Anne Bradstreet Character Analysis

Society plays a significant role in shaping an individual’s character. Human beings have learned to communicate and understand through the context of their languages, traditions, behaviors, beliefs, and values. Their cultural experiences and values have shaped the way they see themselves and what they come to cherish. When individuals are part of a cultural group, they learn the ways of that culture, enabling them to feel like as though they belong to the community. This concept is illustrated in works by authors such as Arthur Miller, Anne Bradstreet, and Mark Twain. Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, Bradstreet’s “Verses Upon the Burning of our House,” and Miller’s The Crucible demonstrate both the positive and negative effects society and external

Raised by monotonous Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts, young Abigail Williams - a troublesome teenager infatuated with ex-lover (and married farmer) John Proctor - saw witchcraft as not only an exhilarating and enthralling practice, but as an opportunity to dispose of John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. Misguided by the cultural principles of the Puritan community, Abigail lashes out and has an adulterous affair with John Proctor. Thus, Abigail’s Puritan and cultural affiliations led her to act hastily, as she was not only entranced by her romanticized affair with John Proctor but misguided by the practices of her Puritan community. As shown in the first act of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, John Proctor’s destructive behavior and inherently manipulative conduct mislead Abigail into believing that her affair with Proctor was one of respect and mutual devotion. For Proctor, however, their relationship belonged in the past—while he may have been attracted to her, he desperately tried to put the incident behind him (Miller 22). Abigail, in contrast, had no such sense of closure. Furthermore, in Abigail and Proctor 's first exchange, Abigail declared, “I look for John Proctor that … put knowledge in my heart” (Miller 24). This desperate confession suggests that Abigail was blind to the harsh realities of