Compare And Contrast Abigail Williams And John Proctor

The world is full of standards. There are standards for math, standards for science, and social standards as well. Standards keep the world intact and provide different expectations for people all around the world. However, through society’s standards, people hold personal standards for themselves and others around them. In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, each character differs from one another in their viewpoints concerning their social and religious standards in their puritan environment. For instance, the standard of Puritan New England consists of retaining and practicing Puritan beliefs at church and at home, emphasizing work instead of leisure, the strict interpretation of The Bible, and acting faithfully, honestly, as well as

Abigail Williams, the antagonist, and John Proctor, the protagonist, carry opposing viewpoints concerning their strict and somewhat suffocating Puritan principles; Abigail secretly disobeys them, while John fights against the wrongs enveloped in their standards during the witchcraft trials, which leads to timeless, crucial comprehensions. To begin, Abigail has a poor relationship with the Puritan standards as she goes against the Puritan values and practices in a completely outrageous and betraying fashion. She has neither respect nor loyalty towards Puritanism and allows the excitement and hype of “crying witchcraft” go to her head. Abigail is able to manipulate those around her into believing she is the victim in every situation. In The Crucible, it is stated that Abigail is “a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling. Now she is all worry and apprehension and propriety” (8). Her standard of betrayal begins at the start of the drama when she is dancing with numerous other girls from town, including Reverend Parris’ daughter, in

As stated in “Why I wrote The Crucible: An artist’s answer to Politics,” Miller writes that, “John Proctor the sinner might overturn his paralyzing personal guilt and become the most forthright voice against the madness around him was a reassurance to me, and I suppose, an inspiration: it demonstrated that a clear moral outcry could still spring even from an ambiguously unblemished soul.” John did in fact commit the sin of adultery in that he had an affair with Abigail, while married to Elizabeth. Additionally, John, being an honest, righteous, and realistic man, realizes Abigail’s true intentions and motives in her pretense of accusing innocent people of witchcraft, including Elizabeth. He was able to push through his guilt of committing adultery and speak out to Reverend Hale and the magistrates explaining that he accusations accompanied by the trials are a joke as well as far from the truth. John even confesses his sin in order to bring Abigail’s motive to the spotlight. Unfortunately, Elizabeth denies his sin thinking she is protecting his honor, leading to the girls pretending once again and running out to the water. Mary Warren falls under the pressure of Abigail and accuses John Proctor publicly to everyone present by the water. As a result of the false and