The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about the Salem Witch Trials in the year 1692. Arthur Miller himself was one of the many people put before the congressional committee during the red scare and hunt for communists in the 1950’s. From that experience he brought to light the direct parallels and relationships between these two events in history. One of the characters he portrayed in his play was Abigail Williams. She was a young girl who provoked the search of witches to clear her own name after
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Leading a multitude of people to find the "truth" about a village’s most respected townspeople is Abigail Williams. She was the finger that accused dozens of people‚ who in all likelihood were innocent of the crimes brought against them. Abigail was not the single candle that showed the judges of Salem the way but merely the candle that lit the others. Arthur Miller’s "The Crucible" makes Abigail the conveyance of everything the Puritans would have thought as evil. She had committed sins that
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Abigail Williams: Misfit Archetype Abigail Williams‚ a character from The Crucible‚ is a misfit archetype. A misfit archetype describes a character who doesn’t fit in with their community and surroundings. These types of characters can often display an attitude of freedom. I chose the misfit archetype for Abigail Williams because she fits into it very well. To begin with‚ Abigail was found conjugating with Tituba and other girls in the woods. She is also a misfit because she starts accusing fellow
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Abigail Williams‚ born July 12‚ 1680‚ was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692‚ which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 innocent people. Growing up she lived with her uncle Rev. Samuel Parris‚ and it is unknown who her parents were or how she was directly related to the Rev. of Salem. It is portrayed that Abigail was a dark haired‚ lovely looking lady‚ which often led her to trouble with older men. She was also a kind girl‚ whose personality was often mistaken
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The Salem Witchcraft trials are notoriously known in history for its mass hysteria and paranoia within colonial Massachusetts during the 17th century. This paper will identify social and religious factors contributing to the Salem with-hunt‚ provide insight to who was behind it and why‚ and compare and contrast other examples of mass hysteria with that of the Salem witch-hunt. In colonial Massachusetts‚ the Puritan religion touched every aspect of line in the community. The lifestyle was strict
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Although Abigail Williams liked to think of herself as an important part of the witch trials‚ her motivations for what she did were not that different than many ordinary teenagers: she sought revenge‚ put her own well-being ahead of others‚ and let her feelings for John dictate her actions. Abigail has a conniving mind like most teenage girls have when they plot revenge‚ and she goes above and beyond to get her revenge. Seven months had passed since Abigail Williams worked for the Proctor’s and
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of them except what may be surmised from a few letters‚ the trial record‚ certain broadsides written at the time‚ and references to their conduct in sources of varying reliability. They may therefore be taken as creations of my own‚ drawn to the best of my ability in conformity with their known behavior‚ except as indicated in the commentary I have written for this text." Because I’ve been working with the materials of the Salem Witch Trails of 1692 for so long as an academic historian‚ many people
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Modern-Day Witch Trial The McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial was anything but quick and simple. The case lasted a total of seven years‚ and cost the government $15 million dollars (Source F). Peggy McMartin Bukey and her son Raymond along with a few other teachers were accused of a crime that would change their lives forever. The charges consisted of everything from animal sacrifice to pornography and satanic rituals. (Source D). It first began with Judy Johnson‚ mother of one of the preschool’s young
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Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary‚ it is acknowledged that‚ “The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress‚ asthma‚ guilt‚ boredom‚ child abuse‚ epilepsy‚ and delusional psychosis” (Linder). Many of the possible symptoms may have caused the outbreak‚ yet delusional psychosis is more sensible. The form of a mental disorder causing the symptoms is a probable cause. The people of Salem were completely oblivious to the additional causes of the accusations. Salem could have
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Shadowed judgment: Why the Salem witch trials were led by selfish men. Judge Danforth‚ Hawthorne and Parris all have one thing in common. They resist the evidence that Proctor and Giles gives them due to their own personal follies. Whether it is for pride‚ greed‚ or power‚ their names will grow in reputation for all of it. All three of these men have unethical reasons for ignoring all of the evidence against the Salem witch trials that they think will result in their own personal gain. Judge Danforth
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