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Examples Of Power In The Crucible

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The Crucible Power Essay In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller that is about the Salem Witch Trials there are many different characters that have an effect on the play which is mainly because of the power they hold . A part of the power is from the accusers that try to make people believe that certain people have done witchcraft. People believe them out of the fear of their life and for they are not accused as well. The people of the court that are higher up will have the most power out of everyone because of their status they choose whether or not the person who is being falsely accused, their say will go above all others because of their status. The accusers keep their power because of the people that follow them out of fear and panic …show more content…

They also keep believing Abigail because what has been done can not be taken back and be turned back to normal. It has already started and must be done which helps her keep her power for a longer period of time. Which was being shown when Mary was trying to confess about them being dishonest Danforth believes Abigail more than Mary as seen in the play “You would still go on with this?” (Act Three pg 103 Line 3). Danforth is being biased about Abigail because they work together trying to accuse and trail people that are being trialed of witchcraft and they can not take back what has been going on. She then threatens Danforth about him not believing her will be a mistake as seen “Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits? Beware of it” (Act Three pg 108 Line 7). She threatens Danforth and starts to make it seem like she sees something to strike fear into him for she does not get disproven and keeps the power that she has held from the beginning of the play til the present event that they start to believe to be true. Even though Proctor tries to deny the actions they are doing he still does not believe that Abigail is being dishonest. While this is all being done the girls noticed that Proctor and Mary are not convincing Danforth the girls start to fear on not being on Abigails side for protection which makes the court believe her and keep the coercive power that she has as seen “Mary, do you send this shadow on me? (Act three pg 109 Line 2). This switches the outcome of the question and keeps her in power and control of the situation because of the girls that are following her lead. Abigail's actions that should be seen as unrealistic are believed by the fear of those who want to not be

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As Proctor pressures Mary to utilize informational power against Abigail, but she fails to effectively use her power within the court. Starting Act III, Proctor takes Mary to court to present a signed deposition as evidence against Abigail. Proctor uses coercive power to force Mary to use her informational power, for if she doesn’t testify she will be punished. Proctor’s use of coercive power goes against Judge Danforth’s use of coercive and expert power on Mary. Danforth places Mary in a challenging position by stating “you are either lying now, or were lying in the court, and in either case, you have committed perjury and you will go to jail for it”, by saying this he threatens Mary to not recant her statement and instead stick to it for it she doesn’t she will go to hell

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Over time, she keeps lying and accusing other people other people in, but when the truth was being revealed, she ran away to a different place fearing her bad reputation in town. Some people only care about how their names are seen, and they do not care about the truth. For example, Deputy Governor Danforth knew that the truth about witchcraft, but he refused to announce it because he fears that his reputation will get ruined. Next, Abigail caused many people to be hanged so she denies the truth and

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During court, Mary said she heard “the other girls screaming” and that Danforth “seemed to believe them” so she followed suit (Miller 107). Abigail and her friends saw the court believing their act, so they continued with their theatrics. This same display of emotion from Proctor also works at convincing Danforth Abigail’s words are not to be trusted, and her accusations against his wife have no

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Abigail Williams is a Reverend's daughter and Judge Danforth is as he claims. Their reputations are all they truly have, and both induce fear to maintain it. In the beginning of the play Abigail confesses to dancing naked, and to being out, yet not to witchcraft, and blames it on Tituba. She then tells Mary about what happened, and threatens her life to keep her secret. Danforth, in the beginning of Act III, makes sure Proctor, Hales, and Giles know what his reputation is allowing him to do.

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller follows the story of a village that transcends into chaos over the Salem witch trials. The delicacy of power is demonstrated in Reverend John Hale, a character that holds legitimate and referent power as a religious figure who learns that power is delicate and upon possession of it, one must act with caution. French and Ravens research finds that “Cultural values constitute one common

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In the first Act, Abigail manipulates the girls into helping her lie about the forest “incident” in the beginning of the play. "Now look you, all of you we danced and Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam 's dead sisters, and that is all. Mark this let either of you breathe a word 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 I, 20). In this quote, Abigail becomes aware of what she did in the forest along with the girl and threatens them to keep silence if they want to keep their lives.

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Considering she was deemed an officer of the court, which obligated her to promote justice in the court. Considering this, if she had told and stuck to the truth, the court and Judge Danforth himself would have gained suspicion of Abigail and begun to believe perhaps she and the girls were lying. As stated on the stage directions after Mary states “I–I cannot tell how, but I did. I–I heard the other girls screaming and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I–It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I–I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not” (Act III p. 344).

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(I.465-472). Seeing Abigail cry, it suggests that Abigail’s affair with John Proctor has influenced her behavior in jealousy and lust as she strives for nothing more than her love for John Proctor. By only being heartbroken, Abigail is not to be fully blamed for the hysteria within the town as her actions are only based on desperate attempts to win John Proctor over, and no intentional harm whatsoever. However, on the other hand, Abigail cannot be excused with outside forces making her the way she is due to the fact that she has clearly had a choice in most of her decisions and actions throughout the witchcraft crisis. When Mary Warren, another girl involved in the forest incident, enters the court, she explains to Danforth, the judge, that the girls are lying and are only pretending to see spirits.

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Argumentative Essay: Power in The Crucible There are many concepts in human society that can only exist if there is a belief in them. One of the strongest of those concepts is the concept of power which can be so strong that it gets out of hand. As John Dalberg-Acton once said, “Power tends to be corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” The feeling of being powerful causes one to go off the rails and believe they are truly invinvible. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a fictionalization of the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s that also acts as an allusion to the Red Scare that happened in America during the early 1900s.

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However, in Act Three Abigail is brought into the courtroom, along with the other girls, by Danforth to be questioned about what Mary Warren had said about them all lying. She denies that she has lied about the supernatural torture she’s been through, confirming that Mary is lying and appears it had insulted Danforth when he asks her if she’s sure it 's not all imagined. In the middle of Danforth doubting her, Abigail suddenly seems to go into a trance. She is trying turn all the attention from her and John onto Mary so she won’t get exposed or in trouble.

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Abigail’s reassurance is the easiest way for his beliefs to be correct and for the opposing argument to be invalid. Another time this is shown is when Danforth is telling Procter his wife is jailed but not being hanged because Elizabeth is pregnant: ”We have thought it too convenient to be credited. However, if i should tell you now that i will let her another month; and if she shows her natural signs, you shall have her living yet another year until she is delivered” (Miller 92). This shows Danforth is still looking for the truth even though he is very misled. He seeks justice but will not let others' ideas interfere with his own beliefs and ideas.

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Power in Salem flourished in 1962 at the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. Power is the ability or right to control people, things, or outcomes. The way to have power is to capture it. In the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible, one person abused their power; while the other person was elevated in their social structure in order to save or end innocent people’s lives with her power within her knowledge. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Tituba express their power through the means of threats and actions, good or bad.

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879 Words | 4 Pages

Despite their deeply religious values, the members of the Puritan Society in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are equally as sinful as the rest of the world. The Puritans, known for turning to God when given any matter at hand, lay blame on the Devil, regardless of their contradictory values. By blaming on him for their wrongdoings, the Devil earns power through the Puritans restoring to involve him whenever any one thing goes wrong. Power is defined by one’s reputation, status, wealth, gender, and age; although the natural deciding factor of one’s power in the Puritan society is land, the Devil himself holds ultimate power. Despite the fact that he does not appear as a human figure, he controls the thoughts and actions of the Puritan society, serving as the ultimate threat.

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This is included in his sermon so that his audience will be frightened into taking their faith more seriously. Miller writes Abigail as preying upon Danforth’s willingness to believe her every word. When Abigail is written as

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