Examples Of Mary Warren In The Crucible

Fear and Suspicion of Mary Warren Fear is the death of us humans. When we have fear it causes us uncertainty, and also clouds our judgment. It motivates us to do acts that we would not normally put ourselves through. The Crucible written in 1952 by Arthur Miller took place in a town called Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. In the play characters show fear, but one main character is Mary Warren. She is a seventeen year old girl that works for John and Elizabeth Proctor. During the play it is easy to see how fear not only changes her loyalties but also develops her into a submissive character. In The Crucible there are times when Mary Warren gets very fearful changes loyalties to survive. One example is in act two when Mary and the other girls “. . . I [Mary] am in the proceedings all day, sir
For instance; in act one all the girls are in one room and Mary announces “Abigail, we’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error . . .” (1107). In an instance Abigail threatens any girl that breathes a word about what they did in the woods will be harmed severely. Then again in act two, after Mary gets home from being at the court all day and tells the Proctor’s what has happened during the session. Later in the conversation Mary is talking about being a judge in the court, then soon after John goes and gets the whip on the mantel. Just as she was about to get whipped she cried “I saved her [Elizabeth) life today!”(1127), this stopped John from whipping her. During act 3 John wants Mary to confess to the court that she along with the other girls were lying and falsely accusing the citizens. Then out of fear while in court, Mary turns on John accusing him of witchcraft, “he [John] come at me [Mary] by night and every day, to sign, to—[Devil’s book]” (1151). If Mary did continue to accuse Abigail, there was a high chance of her getting lynched like the rest of the