THE CRUCIBLE Character analysis Abigail Williams – Abigail Williams is an orphan, unmarried but has an affair with married man John Proctor. From the start of the play Abigail is a villain, she tells lies and manipulates everyone to fit her own little world, all so she gets her way, to get revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. Throughout the hysteria Abigail is driven by sexual desire, lust for power and jealousy. All of the young girls in Salem have no authority, the minister and other male adults are God’s representatives. The trials start, in which the girls act as though they have a direct connection to God, led by the now powerful Abigail.
On his way back he meets three witches who tell him his future “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be what thou art promised”. In the play the speaker who has the strong feelings is Lady Macbeth. The main theme in the laboratory is revenge as the speaker is willing to do anything to have her revenge, she woman seems to be a cold blooded murderer as she is not thinking about changing her mind. However the main theme in Macbeth is to do anything to achieve your ambition, even to go as far as to kill some one. The speaker in the laboratory uses an impatient and curious tone as she want
Curley's wife shattered Lennie and George's dream of a farm the same way Eve tempted Adam to eat from the forbidden tree, ending their paradise. By referring to her as 'Curley's wife' instead of giving her a name he depicts how women were second to men, inferring she was Curley's property. Another reason Steinbeck doesn't give her a name is to show that he believes women are minor compared to men; therefore they don't deserve a name. Steinbeck makes a reference to prostitutes in Sandy's place, illustrating the idea that women were just objects in the hands of men making them victims of society. He exposes the idea that "women are treated as nothing more than sexual objects" (Fisher and Silber 254).
In addition, he and his wife, Elizabeth, are going through a rough time in their marriage where there’s an obvious sense of distance between them. John Proctor evolved most significantly throughout the play because in the beginning his pride and fear of the town’s opinion caused him to keep his sin a secret; however by the end of the play, he is more concerned with his own integrity rather than his reputation. In the beginning of the play, John Proctor is torn between dealing with two different situations; the situation with Abigail who wants Proctor back along with jealousy of Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth; and he is also dealing with his strained marriage with his wife. As Abigail and the other girls begin with the hysterical acts of having hallucinations, Proctor is aware that the girls aren’t under any kind of witchcraft, and
Ruthlessly accusing others of witchcraft she changes her story as a desperate act of self-preservation, “I danced with the devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the devil!” Abigail develops a chant of names, becoming ‘enraptured, as though in a pearly light’ demonstrating her lust for power and attention. As early as Scene one, we learn of the motives behind Abigail’s actions as she tries to get the girls to agree on a story to protect herself.
Guilt corrodes consciences and adversely affects others unless addressed honestly so that the sinner fins forgiveness. Sin leads to guilt and the sinner must find a way to appease his guilty conscience. In The Crucible, Proctor commits adultery with Abigail Williams, but his initial reaction to his sin is to hide his iniquity. He is dishonest with his wife, Elizabeth, when she questions him about his affair. He even gets mad at her, saying that he “will not have [her] susp[ect] any more” (Miller, 54).
Mike McCracken American Literature Who is to blame? In The Crucible, the character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials. Abigail is a mean and vengeful person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Throughout the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth had employed Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out.
Witch Woman or Wonderful Woman? In Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, the town of Salem is in the middle of a deadly, crazy, experience known as the Salem witch trials. Many of the local townspeople change because of the trials, and not necessarily in a good way. The character of Elizabeth Proctor transitions from a self absorbed woman to a more caring wife through the change in her attitude towards her husband, the emotions that she portrays, and her motives toward the witch trials. Elizabeth Proctor is married to a man named John Proctor.
He knows what he should do, but he continues to deny, until his wife is put into jail. John cares about his reputation, but he must confess his sin, in order to stop the frenzy in Salem and save his wife. After he confesses, he encourages his wife to do the same, “Elizabeth, tell the truth, I have confessed it!” John says. John needs to muster up all his courage to confess the adultery, and it is not easy for Qu- Page2 him. John is a vainglorious man, but love makes him brave to face his sin.
In an endeavor to execute an innocent woman, Abigail Williams falsely accuses the wife of John Proctor of witchcraft in order to have a future with her husband. Abigail gains the power to accuse other women of witchcraft because she was supposedly a witch who worked for the Devil. She is then given the power of a deity and is once described as a “saint”(50) and when “Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel”(50). Once she gains this unforeseen amount of power, Abigail uses her power by seeking vengeance on Elizabeth Proctor, in an attempt to have her killed and out of the way, because of her sexual desire for John Proctor. She even says, “It’s she [Elizabeth] who put me out, you cannot pretend it were you”(21).