Fernando Leyva English III/ Period 8 The Crucible Essay January 3, 2014 Religion is so strong it can lead to great unimaginable things,but the power of religion has the power to destroy good things and cause havoc amongst firm believers. Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, takes place in the late seventeenth century a horrific event occurred known as the Salem Witch Trials in the town of Salem. Abigail and Elizabeth are perhaps two of his most important main characters in the play. These two represent the "good" and "evil" in the society of the town. Although these two characters were very distinct they shared something very big in common, which was the love for the man John Proctor. Perhaps the love for the same man led one of the two females to be of a greater evil than ever imagined. Elizabeth Proctor was a very more understand and good character in the play. Although she is understand and compassionate she is unforgiving and cold. In Arthur Miller's play, John Proctor says "Oh Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer!" This quote clearly shows how John feels that Elizabeth is unforgiving and cold. For the past months John has been trying to please Elizabeth after his affair with Abigail. John shows his frustration after Elizabeth does not forget about the affair John had. Although Elizabeth is understand she does not forgive or forget easily. Abigail Williams is the "evil" character in the play. Her actions throughout the play caused a lot of tragic events to occur and her actions led to the deaths of many innocent people. According to Arthur Miller she says this "Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam's dead sisters...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...and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!" This quote shows us that Abigail is wicked and evil because she tells the girls that if anyone tells the truth about what happened, she will kill them. By doing this she is able to intimidate the girls and then manipulate into doing whatever she wants. Although she was manipulative, she was very clever and resourceful. Her smart tactics led her to become a sort of tyrant or feared ruler in the play. Although Abigail and Elizabeth have many differences they have similarities. Perhaps what they share in common the most is the love for John Proctor. According to Arthur Miller Abigail says this "I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!" This quote reveals the affair that John had with Abigail before. According to Abigail, John taught her what love was and she loved him after what had happened. Elizabeth was John's wife at the time of the events. She knew that John had cheated on her but she loved him so much that she stayed with him after she found out what had happened. She loved

him so much that she stuck with John until the very end and loved him after he was hung. The love both women had John was immensely great even though they didn't show it. In conclusion Arthur Miller showed us in his play, The Crucible, how far people are willing to go for their love of a man. Elizabeth loved John Proctor but Abigail's love for him was so strong, that even innocent people ended up paying the price for her selfishness. In the play Elizabeth's faith was strong and she was a more "good" figure as oppose to Abigail who was wicked and "evil". Although both women shared the same love for John, in the end John was killed and neither of the two females could be with him. Arthur Miller's play clearly showed how both religion and love can be amazing things or very destructive forces.