Corruption In Susan Abbotson's Law In The Works Of Arthur Miller

On the subject of Susan Abbotson’s “law in the works of Arthur Miller” she speaks: “In such a play as The Crucible, the main impetus is quite literally a trial, but we actually spend our time outside the courtroom to see more pointedly the unpleasant repercussions in a society that allows itself to be governed by laws that are clearly open to corruption in the pursuit of personal gain.” Particularly, her claim focuses on the judicial aspect of the town which can be taken advantage of by corrupt individuals in pursuit of personal gain. Namely, characters that encourage Abbotson’s claim in this matter are Abigail, and Mary Warren. Above all others, these characters utilize the laws open to corruption to their advantage. Throughout the play Abigail and Mary Warren both misuse the law for their benefit and well-being. Abigail exclusively abuses the law wickedly and habitually, attaining supremacy despite being only 17 years old. She has accused Elizabeth Proctor many times in the court, hoping to imprison her so she and Proctor could be one. Furthermore, she even threatened the head judge, Danforth, she says, “Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it!” (Miller 108). During this time period one would not dare to even consider anything against a man of such honor as
Danforth, but because Abigail has mistreated the laws enough to become “powerful” she is not afraid to threaten Danforth, the one supervising the Witch Trails. Abigail also uses the pretense to corrupt the laws and use fear to control the mind of the people to make them trust her. Moreover, during the trial at the court, she executes an act to spark fear and attain control; she does this when she says, “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do.” (Miller 115). She uses the belief of the theology based government that the people have faith in to spark fear in their hearts by accusing people to be witches. Mary Warren has also corrupted the laws throughout the play. In contrast, Mary Warren testified against Abigail but failed and so she imputed everything onto Proctor so she could survive. As a matter of fact, Mary Warren says, “pointing at Proctor: You’re the Devil’s man!” (Miller 118). This illustrates how Mary is willing to give up Proctor for her own benefit, verifying that she is open to corruption for personal gain. To start with, the powerful character in this case being Abigail does suppress the powerless mostly by using religion as her aid. On the other hand, Mary Warren doesn’t suppress any powerless character because she herself is quite the coward, powerful enough to escape the court yet too puny to overwhelm anyone else. Alternatively, for Abigail, she overpowers countless, an example would be an earlier one mentioned before when she threatens Danforth using religion in efforts to try and suppress him. Further, Abigail uses the pretense to subdue Mary into lying in front of the court to defend herself. Mary says, “I’ll not hang with you! I love God, I love God.” (Miller 118). At this point Mary had realized that she will no longer survive if she keeps preaching the truth, so she, the powerless is basically suppressed by Abigail, the powerful. Abigail uses religion and the theological beliefs of the people to suppress the weak and powerless. In conclusion, The Crucible is a society governed by laws exposed to corruption that can be taken advantage of by people in pursuit of personal gain.
Abigail and Mary both are characters that show the corruption in the law system, and how the beliefs of the people, and the fusion of religion entwines with the laws of society. The corruption is religion’s meddling into the law. The advantage that Abigail and Mary are able to take is because of the influence that religion offers into the determining factor of the product of the court case which shall decide one’s fate. Free or imprisoned, religion selects it all in the courts of
Salem.