Sam Beniamen
En III - Period 2
Ms.Crim-Rogers
November 23, 2017
The Crucible Essay
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the three people who are mostly to blame for the witch hysteria and the subsequent death of innocent people are Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Judge Hathorne. Each of these three people, in some way caused harm to blameless people. These persons knowingly or unknowingly contributed to the death of innocent people hanged as witches in Salem Village in 1692.
John Proctor was most responsible for the Salem witch hysteria. John Proctor scared many individuals in Salem because he claimed innocent people were being accused of witchcraft. In Act 1 of The Crucible Proctor claims, “I can call you death without a charge.” This statement claims that it is easy to cause death for an individual if you accuse them of witchcraft. This made many people terrified that they themselves or their loved ones would be accused and executed. John believed that if you wanted to save yourself, you must lie about someone else
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Abigail decided to start a sexual relationship with John Proctor. This led to heartbreak, compulsive lying, sneaking around, and legal trouble because she was under age at the time the affair was going on. Once John realized what he was doing was wrong, he decided to confess his sins to the court. John states, “I’ll plead my honesty no more.” This shows he thinks it’s best to confess. Abigail did not agree to this which led her to despise Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail decided to accuse both John and Elizabeth of witchcraft. These events led to the tragedy of the hanging of John Proctor. Elizabeth’s execution is postponed because of her pregnancy. John states, “But if she says she’s pregnant, then she must be!” This statement proves Elizabeth is pregnant. She was then freed by Sir William Phips along with many other prisoners accused. This was all caused by the accusation of Abigail