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Abigail And Elizabeth In The Crucible

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“Inside each of us there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And on cannot exist without the other”. (Eric Burdon) In Miller’s play The Crucible Abigail and Elizabeth both had to choose between good and evil. In the play Abby tries to do witchcraft to kill John Proctor's wife Elizabeth. She almost gets caught doing it so she accuses many people of bewitching her and got many people hanged. She accuses Elizabeth of bewitching her to kill her. The court will not kill her because she is pregnant but John Procter ends up being hanged because he was accused. In the play Elizabeth the example of good. She is kind, loving, and selfless. Abigail is the example of evil. She is mean, a killer, and a liar.

Elizabeth is an example of goodness in the play. She is kind. She shows her kindness when she puts her children to sleep. “Elizabeth is heard softly singing to her children”. (act2 p.487) She also shows her kindness when she is sad that a rabbit dies. “It hurt my heart to strip her poor rabbit. (act 2 line 24) She is als a loving person. She …show more content…

She is mean. She shows that she is mean by threatening the lives of the girls if they say anything about witchcraft. “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” (act 1 line 460) She also shows that she is mean when she is coping Mary making the pastors in the court believe that Mary is a witch. “Mary- Abby stop it, Abby- Abby stop it”.(act 3) Abby is a killer. She killed a lot of people during the salem witch trials including John Procter. Finally Abby is a liar. Abby lies many times in the play. One of those times is when Abby tells her uncle, Parris, that she was just dancing when she really was practicing witchcraft. “ It were spart uncle.” (act 1 line 124) Abigail is a very bad example to

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Also, throughout the play Abigail accuses many people of witchcraft in order to save herself. An example of this is when Hale questions Abigail in act 1, and Abigail accuses several girls of

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“She's a witch!” If you heard someone say that over and over again would you start to think differently about that person? Abigail is manipulative and a lair. Hev Parris found her and all the young girls of the town dancing naked in the woods, She claimed that someone made her do it a witch she said. This started a bigger lie, she started to blame anyone that crossed her on being a witch.

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Even knowing the weakness of Mary, Abigail screamed accusations : "Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it's God's work I do. "(Act 3, Pg.115). Mary escapes by accusing John, which leads to his conviction and hanging, ironically ruining Abby's

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Elizabeth’s bravery and strength is a huge part of who she is. She is a source of goodness among so many others who chose to go along with the madness. Values as strong as these provide a shed of light in the midst of something as detrimental as the witch trials, where the poor values of others cost dozens of

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In the beginning of the story Abigail Williams was in love with John Proctor and was willing to do anything to be with him. She was caught dancing in the woods and was accused of witchcraft. She started to blame everyone in town she didn’t like for being a witch. She told all the girls in town that she would come in the night and kill them if they tell anyone about what they were doing in the woods. She had accused Goody Proctor of witch craft so she could have John to herself.

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Do the concepts of good and evil exist? Many people would say yes. In late 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, these concepts were truly put to the test. In the Puritan culture that was descended from the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620, the people of New England were expected to live a life that was strictly devoted to Biblical dictates and ideals. Unfortunately, the Puritan mindset of the time period evolved in such a way that a belief in the possibility of the devil's interference in people's lives, in evil spirits, witches and warlocks, became a part of everyday life.

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In act 4 of The Crucible Hale declares to Elizabeth, “Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it” (Miller1326). This is very accurate; life is so precious and it goes by so fast. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, many innocent people are falsely accused of witchcraft and their lives are taken away as a result. The Crucible shows that the Puritans are quick to judge and do not listen to their fellow townspeople during cases of life or death. People die because of unjust reasons, and the theme of unresolved conflicts between people can have tragic results is shown very strongly by Abigail Williams through her affair with John, her complications with Elizabeth, and

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For example, Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor who was married to Elizabeth Proctor at the time and got discovered. However, Abigail Williams still “loved” John Proctor and was rejected. Later, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft, an action she uses as her revenge. These acts of cruelty ultimately affect all the victims and their families in this play as their consequence is to be hung. The vulnerability and sense of helplessness are all revealed in the victims as they are facing their

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“Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar,” (12). Abigail views Elizabeth as an obstacle between her and John and in act 2 Abigail tries to murder Elizabeth. “He has lifted the poppet’s skirt and his eyes widen in astonished fear,” (74) Cheever is horrified by the discovery of a needle in the belly of Mary Warren’s poppet. The needle in the poppet represents murder and Mary admits that Abigail sat beside her as she made the poppet. Clearly trying to kill someone for personal gain can not be denied as satanic work, but while Abigail did fail, using Mary as her pawn is still evil in its own right.

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Abigail forces the girls of Salem to dance in the woods with her to help conjure spirits and make the charm to kill Goody Proctor. Abigail threatens the girls right after Betty took fright by saying, “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, 144). Later on as the trials prolong Mary Warren turns on Abby and is telling the court that she lied. When Abigail then accuses Mary of witchcraft she turns back to Abby and obeys her once again.

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In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Abigail is most to blame in the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials is based on a period of time where the devil’s work has found its way into the Christian city of Salem, causing everybody accused of witchcraft to confess, or be hanged. Abigail, a teenage girl at the time, has fell madly in love with a man by the name of John Proctor. John is a married man, but in his past he has had an affair with Abigail which nobody knew of. Abigail’s immaturity shows throughout the story, along with major jealousy over Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife.

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“One lie is enough to question all truths,” starting from the time the audience finds out that Abigail lied about being naked in the forest in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, readers have a hard time believing anything and everything that comes out of her mouth henceforth. At first, it is difficult to find a motivation for Abigail’s lies, but as the plot unfolds, her motives as well as the motives of the other townsfolk who lie are revealed. According to Arthur Miller in The Crucible, circumstances that incite fear, love, greed, hatred, and ego motivate people to lie; these motives have always existed and all trace back to one common root, the desire to protect someone, either yourself or someone else. I believe that if one lies to protect a

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