When Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam fall sick, Mrs. Putnam comes to visit Mr. Parris. She speaks of Ruth’s ailment by saying, “She ails as she must- she never waked this morning, but her eyes open and she walks, and hears naught, sees naught, and cannot eat. Her soul is taken, surely” (Miller 13). Miller uses a hasty generalization to set the entire play in motion. Mrs. Putnam makes the first mention of witchcraft in the play. Mrs. Putnam is suggesting that the girls are not sick, but bewitched. With this hasty generalization, friends, family, and neighbors start being accused of witchcraft, starting with Tituba in this scene. The villagers are fully willing to accuse each other of making deals with the devil. In fact, they use this to their advantage. With a neighbor hanged, their land is available to buy. The villagers make hasty generalizations because of their fear of the devil, their fear of sin, and their advantageous nature. Their belief that God damns all sinners makes them draw hasty conclusions to try to fulfill God’s work, which is taken to an extreme. …show more content…
Near the end of the play, during Elizabeth Proctor’s trial for witchcraft, Abigail Williams pretends to be bewitched. John Proctor interrupts her by calling her a whore. He then accuses Abigail of lechery, admitting to it himself (Miller 101-02). John Proctor, with his interruption of Abigail’s acting, distracted the court from the bewitching. Because he attacked Abigail by accusing her of lechery, instead of simply stating that she was acting, he is using an ad hominem argument. Miller uses this to expose Abigail’s true motives within the scene. The ad hominem argument used by Proctor also contributes to the theme of having and ulterior motive in the play by exposing Abigail’s ulterior motives, when she is seemingly doing God’s
In the introduction of the play, Miller begins describing the bedroom of where Reverend Parris is weeping over the sickness of Betty, due to what everyone deems to be witchcraft. Later on in the introduction, Miller states, “ The parochial snobbery of these people was partly responsible for their failure to convert the Indians.” This statement means that the
Elizabeth and John start to feel the tension when Elizabeth tries to convince John about going to court and persecuting Abigail but he refuses. When he disputes with his wife he argues, “you will judge me no more Elizabeth I have good reason to charge fraud on Abigail and I will think on it” (193). Proctor is not completely satisfied about throwing Abigail under the bus because he doesn’t want to initially hurt her and he would lose his respect in the town if he did. So he isn’t convinced about the fact that his wife is trying to get him to charge fraud at this point of the play. Soon afterward Mary the proctor’s servant comes home with news that Elizabeth has been convicted of witchcraft as well and was arrested by the sheriff in town to be brought to the trials.
The people of this time, believe in witchcraft, and if you are apart of it, you must confess and redeem yourself or be hanged for your crimes. The girls use the ‘confession’ as a way out of casting charms in the forest, and then shout random names to shift the blame off of them. This becomes a good advantage for the girls. During the play, we notice that anyone who opposes the court and testifies against it, is soon labeled as the enemy of God and must be a servant of the Devil. Giles Corey and John Proctor happened to be two of the many associated with designation. The authorities felt the need to ‘purify’ the village, and therefor hang anyone connected to such crimes. Religion was such a major role in this time frame, and because of various viewpoints, several have died.
Abigail Williams forms a continuous string of deceitful lies about the presence of witchcraft in Salem and her involvement with it, triggering the beginning of the trials and causing mayhem to permeate the town. Playwright Arthur Miller characterizes Abigail as "a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling"(8). Her fabrications induce calamity in Salem, and entangles many innocent people in her slanderous web of stories. In most cases, Abigail lies to evade discomfort or punishment. This pattern is first displayed when Reverend Hale interrogates Abigail:
For example, Ann Putnam wants healthy children and envies Rebecca Nurse for all the healthy children she bore. She accuses Nurse of killing most of her offspring using witchcraft. In fact, the official warrant for Rebecca Nurse’s arrest is issued “[f]or the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam 's babies”(67). Ann Putnam does not care if one of Salem’s most devout families is torn apart so long as its members suffer for their happiness. In addition, Thomas Putnam’s desire for more land causes him to make his daughter accuse an innocent man of witchcraft since “[t]he day [she] cried out on Jacobs, [Putnam] said she’d given him a fair gift of land”(89). His greed for land surpasses his care for the other residents of the town. Both Ann and Thomas Putnam are willing to destroy other families for their own benefit, and they succeed because the townspeople’s fear of witchcraft clouds their common sense that the accusers may have ulterior
In Puritan society the Devil lurks in the woods and when the group of girls defiantly dances in the woods, people begin to suspect witchcraft. Witchcraft to the townsmen could be occurring with girls chanting, dancing without clothing, and drinking blood. Reverend Parris became nervous as later in the week few of those girls became a version of sick, “I’d not call it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick(13)”. Reverend Hale came to the town for his expertise in discovering witchcraft. Hale met with a slave named Tituba, Parris’s slave, who conjured spirits with the girls when they were found definitely dancing. “I saw Tituba waving her arms over the fire…. I saw a dress lying on the grass(10)”. Tituba initially refuses being a witch, but when she is continuously beaten and when
As the play opens, Reverend Parris kneels in prayer in front of his daughter’s bed. Ten-year-old Betty Parris lies in an unmoving, unresponsive state. Parris is a grim, stern man suffering from paranoia. He believes that the members of his congregation should not lift a finger during religious services without his permission. The rumor that Betty is the victim of witchcraft is running rampant in Salem, and a crowd has gathered in Parris’s parlor. Parris has sent for Reverend John Hale of Beverly, an expert on witchcraft, to determine whether Betty is indeed bewitched. Parris berates his niece, Abigail Williams, because he discovered her, Betty, and several other girls dancing in the forest in the middle of the night with his slave, Tituba. Tituba was intoning...
She does everything that is physically possible to get rid of her. She drinks a charm to kill Elizabeth, she stabs herself with a needle to accuse Elizabeth of a crime, Abigail also accuses Elizabeth of being a witch. The whole play, those were the only intentions that Abigail had, exterminate Elizabeth Proctor. Even though John decided to attempt to make the court look differently at Abigail and see what she has done to many people in the city of Salem. The misleading trait that Abigail has, helps her get out of a rocky situation without harm. The threatening of the girls, drinking a charm, stabbing herself with a needle, and accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft are all the reasons that Abigail is also an evil individual. Abigail was the most misleading and evil character in the play written by Arthur Miller.
Throughout the entire play, Abigail is angry at John for not loving her back after the affair which preceded the play. Abigail is speaking to John, and she claims that he is still in love with her. As John rejects this idea, Abigail stills desires love from John. In Act I, Abigail says,“It’s she that put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now (Miller I).” She is using her words to manipulate John into loving her. Later in the play, she accuses John’s wife of witchcraft to get back at John. This backfires on her when John dies at the end of the play. Abigail quickly becomes an adversary of John after she harasses his family and his life. Abigail shows her anger towards John Proctor by accusing his wife and eventually hanging
Parris calls reverend Hale to come check on Betty, and tells him he thinks its from supernatural explanations, but rumors come up that Betty’s illness is due to witchcraft (Miller). Abigail threatens to kill the girls if they spoke a word about what happened in the woods, and when Hale asks the girls about what happened in the woods they start blaming others for consorting with the devil (Miller). Mary Warren made a doll which she gives to Elizabeth, little does she know it has a needle in it so Abigail says Elizabeth's spirit stabbed her with a needle in the belly (Miller). Ezekiel Cheever goes to Elizabeth and asks if she has a doll (Miller). She gives it to him and it has a needle in the belly, so she is arrested (Miller). John Proctor tells Mary she will confess to the court that she never saw any spirits, but when she does, Abigail and the other girls say that her spirit in a form of a bird, and is attacking them (Miller). She didn't wanna be hung so she cries to Abigail and tells the judge, John Proctor is consorting with the devil that's why she is being the way she is
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is centered around the mass hysteria created by accusations of witchcraft in the Puritan village of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. These accusations can be blamed on Abigail Williams' affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors hold against each other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of Salem Village. Because suspicions were at an all-time high, petty accusations were made out to be witchcraft, and bad business deals were blamed on witchery. Among the grudges that help spur the resentment and hostility in the village is one between Giles Corey and Thomas Putnam, who argue about a plot of land and its ownership. Once the accusations begin, everyone has a reason to accuse someone else of witchcraft. When Putnam's daughter accuses George Jacobs of witchery, Corey quickly notices a motive and claims that Putnam only wants Jacobs' land. Additionally, even the slightest offhand remark can result in the suspicion of one working with the devil. In another example of hasty accusations, Giles Corey casually mentions that when his wife is reading, he is unable to say his prayers. However, Reverend Hale takes Giles’ claims the wrong way and Martha Corey is quickly arrested and convicted for witchcraft. In Arthur Miller’s haunting play The Crucible, Giles Corey often announces his feelings without considering the consequences, but redeems himself by refusing to allow the defamation of one of his friends while keeping his property and dignity intact.
From the start of the play, Abigail already has a bad reputation for committing adultery. Elizabeth Proctor had kicked her out of their home because Elizabeth knew of the affair that was going on between Abigail and John. This tarnished her reputation and for that, Abigail wanted to get revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!” This is the remark Abigail makes to John Proctor about Elizabeth and what she is doing to her reputation. The main reason behind Abigail accusing so many people is so that eventually the blame is put on Elizabeth. Abigail’s hopes are to have Elizabeth killed so her and John can go on living their lives together. Not only does she want to live her life with John Proctor, but Abigail is also angered at Elizabeth because of the reputation she has given her throughout the village. Her actions go to show how willing she is to ruin numerous lives in order to get revenge on Elizabeth and also get rid of Elizabeth to carry on her dreams of marrying John Proctor. Obviously, Abigail Williams was very serious about getting vengeance on Elizabeth for destroying her reputation in the village of Salem,
The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t...
In The Crucible, John Proctor is considered the anti-hero. Honest and humble, Proctor is a good man, but one with a secret, fatal flaw. He has fallen for Abigail Williams leading to her jealousy of Elizabeth, Proctor’s wife. Once the trials begin, Proctor realizes that he can terminate Abigail’s accusations; however, he can only do so if ha admits hi own guilt. Proctor is a proud man who places great emphasis on his reputation and such an admission would ruin that. He eventually makes an attempt to name Abigail as a sham without revealing the crucial information. When this attempt fails, he finally breaks out with a confession, calling Abigail a “whore”...
As Abigail Williams sits in the court house with Mary Warren, John Proctor and all the other local girls, including the Court Official's Abigail was making statement's to persuade in a way was winning. As John says, "It is a whore!" (Miller 1309). John wants his wife called in to tell the absolute truth about Abigail because he says his wife is no liar. Elizabeth was called to court room and asked some questions about Abigail. Danforth asks "Is your husband a lecher!" Elizabeth replies, "No sir." (Miller 1311). She should have just told the truth. In The Crucible it shows valor and faith in the life worth living. One of the biggest conflicts shown in ("The Crucible") is when Abigail and John had an affair, not only was this an affair but also lec...