The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, took place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692. The people of Salem were known as Puritans, which were people who followed God, the commandments, and were required to read the Bible in their spare time. Elizabeth Proctor was known as a “good” Puritan woman, while Abigail Williams was known as what a Puritan should not be. Elizabeth and Abigail were known in the Salem community for their attitude, personality, and their actions. Elizabeth had a good personality and an even better attitude. Elizabeth was respectful, loving and kind. When Cheever and Hale came to Proctor’s house to take Elizabeth away she told Proctor, “John – I think I must go with them. Mary, there is bread enough for the morning; you will bake, in the afternoon. Help Mr. Proctor as you were his daughter – you owe me that, and much more. To Proctor: when the children wake, speak nothing of witchcraft – it will frighten them” (Act II pg 77). While Elizabeth was about to be arrested she goes to Mary and tells her to take care of her family while she was away. Elizabeth was only concerned about her family; she wanted to make sure her family was taken care of. Elizabeth showed respect by agreeing to go with Hale and not argue about her arrest. Elizabeth also showed kindness and her love for her family by making sure her husband and sons were taken care of, she was concerned for her family more than she was concerned about what will happen to her later. Elizabeth’s actions were just as caring as her personality and attitude. John Proctor confessed to committing adultery with Abigail, Danforth brought Elizabeth into the court to see if Proctor was telling him the truth. When Elizabeth was in court Danforth told ... ... middle of paper ... ... like either, she lied to get what she wanted and she expected people to believe anything she says. While Mary Warren was in court Danforth asked Abby if the “witches” were an illusion in her head, Abby immediately got mad and told Danforth, “Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?” (Act III pg 108). Abigail took offense when Danforth asked her if she was making up the “witch” stories because Mary Warren told them in court that she had not seen any “spirits” and that it was her imagination, so to avoid getting in trouble she told Danforth that the power of hell could be in him too. Abigail showed in this scene that if she did not get what she wanted from someone, or they turned on her then she will turn everyone against that person. Abby realizes how much power she has and uses it to her benefit.
Abigail's necessity for revenge makes her threaten the young ladies into following her idea of deception. “Let either of you breathe a word,” Abigail threatens, “or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(835). Abigail knows that all the girls in the woods fear her to death. Which made the witch trials easier for her to get by. Another thing is that Abigail ends her affair with John Proctor to try to get revenge on him. “A man may think God
Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.
likelihood of victory is small.” It is a person’s mental or moral strength to resist extreme
The Crucible, is a play by Arthur Miller, and it tells a story about the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams plays an enormous part in the Salem Witch Trails by her constant lying, turning the trails into a mass hysteria. She is known in the town of Salem for causing trouble and being released from the Proctor’s house. Elizabeth Proctor released Abigail from her house under the suspicion that Abigail and John were having an affair. Elizabeth is very pure and upright and that is one of the reasons that these characters are foils from each other.
Her relationship with John Proctor and her animosity to Goody Proctor also interest is as they are reasons why Elizabeth Proctor was accused as a witch and later the death of John. Abigail loved John but John only lusted because of strains in his marriage. When Elizabeth expelled Abigail, John gave up. This is shown when Abigail asked John."Give me a word,John. A soft word." John replies,"I will cut of my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." Abigail cannot have John, this caused bitterness and hatred towards Elizabeth. She says," She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me, She is a cold, snivelling woman..."
John and Elizabeth continue to argue. John Hale appears at their doorway. He is traveling to each house, talking to those who were mentioned in court, trying to find out more information about them. John says that he knows that Abigail and the other girls are not telling the truth. Two Salem citizens that have had wives arrested show up and a short time passes before a party comes to arrest Elizabeth.
The Crucible, takes place in the small Puritan village called Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The witchcraft trials grew out of the moral system of the Puritans. This split the town into two, those who were considered witches and those who wanted good.
Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, takes place during 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The setting is important because it takes place during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The play begins with the town’s girls, led by Abigail Williams, gathering in the forest and starting to dance around a fire, chanting. Reverend Parris catches them dancing, sending the girls into a panic and causing two of the girls to go into a coma-like state. The townspeople spread rumors that there are witches lurking throughout the the town that have put the girls under their spells. This causes Reverend Parris to send for Reverend Hale, an expert in witchcraft and the devil's work, who hopes to rid the town of all witchcraft. John Proctor, a local farmer, asks Abigail to stop accusing innocent people and start telling the truth about what happened in the forest. Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, excused Abigail from their house because she found out about an affair between Abigail and John. She lies to the court when she is asked about John’s affair to save him from any punishment. In doing so, they were both sent to jail for witchcraft because they knew she had lied. Abigail and the girls continued to lie about people in the town being witches, causing many innocent people to be killed, including John Proctor. Miller shows the dangers of scapegoating when lies that are regarded as the truth, and can kill innocent characters.
She even claims that John should know her better than to expect such a thing from her. Elizabeth often believes that she has not been a good enough wife to John and that she does not deserve his love, or any love. She confesses, “I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me!” (137). Her confession displays humbleness, an admirable trait in any Puritan. All of the young girls in The Crucible exemplify conformity by submitting to Abigail Williams. As the leader of these young girls, Abigail persuaded them to do whatever she said, including accusing people of witchcraft. These accusations led to the deaths of many men and women. Mary Warren is a victim of Abigail’s peer pressure. She eventually admits that everything she claimed was a lie that Abigail made her tell. She explains these lies by saying, “It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits” (107). This confession is her way of saying that they never meant for one small lie to turn into something so huge. Later, Mary agrees to testify against Abigail in court, but, in yet another
Many years ago, the culture and atmosphere was amazingly different. The expectations of people and communities are extremely high. During the Puritan times, many laws and regulations existed pertaining to government, religion, and witchcraft. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the one word that best describes the Puritan beliefs and the community structure is strict.
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" 'The Crucible' was written in 1952 by the twentieth century American playwright Arthur Miller (1915-.) Miller was born in New York and educated at the University of Michigan where he began to write plays. Most of Miller's plays are set in contemporary America and on the whole offer a realistic portrayal of life and society and the theme of self-realization is re-current e.g. John Proctor in 'The Crucible'. 'The Crucible' was the third play Miller wrote. It is a play about the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.
The play The Crucible is set in a puritan society; a society which is a theocracy, where priests and church figures have all the power. Abagail; a servant girl becomes the antagonist of the story. Abigail’s character is the victim of the Puritan society in which she rebels.
Her and several other girls accused so many other people for fun or revenge. They would help the court decide if the people accused were guilty or not. Because of Abigail, the witchcraft situation got way out of hand, and many of the townsmen wives were getting accused, arrested, and hung. “It is not a child. Now here me, sir. In the sight of the congregation she were twice this year put out of this meetin’ house for laughter during prayer” (Miller 1201). John is trying to prove to the court that Abigail is the evil one here, and that she has been lying the whole time. He will say anything, without lying, even if it goes against his name to prove that Abby is an evil, lying girl. When the court begins to believe Proctor, she acts like Mary’s spirit is coming to get her. “I-I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come” (Miller 1205) This is when she starts framing Mary, and trying to get the court back on her side. Finally Mary breaks, comes back to Abigail, and accuses Proctor of witchcraft, and forcing her to do and say things. At the end of the play, Abigail gets her revenge, but not in the way she wanted. She wanted Elizabeth gone, so that she could have Proctor to herself. What happened is that she did get rid of Elizabeth, but she was the reason why Proctor got hung. Abigail knew that people were after her now because of her lies, so she got on a ship and ran. Abigail’s evilness got her in such a mess,
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
In this entry, I would like to talk about the fact that John Proctor is in a way forced to confess to witchcraft. This leads us to talk about the senseless rule of the court: if you confess to witchcraft your go to jail and if you do not confess you are killed. Therefore, when Proctor learns that his wife is pregnant, he is in a sort forced to confess in order to remain alive and assist to the birth of his child. However, after confessing, he is forced by the jury to sign it, but he refuses and is therefore killed.