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Abigail Williams And The Crucible

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Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Miller wrote this because of his communist “witch hunt” situation. Miller had ties with communist and was suspected of it. He was summoned to the House of Un-American activities because of his connections, by Joseph McCarthy. Miller was condemned for 30 days without any evidence to support that he had any connections with communists. This was very similar in The Crucible where witch trials took place. People were condemned for practicing witchcraft without any evidence to show. During Millers time period, a senator named Joseph McCarthy led investigations to identify individuals for having connections with communism. This was in common to the Salem witch hunt in The Crucible, where the authorities would …show more content…

“Now look at you. All of you. We danced. and Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters and that is all…..”(pg. 1097). Abigail is conversing with the girls to never say a word about what they did in the forest. Abigail reveals that she and Betty were engaged in heretical activities in a nearby forest, who was led by Tituba. Tituba was a slave owned by Reverend Paris, from Barbados. “You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that...You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife.…”(pg. 1097). Betty was revealing that Abigail Williams was committing witchcraft. Abigail drank a cup of blood to eliminate John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail had an affair with John Proctor while his wife was ill. John no longer has feeling for Abigail williams, but she still likes him. “She made me do it! she made me and Betty do it….he makes me drink blood….”(pg. 1109). Abigail Williams is afraid to tell the truth about her conjuring spirits in the forest. Abigail blames someone else and lies. Tituba also afraid of facing consequences blames someone else. This blaming caused a domino affect, all started by Abigail Williams. In act one in The Crucible, Abigail Williams was the person for creating disorderly witchcraft in Salem. Abigail lied about herself to stay away from punishment, Betty also revealed that Abigail was partaking in

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Changing the Salem Hysteria Arthur Miller writes a play called The Crucible. In the play, there is a mass hysteria about witchcraft, all started by a group of girls lying about dancing in the woods. The people accused questioned and hanged if they did not confess. Two people that could have stopped the hysteria are Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor.

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Even with the play’s puritan disguise Miller was still sent on trial for suspicion of communism. If “The Crucible” had been written at another time it probably would not have gained much interest and there would not have been something to bring people to the realization that McCarthy’s accusations and methods were really somewhat uncalled for. Both the Salem Trials and McCarthyism were cause by the spread of something that created fear and paranoia and allowed chaos and revenge to take

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Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.

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During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.

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Adolescent minds are the most intelligent kind of mind. A young brain is filled with creativity, imagination and innocence. Though the thought process of a teen is assumed to be selfish there are other factors involved. A combination of these characteristics seems almost dangerous. One would undermine a juvenile to use these qualities to manipulate the court for their own selfish wishes or pleasures.

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In The Crucible, there could be many suspects to blame for the innocent deaths that happened in Salem. Proctor could be blamed for the innocent deaths because he lied about his affair with Abigail. Speaking of Abigail... in my opinion Abigail Williams is the one to blame for the innocent deaths because of the lies she told, the accusations she made, and the affair she had with John Proctor. Abigail Williams told many, many lies in The Crucible. The reason the witch trials began in the first place was because of the lie she told about being in the woods.

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By examining the characters of the play, I believe that the three major characters who should be blamed the most for the witch trials are Abigail Williams,

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Reasons Behind The Crucible Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.

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Abigail Williams’ Influence Is it okay for a person to lie and hurt other people just to keep him or herself safe? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Abigail Williams lies, a lot, to keep herself safe. Throughout the story, many people are accused of witchcraft. When a person is accused of witchcraft, it is very easy for them to get out of the accusation if they lie. The lies that are told shifts the belief of who knows witchcraft, and Abigail Williams uses those lies to gain influence over other people.

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Abigail seems like an innocent girl to everybody however it is later found out that she is one of the people who puts herself before others and makes things worse to get herself out of trouble. In act one Reverend Hale was questioning Tituba, a slave from Barbados. Tituba was explaining what the dancing and the disturbance in the woods and Abigail says she “wasn’t conjuring spirits”(Miller ??)

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Abigail is willing to accuse any one in her path of witchcraft even if it means taking the lives of those close to her. Abigail Williams’ emotional desire guides her actions even if it conflicts with morality. Abigail williams is driven to do unthinkable things because of her love for John Proctor. Abigail works in the Proctor’s home and while doing so she finds herself attracted to John. Abigail’s obsession with Proctor leads them to have an affair, which they try to keep

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Arthur Miller constructs his play upon the famous Salem witch trails. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. Miller wrote his drama during the brief reign of the American senator Joseph McCarthy whose bitter criticized anti- communism sparkled the need for the United States to be a dramatic anti- communist society during the early tense years of the cold war. By orders from McCarthy himself, committees of the Congress commenced highly controversial investigations against communists in the U.S similar to the alleged Salem witches situation. Convict communists were ordered to confess their crime and name others to avoid the retribution.

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Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.

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In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.

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Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.

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