...along the way end up dissipating the authority they have. Other characters misuse their positions of power over certain individuals for personal gain such as love and for wealth and land. Individuals with respectable authority tend to misuse their power in hopes of maintaining their idea of a perfect reputation. Reverend Parris is known as the town reverend, a title with power and high expectations. He has power over the town due to his title but he misuses the power he has over his slave from Barbados, Tituba. Once Parris discovered that Tituba was present in the woods with the girls dancing, he felt as though she were responsible. He used his power, as her boss, to threaten Tituba into giving information as he asks her “who? Who? Their names, their names” (Miller, 47). Parris then asks Tituba if she saw “Sarah Good” with the devil which starts the chaos of arbitrary accusations. Parris forces Tituba to reveal the names of individuals who were taken by the devil by using his power over her as her employer. He is the reverend of the town and therefore a town filled with witchcraft would destroy his reputation so he uses his power to pressure Tituba...
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...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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...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 soul through her love affair with John, but she also demonstrates her immorality by lying to the...
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...Who is to Blame? In 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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...Miller my character Abigail is seen as a selfish person who only looks to do things for her own convenience. Throughout the book we can see Abigail do many actions to benefit herself rather than helping others. The reason she acts this way is because she is worried about her reputation. She also fears being singled out from the Christian community. The only thing she has left is her reputation which is why it is so important that she keeps it. In the phrase “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!,” she tries to act as if she was also a culprit in the situation. In another part of the book she threatens Betty to not speak a word about the accusations. “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.” Abigail will go to any extreme to save her reputation even if it means using violence to protect herself....
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...Have you ever wondered who is really responsible for the Salem Witch Trials? Three people, three people is all it took to have 20+ people hanged, why? for pride, lust, and selfishness. John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Bridget Bishop, Martha Corey, and Giles Corey died because of the lies that Abigail Williams told to escape from being hanged for dancing in the forest naked. Abigail Williams, Reverend Hale, and Reverend Parris are responsible for the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, the first to start up lies that would later end up having 20+ people hanged. She kept lying just to save herself. She doesn’t care about anyone else and she is pure evil. “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.” She would kill her friends or anyone from telling the truth about what happened in the forest. “We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there’s the whole of it.” Abby has a way with words, she knows how to lie and she is good at it. “I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m a proper girl!” She is nothing but pure evil and selfish nonetheless. Abby had 20+ people executed simply because she wished to have a man that was not...
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...The Crucible - Act 4 Scene 1 Question 2 We see a worried, distraught Reverend Parris. In the previous act he was a firm supporter of the trials and willing to charge anyone who didn't support them as being against the trials, him, and even God. However, as Act 4 begins, Parris has changed (also like the town). He comes to the court shaking and upset and tells Danforth that his niece Abigail Williams and Mercy Lewis have run away. Parris isn't worried about the girl's well being. Things are made worse as they have broken into his safe and taken his money, "thirty one pound is gone. I am penniless." From Act I we have seen Parris' concern over his career, his ministry, and his status in town. He went against his initial beliefs that the girls were afflicted with witchcraft when he saw it could actually benefit him if there was such afflictions. Now, his biggest fear has come true. He has lost everything. Reverend Parris also realises that if Abigail and Mercy Lewis have run away because "they fear to keep in Salem any more" it will only be a short amount of time before others in the town also turn against the courts. Question 3 Reverend Hale enters the court demanding pardons for the condemned prisoners. Danforth says 12 others have already been hung for the same charge; pardons for the rest of the accused would be unjust and would crack the voice of God's law with "whimpering." Hale says a week's postponement would seem like mercy to the public, not weakness...
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... Parris is the one who walks into the forest and catches Tituba leading Abigail and the other town girls in dance. Once Parris’ daughter, Betty, is caught dancing in the forest, she falls ill and all he is trying to do is protect his own reputation within the village. Parris is to blame for pointing his finger at other people to make sure there is no blemishes on his name and the townspeople don’t accuse him for what is happening. Although Parris may seem like he is to blame, Abigail and Judge Danforth are more culpable. If Abigail had not been dancing in the forest, Reverend Parris would not have had anything to discover. Also, as if the town isn’t in mass hysteria already, Abigail keeps accusing others and creates even more excitement. It is the official in the court that signs citizens to death. This court is mainly represented by Judge Danforth. Despite the fact that Danforth doesn’t create the delirium within the town, he is liable for the wrongful, tragic deaths that it leads to. In the end, Judge Danforth and Abigail Williams are more culpable for the tragedies during the Salem witchcraft trials of...
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...in Salem Village in 1692. Tituba was the most responsible for the Salem witch Hysteria. She had been conjuring spirits over a cauldron, and while she sang, the young girls of Salem danced. As puritans, they all knew that what they were doing was sinful. Tituba seemed a bad influence on the girls; they wouldn't've been out there in the first place if it weren't for Tituba. Tituba was the first person to accuse someone of Witchcraft, giving all the other girls the idea to do the same. If she hadn't lied about working for the Devil unwillingly, people woudn't have gotten ideas about sentencing innocent people to death. Because of her, the Putnams snagged the opportunity to get land, the girls took the convenience to not be punished, and Abigail flung herself at the chance to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor so she could have John. Tituba blames these other people in attempt to save her life. The situation could have been avoided altogether if she had handled it differently; she could have said she was the first victim of the Devil in all of Salem, thus not getting anyone else into trouble. Because of her selfishness, fear, and accusations, Tituba sparked the beginning of the death of innocent people. Without her, there would be no spark for that. In the beginning, it was all fun and games. Thanks to Tituba, what was silly before was now disturbingly unjust. Danforth was also responsible for the tragedy. The Judge insisted that Proctor and Mary...
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...The Crucible: Who was Responsible In 1692, it was dark times for the town of Salem, Massachusetts, times where the phrase witchcraft spread like wildfire. A town where speculation overcame common sense and where chaos overcame order. The town was mostly composed of farmers, priests, and common folk, but there was one person who wanted more than the common life, she wanted power. Her name was Abigail Williams, the sole reason of why the events in Salem became reality and the fears of many became true. Abigail Williams is the most responsible for the events in Salem because of her lust for John Proctor, her jealousy, and her vengefulness. Abigail was quite a delusional girl when it came to falling in love, especially with John Proctor, one...
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...In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, I believe that the main character, Abigail Williams, is to blame. Abigail is a very mean person who always wants everything her way, no matter who gets hurt. Many events from the past might have influenced her behavior, but she is a woman of her own actions. Throughout the play her lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she never really cared unless their name was John Proctor. I feel like she is a victim, not because of the society she is in, but a victim because she actually has done bad things. For example, John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor use to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out about the affair and kicked Abigail out. This is exactly what i'm talking about when I say she only cares...
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...Claudia Vazquez English 10/23/13 Critical Lens Someone once said “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing” meaning that when a good person decides to do nothing evil will succeed. For example if someone was getting bullied and an onlooker decide to do nothing than evil would prosper. This quote id false because there in no way to know who is “good” and who is “bad” due to everyone having a different understanding of what is good and what is bad. Some people believe that those who don’t go to church are bad but in reality many people who don’t go to church have better morals than those who do go to church yet the fact they don’t makes them seem bad. Another way this quote is false is that if someone were truly “good” then they wouldn’t stand around and watch as evil prospered. One piece of literature that proves this quote true is The Crucible by Arthur Miller through his use of characterization and conflict. As stated above the quote “Evil Triumphs when good men do nothing” is false due to the elusive from in which “good men” is used. In The Crucible Arthur Millers’ use of characterization proves this quote false. The Crucible is a play about the domino affect which wild accusations about...
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...Abigail Williams drives The Crucible. She is Reverend Parris’ niece who initiates witch trials by falsely accusing others of witchcraft. She acts as though she sees spirits along with instructing the other girls to act as well. Abigail at first wants to avoid punishment. When she sees how the adults react to others crying witch, she sees this as an opportunity. Once things get started, she sees an opportunity for self-interest (John Proctor). Abigail is the most responsible for the girls being in the woods. Once the girls were caught by Reverend Paris, Abigail tries to hide her behavior because it will expose her affair with John Proctor if she admits to casting a spell on Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail found herself attracted to Proctor while working in their...
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...bewitching her newborn babies saying she was responsible for their deaths. 13. Rebecca stood over Betty and silenced her. 14. That they made the story up just for attention. 15. People are being accused in every direction because many people are holding grudges. 16. Proctor doesn’t like Parris who’s the minister. 17. A raise in his salary and the deed to his house. 18. He says that literally they aren’t enough and that their secrets is something dark. 19. They argue about lumber and land. It shows that Putnam is greedy. 20. An expert on witches, he comes to town to get rid of the witches in Salem. 21. That people are putting their faith into...
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...everybody suing everybody else? Think on it now, it’s a deep thing, and dark as a pit. I have been six times in court this year―”(The Crucible, pg 31) He in trust asked about a weird book his wife was reading and nothing uneventful happened to Martha, his wife, questioned the accusations of all the teen girls who are going around accusing people in the village of witchcraft in order to save themselves or revenge. When his wife went to jail for false accusations, but Giles didn’t stay quiet. He knew the risks because the whole village was on the girls side, believing their lies, nonetheless he went ahead of the judge and the villagers to prove his wife's innocence. Imagine him above everyone that believes he is a crazy-old man who comes to overthrow the court. Danforth says to Giles, “And how do you imagine to help her cause with such contemptuous riot? Now be gone. Your old age alone keeps you out of jail for this.” ,but Giles won’t leave without a fight because his morals are better than that. This eighty year old farmer, known as the most ‘comical hero’ in history is most well known for his death, Giles Corey was pressed to death after being arrested for contempt because he wouldn’t give up people and he was accused of being a wizard. Mary Warren was the one to break the news to Proctor, “He were not hanged. He would not answer aye or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge they’d hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian...
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