Research Paper On Abigail Williams

Justin Brooks Moon/Aspinwall American LIT 08 March 2024 The Salem Witch Trials: An Imminent Tragedy

Destiny is the belief that what will and what has happened has already been planned out. While only some parts of the world believe in this way of thinking, it can apply easily to life, literature, and other forms of media. The Crucible takes place between 1692 and 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts. The Crucible surrounds the events of the true tale of the Salem Witch Trials & mass hysteria that ensued by a young, punished generation of girls. Abigail Williams is a young Puritan girl who was raised in a very “traditional” way through physical punishment and flagrant sexism. This way of life would cause her to lead the events in the Salem Witch Trials and

Until rebellion, the high-powered individuals were never seen negatively due to a divine reason that they were destined to be in power. This would cause a hierarchy to flip upside down during the Salem Witch Trials. The Puritan hierarchy and the events in The Crucible by Arthur Miller show the inevitable fall of the Salem theocracy and how the power was flipped on its head. Miller’s use of the Puritan hierarchy sets up the power and abuse to come. While the courts stand for justice and are the fundamental leaders of our society today, it is different in Salem. When Giles mentions “You cannot clap me for contempt of a hearing.” (Miller 97). Danforth responds with his snarky comment “Do you wish to declare the court in full session, here?” (Miller 97). Abigail's power and hysteria have had widespread effects on the political and general life of Salem's culture. Abigail has scared Judge Danforth so much of possible witchcraft that he is willing to bring Giles to a new room to ask him legally, rather than allow him to avoid his fate. In the same court, after Giles is carried out, Mary Warren admits to not seeing any