As soon as Lady Macbeth sees weakness in her husband, she gives Macbeth a piece of advice that sets the tone for most of the play; “False face must hide what the false heart doth/ know.” (1.7.95-96). Lady Macbeth wants him to deceive everyone into believing that they had nothing to do with the murder, and were completely innocent. When Lennox and Macduff arrive at Macbeth’s door, it is very noticeable that Macbeth is feeling guilty and regretful. However, Lady Macbeth diverts all attention away from
While she does not consider herself as the problem throughout the majority of the play, Abigail Williams proves to be the negative influence in The Crucible. Abigail’s problem goes back to her parents being “killed by Indians”(page 148).She feels that it is everyone’s fault this is why she is angry and heartless. She did not get that much affection or “love” growing up. John loving her or “having her” is a different change for her because she has never felt this way or been in this situation before she is attached. John feels horrible for putting his wife through all he has and he now wants to cut off the affair, Abigail on the other hand is not ready for it to end.
Eventually he makes an attempt, through Mary Warren’s testimony, to name Abigail as a fraud without revealing crucial information about the affair. When this fails, he confesses calling Abigail a “whore”, he then realises that it’s too late and matters have gone too far, not even the truth can stop what Abigail has caused. John’s confession leads to his conviction as a witch. The only way John and his wife can live is if he signs a confession to adultery
Similarly, Matilda also makes the same mistake as her mother by keeping her mom’s secret from the village. This unrevealed information result in the death of Mr. Watts and Dolores. Matilda was too occupied with thinking of the pain it would cause her mother to follow her conscience and do the right thing. Even though she has better intentions than her mother, she still performs an immoral act while knowing the error in her actions, “I wanted to, but I did nothing” (Lloyd 108). Likewise, Macbeth
11. Elizabeth’s lie to Danforth undermines her credibility because she is known as an honest character but the lie undermines what we thought of her and make the reader start questioning her actions and the things she says. 12. When John reveals his true relationship to Abigail, it shows that he still loves
Miller leaves the audience with a negative impression of the affect that these with power can have over others as he conveys the suffering that can result from such situations. Abigail lies to conceal her affair, and to prevent charges of witchcraft. Lowering her eyes to Parris, Abigail innocently pleads “we never conjured spirits”. Abigail shifts the focus away from herself, finding an avenue of power and takes full advantage of it. 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.
Even though Desdemona is naive, she does not deserve the suffering she experiences. She is abused verbally and physically by Othello and then finally smothered to death. Just because someone is naive and lacks the wisdom to prevent her downfall, she does not deserve to die. Since Desdemona's suffering is greatly out of proportion to her mistakes, she has this characteristic of a tragic
At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris accused Abigail of witch craft but to avoid punishment she passed the blame to Tituba saying “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (Miller 42). Abigail took no responsibility for her actions but blamed another person claiming, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” (Miller 43). Once Tituba confessed to witchcraft, Abigail joined in by accusing others of witchcraft so the negative attention would not be on the girls.
Hysteria in Salem In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, the superstition of witches existed in a society of strong Christian beliefs. Anybody who acted out of the ordinary was accused of being a witch and the accused would actually be forgiven if they blamed their accusations on another individual. In this play, a group of young girls is accused of being witches. These girls then blame other people in order to get out of trouble and even pretend to be "bewitched" in front of the court during a trial. This leads into the deaths of the innocent people who are accused and automatically found guilty.
Although his wife, Elizabeth Proctor is nice enough that can forgive his sin, John Proctor has his mind set that he will not confess to anyone else, in fear of running his good name. The affair between John and Abigail causes the start of chaotic witchery and accusation. Abigail became very jealous of Elizabeth Proctor. John realizes there is only way to stop all the witch hysteria in Salem, and that would be to confess adultery. He knows what he should do, but he continues to deny, until his wife is put into jail.