From 1692 to 1693 a series of terrible trials occurred, These trials consisted of accusations of witchcraft. Today, these trials are known as the Salem Witch Trials. As a result of these trials, 19 citizens, 14 women, 5 men, and even one dog were put to death. The play, The Crucible, was written by Arthur Miller in 1952. In this play the characters have so many different characteristics from each other. Abigail is seen as a bad person while John Proctor is seen as the good and honest character; even though he made some bad decisions.Throughout the play the two characters Abigail and John Proctor show many differences in the characteristics of: lying/truthfulness, self-sacrifice/selfishness, and fear/courage. Through the characteristics …show more content…
It is very clear that there are different characteristics between John and Abby. Abby is a liar, and John is truthful. The two characters John Proctor and Abigail portray contrast between the characteristics of fear/courage. When Abigail and her friends are caught dancing in the woods with animal blood and children, she is scared. She begins pointing fingers at others to distract from her own faults. This shows that Abigail is a coward for not accepting her own mistakes. Out of fear of losing what she has with John she begins to blame his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of witchcraft. She blames Elizabeth and hopes to get her out of her life so she can be with John. Her fear caused her to see no other option but to run away. Parris says, “Mark it, sir, Abigail had close knowledge of the town, and since the news of Andover had broken here-”(Miller 127). Throughout the play John Proctor shows an extreme amount of courage. He confesses to having an affair with Abigail in order to save his wife's life. He speaks up to Reverend Parris even though no one has the guts to. He chooses to be hanged rather than living in shame with his name on the church door. “Because it is my name! Because i cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because i am not worth the dust on the fet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given my soul; leave me my name!”(Miller 143) Proctor sacrifices his good name
Arthur Miller states "Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets." The quote of this meaning is that people are falsely accused, but they may be innocent. The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play based upon events that occurred in Salem circa 1690s. Through Abigail Williams, Miller was trying to state the injustice in Salem because she targeted the innocent people, leading to their death. Many of the conflicts that occurred in the play were caused by Abigail Williams. Abigail's jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor was triggered by Elizabeth's husband John Proctor. Abigail was a hypocrite because she used the name of the Lord for her own interests. She lied in order to save herself by denying her involvement in witchcraft. The character selected is Abigail Williams because of her three main character flaws which are jealousy, hypocrisy, and mendacity.
The Salem Witch Trials were one of the most embarrassing moments of history. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows how people can throw away their judgments over fictitious ideas such as witches. The main character, John Proctor, overcomes challenges in life including the secret affair with a teenager, Abigail Williams. This event caused John to eventually come to admit his sin of adultery. John Proctor’s last act in the play was an act of honor. On the other hand, his actions through out the play were noble.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play set in the late 1600’s. The play is based on the events that occurred during the “Salem Witch Trials.” As a result, the council members bring the townspeople to the church to confront the problem at hand. In the play, a group of girls accuse townspeople of practicing witchcraft. One of the main characters, John Proctor, has an affair with a young girl named Abigail Williams. As a result of Proctor ending his affair with Abigail, Abigail accuses Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of using witchcraft to stab her. Therefore,as a result from the stabbing, Elizabeth is arrested. In an attempt to free his wife, Proctor self-admittedly confesses his affair. When the church council brings Elizabeth Proctor forward, she denies the accusations in order to protect John’s reputation. Following the accusations of witchcraft, proctor is then arrested. John is given the option to confess to witchcraft, whether it is true or not, in order to save his life. After signing the confession, John is informed that his confession must be made public. After
The witch trials were a very interesting part of the early 1600’s. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller was written for the time period 1620. He wrote this play for the purpose of displaying communism and showing the red scare that was happening to his community in the 1950s. He wanted to show the similarities of the two time periods. He wanted to show that what happened in the salem trials was happening with the communist trials. He took historical accounts from Salem Massachusetts and created characters on what he read. Two characters he wrote about were sweet Mary and a manipulative girl named Abby. Although Mary Warren and Abby in this play, seem different, Mary is a meek and quiet girl while Abigail Williams is an aggressive girl who likes to get her way,they both play a part in why the salem witch trials happened in The Crucible.
Johns tragedy to his hero life was his lust for Abigail while married to Elizabeth. Abigail speaks of their affair when John comes to see what has happened with Betty and to send Mary home; “ABIGAIL: I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near! Or did I dream that? It's she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you do now!” (Miller 21), a couple lines later John tries to stop it, “PROCTOR: Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach of you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.” (Miller 22). In Act Three, while they are in court John confesses. He says, “I have known her, sir. I have known her.” (Miller 102), that actually means he has had sex with her. After John confesses his ‘good name’ takes a turn for the worse, and he is no longer the John Proctor everyone trusted. “PROCTOR: … I have rung the doom of my good name…” (Miller 103), this is when John, and everyone else know he is no longer the ‘hero’ he is thought to be.
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is written about the Salem Witch Trials back in 1692. It began with a group of girls messing around in the woods and when someone walks down and catches them dancing, which is against the rules, they were accused of performing witchcraft. This is what started the Salem witch trials. As the play goes on it tells the story about the accusations of witchcraft and the punishments results of the accusations. Throughout this play there were two main characters, John Proctor and Abigail Williams. John Proctor was a father of three boys, married to Elizabeth, had sexual relations with Abigail, and tends to stands up for what he believes is right. In the play, Proctor comes across many problems that are ethical dilemmas, one of the biggest is his reputation, and deciding whether to lie to stay alive or tell the truth and die.
In the play, John Proctor was a common farmer living with a wife and three children. However, Proctor has a significant secret, which was his affair with the young girl that works for him and his wife. Abigail was forbidden to work for the Proctors again when John’s wife Elizabeth found out about the affair. This creates Abigail to loathe Elizabeth Proctor. She is now motivated to get John to love her and only her. One night Abigail and other girls from the town are involve themselves with witchcraft; Abigail wishes death upon Elizabeth Proctor because she wanted John’s love for
Abigail originally commits these sins because she is in love with John Proctor. When she had a one time affair with John, she immediately fell in love. John, however, did not feel the same way and only saw it as lust. When Elizabeth Proctor fired her from her service, Abigail create a vendetta to ruin her life. When Abigail originally gets questioned about why she was fired from Goody Proctor’s service she instinctively gets defensive about how Goody Proctor only tells lies. Abigail tries to make John Proctor doubt his loyal wife by saying, “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a-” (Miller 15). This quote perfectly exemplifies the malice of Abigail. In this quote, she spits lies for the ultimate goal to marry ‘the love of her life’. Abby’s envious attitude toward Elizabeth ensures the fact that she will not stop to get what she wants. Abigail also creates a poppet in court and uses Mary Warren as bait to plant in the Proctor’s house, which leads to Elizabeth Proctor getting taken by As evident here, her extreme jealousy makes her turn to petty name calling in order to create hesitation in John’s mind and a slight chance that Abigail might be his true
Throughout life, a human being experiences different events, situations and emotions; and with he or she carries a certain mindset of how to react and deal with significant moments. Often as with conflicting personalities, once they converse beliefs and ideas with one another, a disagreement is bound to occur. Despite each side having valid points supporting their arguments, both sides had counteracting philosophies. Due to this separation of understanding, there is no true winner and a right side is difficult to declare. As in Arthur Millers The Crucible sets a conflict between adolescent Abigail Williams and the prideful John Proctor.
The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller; set in a town named Salem. Where a bloody and vengeful time period took place. Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor are two characters from this play, they exhibit the many different answers to these questions. These two characters have very different personalities. Abigail, for example, is mean, and somewhat hateful.
In The Crucible a historical fiction play by Arthur Miller, Miller describes what life was like in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in the year of 1692. In Salem there were multiple accusations of witchcraft. These accusations were made by a small group of girls who were only seeking attention. Though it may seem harsh coming from a group of puritans, from these accusations came imprisonment, and death. Throughout the play Miller portrays each of the characters as either static, or dynamic. Elizabeth Proctor, who is John Proctor’s wife is accused of taking part in witchcraft. Her accuser being Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams, as in the woman John Proctor has had an affair with. Throughout the play Elizabeth is revealed to be a dynamic
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, which takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, has examples of gossip, lies, adultery, and sin throughout the whole play. John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor, a married couple, were at a point in their relationship that was slowly diminishing. Their maid, Abigail Williams, had been disengaged from her job by Elizabeth Proctor. Though John and Elizabeth Proctor’s marriage was diminishing, they both loved each other dearly. Abigail has been charged for witchcraft by the courts and has confessed to witchcraft.
Between the years 1692 and 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft. Twenty of those people were executed for defending themselves against those ludacris claims. This small part of US. history was all caused by one boy-crazed teen - Abigail Williams. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play addressing the mass hysteria that swept Salem during that time. Miller writes about 17 year old Abigail Williams who has an affair with 30 year old John Proctor. After Proctor’s wife fires her, Abigail goes crazy, reverting to “witchcraft” trying to get rid of her. This was the start of what we know as the Salem Witch Trials, a period of mass hysteria and delusion. This play was used to display the
She would try and make up faux stories to cover up her practicing witchcraft. As the other girls were becoming involved they started feeling guilty. Abigail immediately threatened them that she would come with a sharp reckoning that make them shudder at night. She wouldn’t play around when it came to getting in trouble or ruining her chances with John Proctor. Elizabeth being the merely opposite, was a honest, sweet, reliable wife. When deciding his execution John offered for Elizabeth to speak of an incident that had occurred because he knew she would tell the complete truth, even if his life was on the line. He said to the judges, “In her life sir, she will never lie” (Miller, Act 3,111) they are both clearly far apart from each other characteristics in differences, although they have a very common similarity. Loving John, he commits adultery with Abigail and testifies that he has never had an affair with her. Abigail loved for all the wrong reasons, her uncle, Mr. Parris, accused her of committing a crime with John, but she would blame it on Elizabeth. Hating each other would be another similarity, Abigail trying to get with Elizabeth’s wife. While Elizabeth is trying her best to get her husband to love and respect her once again. She never gave up on getting John to focus on her again. For stating “You’ll tear it free-
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, citizens of Salem, Massachusetts undergo an unfair tragedy many refer to as the Salem Witch Trials. Innocent people were sentenced to death for a sin he/she did not commit. With this, many tensions rose in families and friends, changing relationships over the town. One of these relationships were between John Proctor and Abigail Williams.