There is a Latin proverb that states, “Revenge is a confession of pain.” What this means is that when you go to get revenge on someone, you are admitting that what they did hurt you in some way.Within “The Crucible” there is a lot of anger and deception. Both of which led to the deaths of many characters in the play. Upon analyzing the words and actions of the characters, one is led to believe that revenge is a recurring theme in “The Crucible”. To truly understand Arthur Miller’s revengeful theme, you must study the way the characters behave towards each other. For example, when John Proctor brushes aside Abigail’s affections in order to keep himself from betraying his wife’s trust again, Abigail is furious. “She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold and sniveling woman and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a-” (Act 1, said by Abigail.) This displays some of Abigail’s true feelings towards John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. This line is also a stepping stone towards Abigail getting her revenge on Elizabeth by claiming she’s a witch. This was not the only time Abigail has shown that she seeks to get revenge on those who have wronged her. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible right and I will bring a pointy reckoning to shudder you.” (Act 1, said by Abigail.) This is a threat made by Abigail to the other girls saying that if they expose the truth about Abigail, she will get her revenge. Thus proving further that the characters’ words and actions help to develop Miller’s revengeful theme.
