Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Pros and cons of revenge
Religious connotations of the witch trials
Pros and cons of revenge
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
rudges and Rivalries Play a Role In Life Revenge is a channel of hatred and anger fueled by an action of someone who crossed a person in some way. In The Crucible, because John Proctor had an affair with his old servant Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Proctor fired her. Abigail then took it one step farther and cried witch on any one who got in her way of love including John's wife. Grudges and personal rivalries played a huge role in the witch trial hysteria because people want to acquire other people's land, to ruin people's names, and it was the only "Christian" way to get revenge. Vengeance is a powerful emotion that can fire up even the most peaceful person. In the start of The Crucible when Abigail says; ¨She hates me, Uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It´s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling...¨ (Miller I 144). She says this as a way of striking back the proctors for firing her. Which they did because the book said, when she discovered her husband having an affair with Abigail. As stated vengeance is a huge cause in why the Salem Witch Trials happened. Another reason that the Witch Trials propelled to the level it did was because of a grudge between the Putnams and almost everybody. As the arthur of this article said, ¨and Ann is convinced that they [her seven children] were murdered by …show more content…
Revenge played a huge role because it was the reason the crucible started in the first place. Greed also played a factor in The Crucible because of the Putnam's accusing others so they can buy the land of them. Betrayal was a main factor in why The Crucible actually happened as long as it did this being that betraying someone was one of the only ways to get out of the execution chair. Personal rivalries and grudges play a huge role in why the world is the way it is cold and vengeful everyone fighting for their own
In The Crucible vengeance is shown through Thomas Putnam because he is a wealthy land owning man high in the social class. Putnam did not like that Francis Nurse was rising in social status by gaining more land, and his wife’s brother-in-law, Bayley, who wanted to be come minister of Salem was stopped by the Nurse faction. When witchcraft was mentioned Putnam saw this as an opportunity to get his vengeance on Francis Nurse for hurting his family honor and rising up in power. He was going to get his vengeance on Francis through his wife Rebecca. “That the guidin...
In the novella of The Crucible by Arthur Miller vengeance is walking Salem in causing several conflicts throughout the Salem village. Many of the conflicts are due with getting back at one another with the need for revenge. “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (Miller 81). This quote is trying to prove the point the proctor has a very good understanding of what is happening in how the little girls are rebelling and acting out. They are accusing several women of being witches. “Why, Abigail Williams charge her” (Miller 77). The quote is trying to show how many of the girls are calling out the wives in the Salem village.
Vengeance plays a key role in causing the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, who?s probably most to blame for the trials, acts out of revenge. She and John Proctor have had an affair and when Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she throws Abigail out of their house. During the trials, Abigail is still in love with John Proctor and goes after Elizabeth out of vengeance. Elizabeth tries to explain this to John, who is in disbelief: she ?thinks to kill me, then to take my place? (61). Abigail?s main motive for destroying Elizabeth is revenge for being thrown out of the house and for having John Proctor, the man that she loves. Another character who seeks revenge is Mrs. Putnam, who has had seven children die shortly after childbirth and blames her midwife, who has many children. Rebecca Nurse is charged ?for the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam?s babies? (71). The trials are an opportunity for Ann Putnam to seek vengeance against Rebecca for having healthy children and grandchild...
In Rosalyn Schanzer’s Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, many people have realized that the witch trials may have started for a variety of reasons. In the witch trials, people started accusing the innocent, saying that they have bewitched either themselves or someone else. The trials took place in the little town of Salem. In Salem, the majority of the citizens had beliefs in the Puritan religion, which is where they believe word for word the bible. Some of the possible reasons as to why the Salem witch trials started could be peer pressure / bribery, illness and/or emotion, and something that happened in the past, for example grudges that people might have.
John and Elizabeth Proctor lived in Salem, in a house that was isolated from the village. They had 2 children, 2 sons. Elizabeth was rather cold and austere, and John was a lively, cheerful man. The family used to have a servant, Abigail Williams.
The Putnams can be blamed for the events in The Crucible. Some proof to this is that Thomas Putnam forced his daughter to say the names of people who came in contact with the devil for land. Evidence is when Giles says, “The proof is there! I have it from an honest man who heard Putnam say it! The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land.” (Miller 214). This quote happened when Giles Corey has evidence against the proof of witches, and it all revolves around Thomas Putnam, Thomas made his daughter say the names of people in Salem all for their land because he is greedy. Thomas Putnam isn’t the only Putnam that is to be blamed his own wife Ann Putnam can also be blamed for the events in The Crucible. Ann Putnam, had many, many miscarriages and instead of going to a doctor to see why this is, she blames it on
The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.
When one is done wrong in a particularly hurtful or offending way, getting revenge is sometimes thought of as the most satisfying way of regaining ones sense of self worth. This plan, however, holds an immense possibility of backfiring in ways never dreamed of. In fact, the outcome of the situation at hand is sometimes made worse than it might have been if this course of action is taken. Arthur Miller demonstrates this in his tragic play The Crucible, by showing the reader that although giving in to feelings of vengeance is easy to do, choosing the path of forgiveness often leads to better results in the long run.
The Crucible mocks the way society deals with justice. Salem is torn apart, due to the extent of Abigail's imagination and power. It shows the bias of opinions, as it was shown in the court, and how people tend to choose outcomes that suit them. In the end, injustice thrived upon the souls of the community, leaving many innocent people dead. Justice did not prevail, as the heart behind the case, John Proctor preferred to keep his self-respect and integrity, than live a life of lies.
In every conflict there always seems to be at least one person to blame. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many problems arise that deal with live and death. Many innocent people in this play were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials. Of course, there are many people that may be blamed. In The Crucible, one may find Abigail Williams, The Putnams, and Mary Warren to blame. Abigail was manipulative, The Putnams were very jealous, and Mary Warren was weak-willed.
Vengeance is the main theme of The Crucible. The people of the town of Salem were not united, but instead, distrusted and disliked each other. During the court trials, the girls started accusing certain people that they didn't like of dealing with witchcraft. For example, Abigail Williams couldn't forget John Proctor even though their affair was over. She believed that if his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, was out of the way, Abigail and John would be together again. Therefore, she told everyone that Elizabeth's spirit was trying to kill her and accused Elizabeth of being a witch.
After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded a total of 20 people were hanged all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is responsible because he is not concerned about justice, all he cares about is being correct about the witch trials. Lastly Thomas Putnam is guilty of causing the witch trials because he was able to have people accuse other people so he could claim their land for himself. The witch trials were a senseless massacre and all because Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam were only concerned about them selves, not the innocent ones around them.
All participants in the witch-hunt were influenced by the society that existed in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Salem operated as a theocracy, a government ruled by and subject to religious authority. In a theocracy, people's sins are not forgiven, so that when they commit an indiscretion, they are left feeling guilty. "The witch-hunt was....a long overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of accusations against the victims." (p. 7) Characters such as Abigail Williams and Mrs. Putnam used the witch-hunts in the way cited above, as a method of confessing their sins without being accountable for them. Others used the chaos created by it for their own benefit. Thomas Putnam made his daughter Ruth accuse both George Jacobs and Rebecca Nurse so he could buy the resulting unclaimed land after they were hung. Any character that accused, confessed, or in any way joined the witch-hunt failed his or her test.
Friend turn on friend, and neighbor turn on neighbor no one is safe in the small town of Salem. In Arthur Miles novel The Crucible a great deal of people are being accused of witchcraft. In Salem if you didn’t like someone you can just accuse him or her of witchcraft and they will die. The characters the in the story that have conflicts with each other are Jon Proctor, Elizabeth, Abigail Williams, and Mr. Putnam, and Mrs. Putnam. Miller shows in the novel that unresolved conflicts between people can have tragic results.
When Proctor says, “Vengeance is walking Salem” (77), he mainly talks about how Abigail is taking this opportunity to attempt at getting rid of Elizabeth Proctor. By accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft, Abigail sees a way to legally get rid of Mrs. Proctor. However, this doesn't only extend to Abigail's selfish needs. The witch trials have become a tool to eliminate enemies and competition. An example of this vengeance is Mrs. Putnam accusing Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft. Mrs. Putnam holds a grudge on Nurse because her babies died when Nurse was the midwife. As an act of revenge, Mrs. Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft and tries to pay her back by taking her life through the legal system.