Proctor, Mary Warren had no confidence in herself and did what everyone else wanted her to do. At the end of the play, Mary made decisions for herself and wasn’t afraid to go against what everyone else was doing.

In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren started off as a quiet, easily persuaded girl. As the play progressed and more innocent people were accused of witchcraft and were hung, Mary grew a thicker layer of skin and exposed Abby’s true colors. Mary developed into a strong, independent young girl who does not let others tell her what to do or how to act to protect their own