The Crucible‚ by Arthur Miller‚ Abigail Williams’ behavior is not without reason; her mental instability is to blame for her actions. For example‚ she saw her parents murdered as a child and this seems to have lead to her being mentally unstable. John Proctor‚ a much older man‚ also basically sexually abused her. And her being raised by Reverend Parris‚ the paranoid‚ power-hungry man‚ is sure to be messing Abigail up in some way or another. As a young girl‚ Abigail witnessed both her mother and father
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Miller makes us respond to her throughout the play (30 marks) Throughout the Crucible Miller uses Elizabeth‚ who is a pious character‚ as a judge of character. Through her eyes we learn who is innately good such as Rebecca Nurse‚ we learn that John Proctor is a tragic hero whose fatal flaw is that he is “somewhat bewildered” and that Abigail truly is “a whore” with an “endless capacity for dissembling”. The audience trusts her because when Hale asks her if she knows her commandments she says‚ “I
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A dynamic antagonist‚ Abigail Williams from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a great example of how a character can be molded by personal desires and a work’s setting to become a villain. Seemingly innocent‚ orphaned adolescent Abigail ultimately causes hysteria in the town of Salem from her frivolity and selfishness. The reasoning and origins of Abigail’s malice demonstrate the setting’s influence on the inhabitants of Salem during the 1962 witch trials. Abigail is introduced as Parris’ niece
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Dynamic characters are changed by the characters and events that occur in the play or book. In The Crucible‚ two characters that change for the better are Reverend Hale and John Proctor. They both go on a journey of self due to the hysteria of The Salem Witch Trials. The community had fallen into mass panic over a group of girls who convicted dozens of innocent people of witchcraft. Throughout the book‚ they become more suspicious of the girls and take a more active role in trying to convince people
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John Proctor wanted Mary to confess the dishonesty of the witchcraft accusations‚ but Abby and the other girls didn’t want her to. When Mary arrived at court‚ ready to confess‚ John Proctor would repeat these words to Mary‚ “‘Do that which is good and no harm shall come to thee.’” (page 88) Proctor would repeat this Bible verse to Mary so she understood the significance of telling the truth. His influence convinced Mary to tell the truth to the court which satisfied John because he knew
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rampant. Manipulation is presented not only through the abuse of power but by lying‚ and jealousy. This is especially true of Abigail‚ the teenage niece of Reverend Parris. She started this story by giving herself to a married man. Who happened to be John Procter. In the 16th century‚ western life was very different from today. In the puritan religion‚ children were expected to keep their heads down and be thankful for their existence. Abigail Williams gains power by manipulating the group of girls
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sick and the town jumps to witchcraft to be the cause. In order to keep her reputation in the town Abigail Williams leads the group of girls in court and accuses many townspeople of witchcraft. Abigail’s ultimate goal is killing Elizabeth Proctor‚ wife of John Procter whom Abigail believes she loves. Abigail will stop at nothing until she is
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A British prime minister‚ Benjamin Disraeli has stated “Circumstances are beyond the control of man‚ but his conduct is in his own power.” This quote is valid as Disraeli teaches us that we should concern ourselves with how we should react to situations and events we encounter‚ even though we can’t predict the future. Ultimately‚ this is all we are in control of and responsible for. I concur with this quote‚ as we can’t control what happens‚ but we have the power to make decisions for ourselves.
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of all the innocent people the had died during the witch hunt‚ I believe that abigail should be blamed for everything she did. First of all‚ Abigail is a jealous person because of Elizabeth being with John proctor. She is in love with John‚ which starts the Hysteria in the story. Even though John told Abigail that the affair is over‚ she still tries to keep the romance alive between them‚ this is shown on
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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller‚ John Proctor proclaims “Because it is my name! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of those who hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” This quote shows both the dilemma in the Salem Witch Trials‚ which Arthur Miller set his story in‚ and the era of McCarthyism which he kind of writes about; John was going to confess to being a witch but couldn’t because he didn’t want to ruin
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