Mary Warren Patriarchy

The Dangers Of A Divided Society

People are unquestionably natural born megalomaniacs; they feed on any opportunity to obtain power. When people are put in positions in which they feel powerless or irrelevant, they will do absolutely anything to gain the power they feel deprived of. This was especially true in the seventeenth century, in which women were extremely mistreated. This inspired playwright Arthur miller to write The Crucible, in which he warns of the dangers of what happens when a society conditions people to believe they are subordinate to others. Miller accentuates the horrors of an unequal society through Mary Warren. Women in Miller’s Salem, especially Mary Warren, are undoubtedly seen as inferiors to the men. The only way seen fit to deal with Mary when she is

In Miller’s Salem it is commonplace to threaten a woman with with violence due to the inherent patriarchy of a Puritan society. This blatant misogyny only causes harm due to it leaving Mary with a sense of worthlessness, which she somehow needs to fill. Once rumors of witchcraft arise in Salem causing mass hysteria, Mary is finally able to fill her void by using the witch trials to gain the authority she has been deprived of her entire life. Through the witch trials, Mary, who has been degraded interminably for being a woman in a puritan society, finally gains a sense of significance. Mary begins to appear somewhat arrogant due to all the attention she gains through the trials from people who have previously neglected her. She gradually begins to challenge her boss when she exclaims “Four judges and the king’s deputy sat to dinner with us, but an hour ago. I would have you speak civilly to me, from this out”(57). Previously, Mary would never have had the courage to tell a grown man who inherently was her superior, to watch the way he speaks to her, however due to her newfound sense of authority, she can. Mary is now