Mary Warren The Crucible Essay

The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is a story partially fictionalized and dramatized, that portrays the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. Miller was inspired to write this play when the congressional committee was questioning him about his activities with the American Communist Party. The play is an allegory of the time when mass hysteria caused no one to be safe; it petitions for freedom and tolerance. When there is frenzy, in this case witchcraft, people act upon an impulse to deviate from what is moral, jump from evidence to conclusions, and fall under others’ influence. In the play, Mary Warren is John and Elizabeth Proctor’s maidservant who becomes one of the accusers during

Throughout the play, Mary Warren develops her confidence and wisdom, but is ultimately given in to pressure followed by a decline in her morality. First, Mary’s morality changes from wanting to do what is ethnically correct to be sinfully condemning. For example, Mary wants to clear the confusion because she understands that the consequence of witchcraft was the death penalty. Apart from the other girls that danced in the woods, Mary only participated as a witness and understands that her knowledge of the truth could prevent the town from thinking it was witchcraft. She enters the play breathlessly warning the girls upon hearing that the word is out and the whole town is talking about witchcraft. In a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to clear the news, she pleads to the ringleader, Abigail Williams, “Abby, we’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the truth, Abby” (Miller 143)! In addition, Mary develops a guilty conscience as she witnesses the witch trials falsely convicting townspeople, whom she knows are all innocent. She becomes an official of the court and sews a fair poppet for Elizabeth during the court proceedings. As she hands the doll to Elizabeth, she

For example, she becomes defiant when John forbids her from going back to Salem because he believes she should not be involved with the court since they will be hanging those arrested. She declares to John, “I would have you speak civilly to me, from this out” (Miller 165). Now that she feels important and useful for something other than to clean a house, she confronts John with morale and this newfound demand for respect. In addition, Mary’s confidence leads her to believe in her own lies. Even though she knows that Abigail’s story about witchcraft is fictional, she confesses in court that Sarah Good casted curses on her. Indignant with Elizabeth’s unbelief in her story, she states with confidence in her lie, “She tried to kill me many times, Goody Proctor” (Miller 164)! With her high esteem, she is able to experience the power of looking down on people, now that she is no longer amongst the common, but an official of the