In Arthur Millers play The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor are two very different characters. Abigail being a selfish and heartless girl, Elizabeth is a kind and honest woman. Abigail used her own personal grudge against Elizabeth motive for accusing her of witchcraft. Their hatred had been long standing, mainly because John Proctor Elizabeth’s husband was having an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth’s coldness was the main cause of her husband’s disloyalty but she forgives him and does what is possible to keep her family together which is the most significant thing to her.
In The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller set in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, Elizabeth Proctor evolves from a judgmental wife to a woman who recognizes her own imperfections and learns forgiveness. Initially, Elizabeth is an austere wife that remains suspicious and distant from her husband unable to forget the horrors of his last affair with Abigail Williams. This eventually leads to John Proctor’s weariness of the constant tension between them and addresses her accusatory nature when he admits that “[he] cannot speak but [he] is doubted, every moment judged for lies” (2.163-64). Often in marriages strained by a past affair, the atmosphere of the relationship feels awkward and forced. In the Proctors’ situation, the affair ended 7 months prior but due to Elizabeth’s
Another reason their relationship is dangerous is that if John Procter were to prosecute against Abigail Williams saying that she is in fact a witch, Abigail Williams could very easily tell the entire town that she and Procter have been having an affair to get revenge on him. It wouldn’t really affect her too much, but on the contrary, it would ruin his reputation in the town and his relationship with his wife. Later in Act I, Abigail is being “interrogated” by Reverend Hale and she claims “I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m a proper girl!” (Miller 40) in this statement, Abigail is defending herself that she never sold herself to the devil.
We meet John Proctor whom Abigail is in love with. He does not love her back, he is married and has children, but she still keeps believing Proctor will be hers. In line 471 she says: "You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!" Everything she does is for the sake of love. Which is not an excuse at all, but now it makes more sense why she gets into trouble connected with witchcraft and involves the girls in it.
I believe that when they first got married there was some kind of love in their relationship, but when they realized they could not conceive a child Don Elias blamed his wife. Even though it was most likely he was the infertile one, he treated her as if all she was good for was to take care of him like a maid. This is what made her a hard, bitter old woman. Dona Matilida believes it was her fault, and feels guilty about not being able to provide him with a child he so greatly desired. This caused her to turn a blind eye to what he was doing around town with other women.
When Nick and Daisy are alone for the first time she states, “Well, I’ve had a very bad time…and I’m pretty cynical about everything” (21). Daisy speaks as if her life is completely miserable and she also doesn’t seem to believe that any of it is her fault. What a lie. From the very beginning of their [Tom and Daisy] marriage, Daisy knew Tom was unfaithful, “If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily and say ‘Where’s Tom gone?’ and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door” (82). Before this line, Jordan remarks that she’s “never seen a girl so mad about her husband,” it’s more like Daisy was mad with worry that her husband was off with some other woman.
Abigail first tells the lie “No one was naked! You mistake yourself, Uncle!” (The Crucible, I.9) Then she goes on and accuses Tituba of witchcraft to cover her trail of lies, starting from dancing naked in the forests to Elizabeth stabbing the poppet with the needle. Elizabeth is just as bad with her only lie. When she is asked to answer a question about the affair with her husband and Abigail, she lies to protect him. She is thinking if she tells the court the truth, then she is going to lose
For instance, the purpose of the play within the play is to show that women are not always faithful; Lucy and even Julie, who is found to have a lesbian partner she wants to keep true to, have demonstrated this outside the play. This knowledge contributes to Lewis’ transformation, as he now knows what he wants to do, and understands how to handle himself and
Hale claims that Tituba is “‘selected’” and is “‘chosen to cleanse our village’” (848). She knows that by calling out names of people who are the “‘devil’s agents’” (848), she will not be in trouble. She cries out, “and there was Goody Good” and “‘Goody Osburn’” (848), in front of everyone. Being that she is God’s representative to accuse the witches, she has the power to make everyone believe in her. Before, no one will listen or take her seriously to a word she said, but she now has a position of authority from which to name the secret sins of other Salem residents.
Married to John, and has 3 sons. Conflicts she encountered: * Elizabeth and John Proctor are in conflict with one another because John has had an affair with Abigail Williams, a young woman who used to work for them and whom Elizabeth fired due to her involvement with John. * Abigail hates Elizabeth for firing her and taking her away from close proximity to John, which causes her to be one of the wrongly accused people of witchcraft. How did she deal with the conflict? * Elizabeth dealt with her husband’s affair by coming to realize that she may have been partly at fault for her husband's unfaithfulness, because she was not always as warm and loving as she could have been.