This shows Abigails desire to belong not only to proctor but also within the community, by taking Elizabeth’s position. Thomas Putnam seeks revenge on Francis Nurse by accusing his wife, Rebecca, of murdering Ann Putnam’s babies through supernatural means. This shows us that Thomas Putnam is accusing Rebecca nurse of murdering Ann Putnam’s babies in order to feel a sense of belonging in the community and create anarchy in the community. In Act four, Reverend Hale reports that the town is in great confusion because of the hysteria, using visual images of homeless orphans wondering the streets, abandoned cattle and rotting crops, showing that no one belongs in
Abigail and the girls pretend Mary is bewitching them again which make Mary breakdown and accuse john of being a witch. After being tried as a witch and told he was going to get hanged he has a chance to confess and live but he chooses to die and keep his name. As a result of the lies and the affair between john and Abigail there were a lot of innocent people killed and hurt even those who they claimed they loved. Abigail and Elizabeth are two very different characters but have some similarities. Both Abigail and Elizabeth show determination in order to get what they want, and they are both strong
The witch hunt led to Abigail having a destructive power trip. She controlled the town with fear. She acted as a ringleader to a bunch of scared girls. “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.” (Miller 20) She controlled them and used the Court Officials to do her deeds. She not only acted as a tyrant but she pulled other people into her mess.
When Abigail was talking to Proctor she says “She is telling lies to about me! She is a cold sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”(Page 15, act one) she is basically showing her jealousy towards his wife. This stirred up the witch trials because Abigail wanted to be with Proctor and she would do just about anything. The fact that John proctor realizes all of his flaws and confesses to all of his sins is another reason why he can be considered a tragic hero. When Proctor had to go to the court to get his wife out of being accused of upholding witchcraft he eventually confess to his sins he committed.
Have you won him too?” [p. 151], she is referring to the townspeople of Salem as the hypocrites and questioning John’s integrity and strength. Further, she takes it upon herself to redress these hypocrisies; however, she herself is a hypocrite due to her fornication and adultery with Proctor, yet she considers herself holy. By informing the reader that her motive was not only revenge but to "cleanse" the town, Miller deprives the reader of the opportunity to form his own opinion on the conflict of the story. If the reader does not know that Abigail had this plan, than he has the ability to expand his knowledge and wonder if the conflict was real or a
Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption.” says Danforth to the crowd because John Proctor was standing up to him and he ripped up he confession and speaking of the truth. The vindictive trait that is present in McCarthy, who distorted evidence and manipulated people. An example of a person who was innocently accused is Rebecca Nurse from “The Crucible” who represents Lillian Hellmann. Rebecca was as woman with up holding morals, which is evident when she refused to confess the names of other “witches”. She does not want to get caught in a web of lies.
While In court with Mary Warren, Abigail and the girls say, “Why do you come, yellow bird?” (106). They claim that Mary Warren is sending the devil upon them. They all establish lie in order to be heard over Mary Warren. The girls and Abigail feel as though since they lack power in the community that lying is the only way they can gain that power and feel as though they impact the community. Through all of history women have struggled to have a voice.
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power”(Abraham Lincoln). The corrupted, abuse power in ways unthinkable to many. Those in power justify dehumanizing others to maintain the illusion of unquestionable dominance; however, once the powerless are exposed to the truth they gain the authority to transcend the fallacious pre-existing hierarchy, which frees them to create themselves in a ‘truly human world’ The abuse of power is nevermore evident in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Nolan’s film, Memento and Findley’s novel Not Wanted On the Voyage. Powerful characters dehumanize others to maintain the illusion of dominance. Isolation, enables the powerless to awaken to true power through the realization of the truth.
That the play “The Crucible” is about the challenge of belonging is evident by its plot. Millers craft is that he draws his audience into the turmoil of belonging and not belonging through escalating conflict amongst the play’s characters. This is achieved through obvious changes in tension, dialogue and character dynamics as expressed in the audio excerpts. The first of these begins in act II with the inturuption of a domestic argument between John and Elizabeth Proctor in their home, by the intrusion of Mr Hale. What follows is an example of a constant theme throughout “The Crucible” – The contrast of private and public environments.
Abigail deceives her closest friends and many other well respected townspeople. She manipulates the whole town and begins to gain power and control over everyone. Soon, Abigail starts to get revenge on the people from her past by accusing them of witchcraft. She goes after Proctors wife Elizabeth. Abigail previously worked for the Proctors until Elizabeth became aware of the affair between her and John.