In January 1693, while still in jail, Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor gave birth to a son, John Proctor III. Elizabeth and John III remained in jail until May 1693, when a general release freed all of those prisoners who remained jailed. Unfortunately, even though the general belief of the people was that innocent people had been wrongly convicted, Elizabeth had in fact been convicted and was considered guilty. In the eyes of the law she was considered a "dead woman" and could not claim any of her husband's estate. Elizabeth petitioned the court for a reversal of attainder to restore her legal rights. No action was taken for seven years. In June 1696, Elizabeth filed an appeal to contest her husband's will. At the time John wrote his will, he had assumed that Elizabeth would be executed and had left her nothing. On September 22, 1696 Elizabeth married again to Daniel Richards. In July 1703, several more people filed petitions before any action was taken on Elizabeth’s appeal for reversal of attainder. The Massachusetts House of Representatives finally passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, they only gave reversal of attainder for those who had filed petitions. This basically applied to only two people – Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. In 1705, another petition was filed requesting a more equitable settlement for those wrongly accused. In 1709, the General Court received a request to take action on this proposal. In May 1709, 22 people who had been convicted of witchcraft, or whose parents had been convicted of witchcraft, presented the government with a petition in which they demanded both a reversal of attainder and compensation for financial losses. On October 17, 1711, the General Court passed a bill reversing the judgment against the 22 people listed in the 1709 petition. There were still an additional 7 people who had been convicted, but had not signed the petition. There was no reversal of attainder for them.…
Mary Warren in “The Crucible” is largely driven by fear throughout the story, more specifically her fear of not being accepted. Throughout the book, we can see that she wants to be accepted by whoever has the most power over her life at the time. First Abigail, then later she desires acceptance and forgiveness from Elizabeth Proctor, and then finally Abigail again.…
Through the crucible Mary Warren has no intentions to cause harm to others by her actions. Miller portrays her as a powerless woman who is easily manipulated by others. She is a kind girl who tries to do the right thing, however, she is manipulated by Abigail Williams. In an argument between Mary Warren and John Proctor, mary says, “I cannot charge murder on Abigail!”, john angrily replies “You will tell the court how that poppet come here and who stuck the needle in”, once again mary with fear replies, “she’ll kill me for saying that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you proctor” (80).…
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.…
Elizabeth's positive qualities are also her negative ones. She is a virtuous woman who is steadfast and true. These traits also make her a bit of a cold fish. When we first meet her, she's especially cold and fishy. She's got good reason to be, though, because her husband has recently had an affair with their housekeeper, Abigail Williams.…
There are many characters that Arthur Miller has written about in The Crucible that have many meaning. Mary Warren is a character of importance and shows examples of a lesson that many people need to learn today. Demonstrating qualities of being a coward, fearful, and a very dishonest, the character of Mary Warren is developed by Arthur Miller in order to support lesson that many people need to learn today that if we do not learn from the past that history will repeat itself.…
Abigail Williams, a teenage girl who started the whole scare about witches in Salem, blamed everyone else for her witchcraft practices and ultimately caused many of her village members to be wrongly executed. She took advantage of the judges trust to frame people for her actions. Abigail Williams was once caught performing a ritual dance in the forest, and to save herself she blamed her so called friends. Abigail began doing witchcraft to fight for John Proctor's love, and she wanted to get rid of Elizabeth who was Proctor’s wife. “You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!”(The Crucible, Act One 13). Abigail is known for being mischievous, and selfish. She was definitely not possessed,…
Mary Warren shows a lot of weakness because of how she got John and Elizabeth proctor in trouble with the court. Mary Warren wouldn’t fess up that she made the poppet and put the needle in its belly. Elizabeth got blamed for it because the poppet was in her house and Elizabeth said she didn’t have any dolls but she did. John and Elizabeth were trialed in the court but they couldn’t get the truth out of Mary Warren. So they were sentenced to death.…
In the book, The Crucible, Abigail Williams and her childish friends take advantage of the situation in their hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. At the time, there was a lot of tension about the discussion of witches and virtually anyone who was accused of being a witch was proven a witch. On page 33 of the book, there is a quote that points out the underlying plot of the book. “Sex, sin and the Devil were early linked…” is how the quote starts out and it describes the relationship between John Proctor and Abigail Williams.…
In The Crucible Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as manipulative, intimidating, and a compulsive liar. Throughout the entire play she spreads devastation and death in every corner of Salem. She is depicted as the “villain” of the town, and plays the role well. Abigail shows a lack of empathy or any sense of the well being of others and the consequences she causes to fall on them.…
In the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, men and women each hold powerful and important parts. Men hold mainly all of the power because they decide those who are sentenced to death. They are the ones who are in control of the village and lastly they all try to dominate over each other.…
Alison Croggon once said, “We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.” The story of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials is portrayed in Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible.” In this drama a troubled girl named Mary Warren fights through the false accusations of other girls and the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Mary Warren is an innocent girl stuck in the middle of a bad situation. She is forced to make some harmful decisions in order to protect her own life.…
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a group of adolescent females went to go dance in the forest with Tituba, slave of one of the famed reverends in their town, Reverend Parris. Coincidentally Revered Parris stumbled through the woods and spotted them. For acting in an outlandish manner or in other words dancing they were all accused of being witches. Abigail without a thought betrays Tituba by telling Reverend Hale that Tituba “conspires with the devil” .The theme of betrayal is at the heart of this story and is proven though the actors of many of the central characters. When faced with trouble or adversity peoples real colors and their true character starts to show. For example, the first thing Abigail did after she got in trouble was to try to blame someone else for her faults. Abigail-““She made me do it. She made Betty do it! Tituba- “Abby” Abigail- “She makes me drink blood” (pg.40)”. This quote is a perfect example of betrayal. During this part of the play Revered Hale and Parris start accusing the girls of witchcraft due to the way they were dancing around the forest, and acting in a “barbaric” manner. So Abigail blamed Tituba for conspiring with the devil even though all she was doing was trying to help the girls. Betrayal can occur to anyone, they can even be the closest friends in the world and wind up turning on each other in the end. Abby-“please don’t hurt me” Mary “I’m not hurting her. She sees nothing” (107). In this quote Marry Warren is being accused to conspiring with the devil by Abigail. Abigail claims to be getting attacked by Mary warrens spirit. The only reason Abigail is behaving in this manor is because John proctor convinced her to go to court and testify against Abigail. To think they used to be friends until Abigail betrayed her by lying about being attacked by her. Its amazing how one lie can spark the betrayal of so many people. Manipulative people can not only betray the people they intend but sometimes they can indirectly hurt the…
The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller and is based back in the early 1950’s. During this play, we learn about a girl named Abigail and some of her friends. Abigail and her friends were out in the forest dancing, and back then children were not allowed to do anything. Abigail did not want to get in trouble so she claimed that they were talking about witches. Soon the whole lie turns into a huge debacle, and are forced to deal with Abigail’s actions. In this play, many grudges are held and personal rivalries take place.…
In “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is seventeen years of age. She is a white Puritan, and “strikingly beautiful” (Miller 169). She lives with her uncle, Reverend Samuel Parris, ten-year old cousin, Betty, and Barbados maid, Titubia. Abigail also worked for John and Elizabeth Proctor until Elizabeth fired her out.…