...Uncontrolled Excitement in an Authoritative Society The 1600s in New England represented a time of fear and suspicion that culminated in the persecution of those considered blasphemous as witches. Through The Crucible, Arthur Miller describes the irrational behaviour of people in “all classes”(Miller 7) from Salem, Massachusetts during this time of misdemeanor. Many characters throughout the play incriminate others due to bitterness and jealousy. For instance, Abigail indicted her former lover, John Proctor’s, wife. Ultimately the corrupted men and women of Salem reached their goal of hanging the pure, which leads to hysteria amongst the townsfolk. Although John Proctor begins the play as an ambivalent and uncertain man, who is paralyzed...
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...In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, Mrs. Putnam and Abigail Williams have hidden motivations fueling the Salem witch trials by making false accusations against people causing mass hysteria in the village. Mrs. Ann Putnam has experienced seven of her children die at childbirth in which she is in desperate need to find a justifiable reason. She argues with Rebecca Nurse because of Rebecca’s success in childbearing, Mrs. Putnam says, “You think it God’s work you should never lose a child, nor grandchild either, and I bury all but one? There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!” (Miller 26). Mrs. Putnam does not understand why God would punish her by losing so many children and someone else like Rebecca have luck in...
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...As of human nature, people do certain actions based on pressure or motivations. For instance, a person might go to the gym and workout with the motivation of losing weight or gaining muscles. In the novel The Crucible, each character had different motivations to do specific actions. The characters had dissimilar motivates to falsely accuse others of witchcraft. For example: Abigail Williams who is a huge part of the novel, her motivations were: staying out of trouble and taking Elizabeth Proctor place. While, Thomas Putnam was motivated to accuse others of witchcraft, because of his greediness and selfishness. Lastly, Mary Warren accused others with the motivations of fear from Abigail. Abigail who is fair to name as the evilness...
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...Motivation is what encourages a person to behave in a certain way. Cruelty is a common motivator that is mostly used in a selfish way to one’s advantage. Whether it’s throwing others under the bus, or just wanting the attention. In The Crucible, a girl by the name Abigail William’s selfishly wants a married man by the name John Proctor and shows no remorse for any of her actions in her attempt to acquire get him. Her barbarous decisions lead her to a pool of lies, and deceit. The main message in this play is to show how far a person is willing to go to get what they want, despite the lies and betrayal. Cruelty allies with this message by egotistical wants being the cause, and cruel behavior being the effect. Abigail William’s cruel behavior derived from her jealousy, and desperate desire to be with a married man, provoking her to lie about her practice of witchcraft. She drinks blood, and chants to put a charm to kill his wife. She encourages the others to lie by...
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... Arthur Miller demonstrates this through his book The Crucible. The Crucible demonstrates a theme that when revenge determines justice, havoc ensues; this theme is displayed through the allegations that Abigail Williams makes against John and Elizabeth Proctor, and their servant Mary Warren, as well as through the Putnams’ willingness to implicate their neighbors. Abigail Williams is a narcissistic and manipulative character that is driven by her obsession with John Proctor. Henceforth, she tries to get...
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...Tragedy and The Human Conditions Essay: Abusive Power “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. ” In a statement by Abraham Lincoln it is identified that the greatness of man is tested by how he utilizes his power. As demonstrated in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and The Time Magazine article Adolf Hitler, one can see how the abuse of power creates chaos in society. By analyzing the actions of the characters Macbeth, Abigail Williams, and the character Adolf Hitler, it is evident how the misuse of power will lead to the loss of structure in society. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A statement by Lord Acton which illustrates that those who gain power ultimately become corrupted by it - thus leading one to abuse their power. This statement is well demonstrated in the actions of the character Macbeth, from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, in his rise to power from Thane of Glamis to the King of Scotland. Within the first scene of the play, Macbeth is given the gift of knowledge of the future, by the three witches, which he ultimately uses to gain more power. “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis ... All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii. 48-50). When given this prophecy from the three witches, Macbeth utilizes this information, once he becomes Thane of Cawdor, to plan the death of King Duncan. The power of knowledge is...
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...Sometimes, humans will hide their hidden intentions to achieve their goals. Gradually over time, their true colors will start to show and reveal itself. Having a sense of purpose fuels one’s motivation. Without purpose, your goals will be harder to reach. In the play, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams actions and words demonstrate how she adjusts her mood and attitude whatever the situation calls for. For a seventeen-year-old girl, she is quick-witted and takes the initiative whenever she has the opportunity. In the beginning of Act 1, Abigail seems worried and concerned for Betty Parris. Since they were accused of engaging in witchcraft with the other girls dancing in the forest, Parris starts to question and doubt their...
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...The devil is not the only thing to fear. When rumors of witchcraft start to take over Salem, religious leaders begin to use their power in questionable ways. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the contrast between Reverend Hale's reasoned faith and Reverend Parris’ fearful authoritarian approach to religious thought reflects how personal motivations shape one’s interpretation of religious power. Reverend Hale practices his faith through a reasoned lens, seeking to understand the truth about witchcraft, and uses his power as a religious figure in an attempt to serve religious justice to protect the townspeople. First, when Reverend Hale is introduced, the stage directions characterize him as a man whose “goal is light goodness and its preservation, and he...
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...------------------------------------------------- Character Progression and Development of Reverend John Hale in The Crucible The character of Reverend Hale, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, experiences a profound, dramatic and transformative personal evolution from when he comes to Salem in Act One through the climax in the third act. In the final act, in this progression, his identity by profession is challenged when he is confronted with the realization of an unjust, immoral community, and he responds with integrity and moral truth by abandoning his assigned mission of “witch hunter” in order to truly save others. When Reverend Hale first comes onto the scene, he is a pious and revered minister who was summoned by Reverend Parris because of his expertise on uncovering witchcraft. Reverend Hale presents as a strict and dedicated professional; he is confident, even arrogant as to his education, knowledge and, his authoritative role as expert, and falls back upon the fact that Salem needs him to resolve the unrest and chaos in the community. The hysteria in Salem is clearly exacerbated by Hale’s investigation; but initially, Hale is fueled by his charge to rid Salem of witchcraft and his self-assurance in that role, Hale finds himself, in the end, questioning his own integrity and his moral beliefs when he realizes that the witchcraft accusations were false. He has to battle his own internal guilt and regret for the needless suffering of other accused and persecuted which...
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...Mean girls. Everybody knows one. They are the ones that take advantage of others, yet they get away with it. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams is one of those mean girls. The Crucible displays the chaos of the Salem Witch Trials, during which, an accusation meant time in jail and a trial. If the indicted person admitted to practicing witchcraft and repented, he or she was set free; but if the accused did not confess, that person lost their life. Abigail is one of the girls that charges many people of witchcraft, which leads many of those people to their hanging. She especially has it out for John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, because Abigail would love to replace her. Ever diabolical, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft...
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...complementary to each other, with each gender having their own set of strengths and weaknesses. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, women are described as deceptive and powerless, with no means to do anything but serve as housewives. Illustrating the prejudices of the 17th century, if one tries to break the women stereotype, people assume they are witches. In Salem, the local authority is almost equal to the sovereignty of God, and women as inferior to men. Women are portrayed positively as faithful and good, but also negatively, illustrating the inability for them to obtain power without manipulation, and as weak, inferior human beings needing to adhere to gender norms. Women in the play are faithful and caring, doing whatever it takes to keep the family together and standing firmstrong in their beliefs. Even though Proctor commits adultery with Abigail, Elizabeth remains loyal and stays by his side. One reason a man would commit adultery was if his wife was not good enough for him, and Elizabeth blames herself for Proctor’s cheating. “I have sins of my own to count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery… It were a cold house I kept! (Miller 1162). Highlighting the stereotypical wife of the 17th century, Elizabeth loves her husband even when it hurts to save their marriage. Being the epitome of a loving, devoted wife. Elizabeth blames herself for Proctor’s adultery. By not actively showing love towards him, Elizabeth asserts that he went to find that love someplace else, but...
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...In a world teeming with thoughts and feelings, humans can be driven by elaborate, complex behaviors and motivations. We ourselves can be driven by the most primitive emotion and put it into action if the influence is tenacious enough. We are affected everyday and experience an abundance of almost everything we come into contact with. In The Crucible, we recognize that Salem was swarming with superstition, leading characters such as John Proctor to feel persistent emotions from the effects of Salem’s unfounded fear. The most populous feelings appear throughout the story were guilt, anger and love. The base and foundation for holding all of Proctor’s guilt began with him disuniting from one of the ten commandments, committing adultery. We...
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...helper but then was fired by Mrs. Proctor because she thought Abby and Mr. Proctor were secretly getting together. It was Elizabeth Proctor's arbitrate to send Abby off. Elizabeth makes it ascertain as possible that she didn’t do any witchcraft. The girls were unintelligible. For several motivations, Abigail Williams used the power through false witchcraft accusations to feed her infatuation for John Proctor. Abigail and her friends were dancing in the woods. Dancing is forbidden in their village and Mr. Parris found the girls. While he tried to get his daughter to wake up the day after he found them, she would not. He called the doctor and there was another girl who would not wake up. He blamed Abigail for doing witchcraft because he saw a pot and something inside it move. She told him that it was not that and they were just dancing in the woods. She did not want anything bad with her name. “You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!” (Applebee et al. 175). “John, have you ever shown her somewhat of contempt? She cannot pass you in the church but you will blush-.” (Applebee et al. 197). Abigail did not have a good word in the community. There was word around the village...
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