Moreover, when Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about being fired by Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail denies any wrongdoings. She accuses Elizabeth as “a lying, cold, sniveling women” who spreads rumor about to degrade her social status. Abigail’s motivation in the witchcraft is thus revealed, which is jealousy towards Elizabeth. As Abigail successfully frames other people for being responsible about the witchcraft, she further imposes her domination over the other girls. Her domination is demonstrated physically and verbally.
Afterwards, Abigail's friend, Mary Warren, tells the court that everything was made up. Abigail and the other girls accuse her of witchcraft. Warren is terribly upset how her so called friends could so easily deceive
Also it shows that the other girls as well as Marry Warren are scared of Abigail as they know that she is able to put the blame on anybody. Miller uses the power of fear to present Abigail as a powerful character as she uses it to control the other girls as they are frightened of her as she can get them killed. Miller uses the scene of the court room to emphasise this fear. The court room is a very powerful place and it is where people are judged to see if they are innocent or not. If they were innocent they would live and if they were found to be guilty they would be killed.
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.
The lack of power that women have in Salem sets the stage for hysteria. The female characters long for a voice in the community, and attempt to gain one by using their court powers to blame those around them and lying to gain attention from the community. Due to the very little power women have in Salem, the women find the need to blame others in order to be heard. While Abigail is being accused of performing witchcraft, she tries to blame Tituba. Abigail states, “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a sitch on my body!
[pic] As an actress playing the role of Mary Warren in ‘The Crucible’ I would find the following moments difficult to communicate effectively to an audience. Arthur Miller describes her as ‘She is seventeen, a subservient, naive, lonely girl.’ I think that the line ‘Abby, we’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the truth, Abby! You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things!’ would be hard to perform because Mary has to feel really frightened and she also has to feel as if she is guilty of committing a crime.
When the trials began, many accused others of witchcraft and this lead to them accusing even more. The new news of the entire witchcraft epidemic in Salem left many disturbed and trying to eliminate the bad of the town. The novel allows the reader to reflect on the life of the Salem people and understand the happenings. One example is the reflection of the lives of teenage girls in the puritan society, sent by God to marry and have a family, lacking the happiness of teen hood. Thus, explaining a
In “The Crucible”, the girls accused people of being witches just to make themselves look better to others to gain respect. “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (Miller 196). The direct quote from “The Crucible” means children who are overtaken by social fears have the power to control the life or death of a single individual, by accusing them of witchcraft. Many women were killed in the town of Salem during the trials and the ones who weren't killed had their reputations forever lowered. Everyone who was charged by McCarthy had his or her own reputation diminished also.
In a fictional work based on the history, we see an enactment of the frenzy. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller Abigail Williams force others to join in witchcraft. She only thinks about her self and she loved John Proctor that’s why she was jealous to his wife Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail Williams also force other girls to obey her words. "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.
Sean McDermott Mrs. Scuilli English 11 14 October 2011 The Power of Women in The Crucible In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he shows what had happen in the colonial Massachusetts what was happening again during his time and the time of the Red scare. During the play Miller uses the role of women and their struggle to gain and fall from power affects everyone around them. In The Crucible, the female character, were very powerless, but when the events of the witch trials allow them to come into power on the theocracy, and their power has very negative effects on everyone in Salem. Abigail Williams, the most important witness of the Salem witch trials, gains power through abusing the emotions of the other girls in the town. Miller