Examples Of Fear In The Crucible

Throughout The Crucible, fear and hysteria destroy all of Salem’s good judgement. The people who live in Salem do not know how to handle the madness that is taking place. They believe that the only way to attempt to handle it is to give in to it. This is where it is shown that fear can be so much more than fear. It can be used for political benefit, personal gain, and even as ammunition for revenge. Fear can be used for political benefit. Judge Danforth does this by not changing his verdict of those who were charged with witchcraft. He is the head judge of the court in Salem and he makes sure to be strict with the law. It is shown that at the beginning of the play, he believes the girls when they talk about witchcraft because why would they lie about something like this? When Hale challenges Judge Danforth about this unlikely story, he changes his

Abigail Williams, the girl who started all of this madness, used this hysteria to get revenge on John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. John and Abigail had an affair together and Elizabeth found out. Elizabeth then fired Abigail from being their servant to protect her and her husband’s marriage. Abigail wanted revenge, so she made plans to get rid of Elizabeth to have John all to herself. Abigail even says to Parris’ daughter Betty,“…let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a point reckoning that will shudder you” (1137). This shows that Abigail does not care what lengths she has to go to get John back. She would even murder his wife to do so. This is when Abigail convicts Elizabeth of witchcraft by using the Proctors’ new servant to give Elizabeth a doll. Abigail uses this doll to accuse Elizabeth of using voodoo on her. Abigail uses the fear of witchcraft and the people’s fear of her to get revenge on Elizabeth in hopes to get what she wanted the most: John