In the movie, The Crucible, Abigail wanted to marry John Proctor. In order for her to have John, she had to have his wife dead, the only way for his wife to die at the moment was to be accused of witchcraft. Abigail started to accuse people of witchcraft along with all her friends, she blamed the slave they had, and even some of the people she liked. Abigail kept getting her way and kept accusing, then she accused the Proctor family. John didn’t like Abigail accusing them for something she knew wasn’t true, so he tried to accuse her of witchcraft and for being two-face, meaning she would change attitudes to get what she wanted.…
When tituba confessed to what the girls were actually doing in the woods in Act I, Abigail sees her confession as a threat to the lies. Consequentially, she plans to cover herself and the other girls with a mask of fidelity. Childish behavior consumes maturity when an individual is presented with the ability of power. When the girls’ ordeal becomes public, it’s shown how they attempt to save their lives and reputation from entanglement with their own altercations. Abigail’s power was obtained and abused using her manipulation to save her self . Author Arthur miller gives us these examples to show us how power in certain people can be destructive and dangerous. Abigails childish jealousy got the best of her[john Proctor] “aye, but we did not... do you look for whippin?”denies any association with abigail.(Miller 22) She foolishly accuses Proctors wife Elizabeth of witchcraft just to get her out of the way of[abigail] being with Proctor. Abigail used the trials for a personal vendetta and saw a way to get exactly what she wants, without the consequences of the society they lived in. Power was the main issue in the society and…
As seen in Act II of The Crucible, the Proctor family was in a crisis with John and Elizabeth in constant tension after John had an affair with Abigail Williams. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play about the events of the Salem Witch Trials. In the play, many characters make accusations that several people were with the Devil. This conflict has many similarities to McCarthyism, a practice popular in the 1950’s, in which someone accuses another person of something without any proper evidence to reinforce their accusation. However, the main focus is on John and Elizabeth Proctor, who have both seen their fair share of sin, and redemption at the end of play. The Proctor’s change throughout the course of the play, and through the way they…
Throughout The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a series on witch trials occur that creates mass hysteria in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail Williams, one of the main characters, fabricates the lies that begin the witch hunt in her attempt to divert everyone's attention towards her including the attention of John Proctor. In the play, Proctor has an affair with young Abigail while his wife goes through postpartum depression causing Abigail to fall in love with him but John returns to his wife Elizabeth. While Elizabeth Proctor barely forgives him, John does all he can to make it up to her. Unfortunately, the biggest consequence of the affair is not the loss of security, but when Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft. Elizabeth and Abigail have very conflicting characters, but they also compare in many ways and contribute to the symbolism of the play over all.…
The Crucible is a study in how mass hysteria can quickly get out of control and become very harmful if not deadly. Mary Warren is a catalytic character in The Crucible as she is both a mirror and a foil for many characters, and her ever changing bravery, or lack thereof, is what ushers the story along. Mary is a very malleable character. At first, she is very obedient towards her employer, John Proctor, then very submissive towards the brutal character of Abigail. She enjoys the respect she receives from being an official of the court, and defying Proctor. After Goody Proctor is accused, she agrees to reveal Abigail to the court but once she is swept up in the hysteria Mary yet again shifts her allegiance back to Abigail leading to John Proctor’s…
In the play, The Crucible (1953), the author, Arthur Miller, uses the character of John Proctor to show that someone can make a mistake and still be human. Proctor's name and dignity is put to test when his wife and friends are accused of being witches and his actions to save them are justifiable. Hysteria began to grow due to the belief that the devil is in Salem. A puritan girl named Abigail saw an opportunity to gain power and attention and began accusing poor people in the village of conspiring with the devil. With help from other puritans girls in the town, Abigail accused more people and eventually people with a good name in town, like Proctor's wife, Elizabeth. Of course there was a reason behind her accusing Elizabeth, Abigail wants…
Anger coursing through the veins of a person who feels wronged often times leads to irrational thinking and actions. Perhaps the true motivation of causing a scene is the sheer want for attention. Abigail Williams is the largest, most impactful character in the Arthur Miller’s Salem based play The Crucible. She is the first to accuse anyone of witchcraft which causes the chaos that is now infamously known as the Salem witch trials. Throughout the course of the play, it is revealed that Abigail has an affair with a married man, John Proctor, and when the time comes to end the affair, she refuses to accept the rejection. John feels remorse for his actions with Abigail and partially feels guilty for Abigail’s warfare with Elizabeth and the other…
"All is fair in love and war"-proverb. People will do anything for love. There is no act that is too bad or too good when going after the loved one. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem in 1692/93 where Abigail Williams is the main character who acts among an evil intent because she can't be with her "love", John Proctor. She is willing to do anything to get Elizabeth out of the way so that she can fulfil her fantasy of being John's wife. John regrets committing adultery while his wife was sick and rejects Abby. Whereas others once reproached her for her adultery, she now has the opportunity to accuse them of the worst sin of all: devil-worship. The sin is fatal. Abigail manipulates and accuses her way up to increase her credibility to get what she wants.…
The protagonist of The Crucible the leader, Abigail, fear motivates her to lie. She’s afraid to be whipped for dancing and other things in the forest. She deals with her fear by saying Tituba makes her do things in the forest and sends spirits. “She made me! She made Betty do it too! , She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!”(187). Because Reverend John Hale asked Abigail “Why are you concealing? Have you sold yourself to Lucifer?” She had to point finger at someone and she had to seem like a good girl. At that moment Tituba enters and instantly Abigail points at Tituba.…
In the story, The Crucible, Abigail Williams showed that she was very different from all the other girls. When all the girls were in the forest with Tituba she whispered to her that she wanted to sacrifice her turkey so she can kill John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth and be with John. When Tituba told her no, she smashed the turkey’s head and drank its blood hoping to kill her. The next day, when the girls are acting funny and John Proctor hears about it and comes into town, she sees him at her house. This is when it shows how crazy she is about him. She follows him outside when he is about to leave and flirts with him, reminding him of their affair and how much she misses him. When the whole town finds out about “the witch plague” Abigail is blamed and she throws everything at Tituba to save herself. She makes a big scene in front of everyone so she can convince everyone that it’s not her fault, but when Tituba confesses she screams out that she did see the devil; that she worked with him and that she wants to be cleansed for God. The group of girls begin to follow her and they basically take…
Reverend Hale speaks of how so many have been accused that the Devil is in Salem. A simple pointing of the finger has led multiple people to be hung. This power of pointing the finger is abused by Abigail to accuse and incite hysteria in the people of Salem. Her extreme acting overrides the reasoning of the public and causes them to think with emotion and fear. Mary Warren falls prey to Abigail’s antics and betrays Proctor because of it. Abigail with the other girls accused of witchcraft act as though they are being controlled by someone else or feel a cold draft. These anomalies scare the people of Salem driving them to hysteria. The unsuspected accusation of witchcraft towards many townspeople caused Salem as a whole to become enveloped in hysteria. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, hysteria is prevalent in the way Abigail Williams incites the other girls, Marry Warren’s sudden change of sides, and Salem as a…
In “The Crucible”, John Proctor expresses extreme guilt about his affair with Abigail throughout the book. This guilt leads John to confess to Judge Danforth and sets himself up for chaos. At first, he wants to expose Abigail for faking it, but he is scared because of the guilt of his affair. He realizes that in order to keep his family together, and his friends alive, he must confess about his affair before it’s too late.…
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, many people are accused wrongly of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Whether it may be fear, anxiety, or even greed, these characters lie and accuse others of witchcraft. The characters: Tituba, Abigail, and Goody Putnam display each of those motives when accusing others of witchery. Characters are motivated differently to falsely accuse their neighbors of witchcraft…
“It is better to die with integrity than it is to compromise a principle in order to live.”…
After the Salem Witch trials pick up irreversible speed, Abigail decides to utilize her position to her advantage and drive a wedge between Proctor and his wife once again. Abigail even admits that she has “a heat [for John]” and “looks for the John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart” (Miller 24). Evidently, Abigail still has repressed desires for John. Given that Abigail and John’s affair ended poorly with Abigail fired from her job due to Elizabeth, Abigail not only lusts for John, but also looks to seek revenge on his wife, Elizabeth. In Act II of the play when Elizabeth is anonymously accused of witchcraft, she automatically associates Abigail saying that “[Abigail] wants me dead” and “I knew it all week it would come to this” (Miller 60). Abigail’s lust for John and jealousy of Elizabeth motivated her to lie to achieve her repressed desires. As the accusations keep spreading around the town, even Proctor comes to realization that Abigail “thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave” (110). Abigail’s lust for John takes the accusations to extremes where no one is safe, and Abigail’s unchallenged dishonesty gives her free reign over the outcome of the trials. Her lies not only help her accomplish her selfish agenda, but also give her a power over the entire town. While lust or love is a main drive…