...Abigail Williams appears to be a young lady, prim and proper in the community of Salem. When you take a look closer you can see she is really the deceiving spawn of satan himself. ‘The Crucible by Arthur Miller’ is full of conflict. Many of the people who live in Salem are responsible for the conflict being started from time to time. However, everywhere you look at this particular time in Salem Abigail Williams is the beginning source of the conflict. Abigail Williams spreads false truths that result in deaths of many innocent townspeople, including the love of her life John Proctor. Towards the beginning of the story, Abigail chooses to lie about the dancing in the woods and falsely accuse many innocent people of witchcraft. Abigail threatens Betty with “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it;...
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...Being the main source of drama, Abigail Williams was altered The Crucible, a historic play, by Arthur Miller to provoke the witch trials, to develop the protagonist, John Proctor, and to draw parallelism McCarthyism. Abigail, at the age of 17, who is 5 years older than the historical Abigail, was the main accuser in the witch trials. According to the Shmoop Editorial Team, “Abigail is vengeful, selfish, manipulative, and a magnificent liar...She has an eerie sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them”(n.p). In regards to their remark towards Abigail, we can infer that her personality caused the entire witch trials in the play. Arthur Miller also had to alter Abigail’s real age in order to match her nasty personality and to make her...
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...The Crucible Essay “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does no feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela). In simpler terms, courage is when something that a person believes in, is more important than the fear that comes with the consequences of that belief. The Crucible has many key themes, but the theme that has the broadest effect on the reader is courage. John Proctor is a great example of the courage shown. While, Abigail Williams shows immense cowardice. Throughout the Crucible many characters have to face the horrendous decision of whether to confess to have ‘been with the devil’ and lose their ‘good name’ or bee executed for that of which they did not do. John Proctor is a great example of a character with extraordinary courage. John although pressured to confess and knowing that he’ll hang, refuses to ruin his ‘good name’ and he does not fully confess to the crime. When Judge Danforth would not give up the argument with John to sign the confession, he asked, “Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why will you not let me have it?” (pg.1231). Proctor answered, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (pg.1232). These quotes show how strong willed John is in not having a bad reputation and how John has great courage and doesn’t lie just to live. However that John may express great courage...
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...In this essay over The Crucible I will be talking about the concepts of weakness, courage, and truth that all play with the roles of characters in this story. These roles of the characters change throughout the story line and impact the outcome of the events. Weakness, courage, and truth were the main character traits of the story and those traits affected everything. First in The Crucible, weakness was showed numerous of times in many different characters. A person that showed weakness was Mary Warren. She wanted to stand up for herself and change all the bad things that the girls had done, but her weakness was being afraid of Abigail. When Abigail and the girls made it look like Mary Warren had control of them, Mary Warren wanted to be back on Abigail’s side due to her weakness instead of staying on John Proctor’s...
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...” The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller in the early 1950’s, has an exemplary character that shows a defective result. Mr. Lincoln’s quote shows that power defines the strength or weakness of a character. As The Crucible transitioned into its third act, Judge Danforth, a round character, begins as a self-justified and aware judge. As the play progresses, This truth becomes an act to cover his multiplying flaws. In The Crucible, Judge Danforth had his power and authority protecting him, but let his foolishness bewitch him. This cocky and oblivious man ruled Salem’s courthouse. Originally the deputy governor of Massachusetts, Judge Danforth presumptuously took collateral control(Wikipedia). He started his tyranny with unjustly condemning 72, eventually 12 during the Salem witch trials(Miller, 1190,1222). Such unrequited power was abused by leading...
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...Abigail Williams is responsible for the chaos and turmoil in "The Crucible" due to her actions and manipulations. She falsely accuses numerous citizens of witchcraft, causing fear and hysteria in the town. Despite Mary Warren's attempt to testify against Abigail, she faces opposition from the other girls who are under Abigail's influence. Abigail continuously tries to convince people that everyone else is a witch, using tactics such as pretending to see and hear spirits whenever a witness tries to testify against her. Abigail's past and present experiences contribute to her actions, but they do not excuse her behavior. She witnessed the death of her parents at a young age, had an affair with John Proctor, and threatened those who crossed her....
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...character. Some of these characters are odd good,and some are dark. There are many important things that happen in the crucible, and there are many important characters in the crucible that i will be talking about in the. All these characters are important in the crucible because they all have to deal with a big part in the crucible. The three characters that i will be talking about from the book are john proctor, abigail williams, and giles corey. All these characters have an important role in the crucible and i feel like you should know about these characters. My first character that i will be talking about is abigail because she is one of the most important characters in this book. Abigail is really concerned with her reputation because she knows that she is lying about the whole thing but abagaile just doesn't want to get in trouble. This starts to change the way abagail acts because she doesn't want to get in trouble she acts like this with all the other girls because she doesn't want any of the other girls telling people about what they did in the woods with tituba. Abigail's situation is different now because she had nothing to hide but now that she got caught dancing in the woods with tituba and all the girls she is lying saying that all they did was...
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...only leaves chaos and waste in its wake. Throughout the ages vengeance has played an important role in history and literature. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller the theme vengeance is portrayed as neighbor turns on neighbor. First, as the theme vengeance reoccurs throughout the play The Crucible many people end up turning on each other to exact their revenge. For example, Hale is in the home of the Proctors when he brings up how Rebecca Nurse’s and others names got brought up in court. Then Francis Nurse the husband of Rebecca Nurse enters the house following Giles Corey to inform them about his wife’s arrest, Francis exclaimed, “For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Good Putnam’s babies”(Miller 1175)....
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...Witchcraft has played an outstanding role in the history of America’s system of justice and has given us a representation that shared experiences and beliefs can lead to disastrous things. While the film, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, depicts the overall history of the Salem Witch Trials, it does have historical inaccuracies within the characters and their relationships that change the way we perceive history. Witchcraft has been present since the Paleolithic period but it began to show up in colonial America in the middle of the 17th century. It became a capital offense as far back as 1642. Shortly after becoming a law, the first execution was made in Connecticut. This case was disturbing because it influenced everyone, in puritan societies, to believe that Satan was close at hand and physically able to act in the real world.. At the time, Salem was a Puritan community in which was built upon those who fled religious execution therefore the religious authority and the government was not separate. Those who would question local authority were blamed for questioning royal authority. Eventually the hysteria spread to Massachusetts in 1692 after two young girls had been acting in alarming and been in physical pain. The physician concluded that the girls were not victims of a physical or mental illness but victims of witchcraft.2. These two girls were Abigail Williams and Betty Parris. Abigail Williams, who was 11 years of age, had a...
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...against women. For instance, "Female Hysteria" used to be a medical term for women who showed any type of abnormal behavior. In fact, the word "Hysteria" is greek, meaning "Uterus". This is due to the fact that women are viewed as the weaker gender. The play, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is about a mistress name Abigail Williams what wants John Proctor to be her lover for life, but Mr. Proctor would not leave his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, for her. So, Abigail seeks vengeance...
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...Nwobi 1 Odera Nwobi AP Language & composition September 21, 2014 CRR #1- The Crucible I. Author/Introduction Arthur Miller; an American playwright, born in the early 1900’s, 1915 to be precise. He was born into a very wealthy family. He was not very wealthy for a very long time, after the stock market crash in 1929. He had to do odd job to be able to pay for his college. After college, he career was a little rocky after his first play The Man Who Had All the Luck closed after four performances. After a while, his show All my Son earned him his first award. He wrote over 50 different works ranging from plays, novels, articles. His best play was Death of a Salesman which earned him a lot of fame. Another popular play he wrote was The Crucible. This play was a reflection of the Salem witch trial back in 1692. He was considered a communist because he advocated principles of equality among the classes, and social justice. He was married three times. He was once married to the popular actress Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller died in 2005 at the age of 89. II. Vocabulary Gibberish- meaningless or unintelligent talk. Trepidation- trembling or quivering movement. Subservient- serving or acting in a subordinate capacity. Shudder- to tremble with a sudden convulsive movement as from horror, fear, or cold. Calumny- a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something. Titillated- to excite or arouse agreeably. Sniveling- to weep...
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...Miller's play, The Crucible. In 1692, the witch trials played a huge role in the lives of people in Salem, Massachusetts. The townspeople feared witchcraft so much that it created confusion regarding who was actually a witch and who was not. Many accusations were made leaving innocent people responsible for the mysterious acts of witchcraft. Abigail Williams reveals her impurity by doing just this. Abigail constantly lies to the court and does everything in her power to save herself, even if it means falsely accusing others. In Miller's play The Crucible, Abigail Williams proves her impurity of soul by having an affair with John Proctor, lying to the townspeople, and attempting to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail first reveals her impure heart through her love affair with John Proctor. Although Abigail is aware that John is married to Elizabeth Proctor, she does not let their relationship get in the way of her own selfish desires. Johns fends off Abigail when he says “Abigail, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. We never touched Abby” (15). Abigail argues, “Aye, but we did” (15). Here Abigail shows no guilt for her sinful actions. Clearly, she only cares about herself and especially does not care about the marriage that she is destroying. Moreover, Abigail is extremely self-centered and exposes her impure soul by having an affair with John Proctor. Not only does Abigail disclose her impure...
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...Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, there are many different characters that could be blamed for the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams is a seventeen year old girl that is in love with an older married man. In her hunt to have him as her own, she leads her group of friends to accuse his wife and many others of witchcraft. It is most clearly demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – envy, dishonesty, and lust – that led her to be most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem. Throughout The Crucible Abigail is envious of Elizabeth Proctor, and tries to get rid of her. One example is, ‘Oh, I marvel how such a strong man let such a sickly wife be’ (Miller 470). Abigail is commenting on Elizabeth’s health. She does not understand why John would rather have a sick wife than her. She is jealous that he chose His wife over her. Then she commented, ‘You loved me John Proctor, and whatever sin it is you love me yet,’ (Miller 471). This shows that Abigail thinks John loves her, and she is trying to convince him to be with her again. Abigail’s envy of Elizabeth drives her to get many people killed. In the play, Abigail is dishonest, pretending that there are actually witches. She does this in order to prosecute Elizabeth proctor. She...
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...The Crucible (1996) Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Joan Allen, Winona Ryder, Peter Vaughn, and Rob Campbell Director: Nicholas Hynter Synopsis: Daniel Day-Lewis stars as John Proctor, a young farmer during the Puritan Era. In this classic film that was nominated for two awards, John Proctor is determined to end an uprising of witchcraft in the little town of Salem, Massachusetts as Reverend Hale (Rob Campbell) comes to cleanse Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) and other girls from performing the Devil’s work. Review: Nicholas Hynter brings us another mystical and uproaring movie to theaters for our eyes to view. We see a few familiar yet famous faces in this outstanding film, but the audience will notice a few new faces as well. When witchcraft hits...
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...guilt for an event that never happened. During the Red Scare this is what was occurring all around. In The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor was accused by Abigail William because of her hatred towards Elizabeth. In the Red Scare they targeted celebrities because they thought they were high targeted and could possibly be a communist. The Red Scare influenced the book “The Crucible” by reflecting the United States government with the court of Salem, people who were accused and arrested for being a Communist, in addition to fear with how scare tactics impacted societies. The Red Scare influenced the book “The Crucible” by reflecting the United States government with the Court of Salem. During the Red Scare, the United States government and the communist Soviet Union became engaged in a series of largely political problems with economic clashes. Both the Soviet Union and the United States’ intense rivalry caused tension between these two superpowers which raised concerns in the United States that communists were inside America might have been working as Soviet spies. These Soviet spies were said to perhaps, pose a threat to the U.S security. As for the Court of Salem, a group of young girls claimed to be...
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