The Crucible: Power in the hands of Abigail
In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller chronicles the horrors of the Salem witch trials. A prominent character in this play is Abigail Williams, a vindictive, manipulative and skillful liar. Throughout the whole play, Abigail finds out everybody’s weaknesses and uses it to her advantage. Abigail’s power to manipulate and control others exhibits features in both Machiavellian and Sun Tzu’s principles.
In The Prince, Machiavellian says that, “… [he/she] ought to make himself the head and defender of his less powerful neighbours”, meaning that a person in order to gain power, should conquer people who are not as powerful. This could be seen in The Crucible when Abigail takes advantage of Tituba and …show more content…
Her goal was to gain John Proctor back, so she developed a well-thought-out plan to be able to accomplish this. Her strategy involved gaining the trust of the court and therefore destroying Elizabeth. She didn’t care who she had to run over to be able to attain Proctor. As she accused more and more people she strengthened her position and increased her power in the town. The people who she condemned to death were just used as medium to the fulfillment of her goals. Another instant when Abigail uses deceitful language to persuade people to believe a lie happened when she confessed she had done the devil’s work but wanted God. She claimed, “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand.” She knew that if she confessed to dancing with the devil and said how she wanted God then she wouldn’t be charged as a witch. Deception is a major feature in Sun Tzu’s, Art of War principles. Sun Tzu wrote, “…He carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe. Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdom.” Everything she said and did was planned to perfection. She kept all her plans in secret; as a result, she was able to destroy Elizabeth and make people believe she was
In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller chronicles the horrors of the Salem witch trials. A prominent character in this play is Abigail Williams, a vindictive, manipulative and skillful liar. Throughout the whole play, Abigail finds out everybody’s weaknesses and uses it to her advantage. Abigail’s power to manipulate and control others exhibits features in both Machiavellian and Sun Tzu’s principles.
In The Prince, Machiavellian says that, “… [he/she] ought to make himself the head and defender of his less powerful neighbours”, meaning that a person in order to gain power, should conquer people who are not as powerful. This could be seen in The Crucible when Abigail takes advantage of Tituba and …show more content…
Her goal was to gain John Proctor back, so she developed a well-thought-out plan to be able to accomplish this. Her strategy involved gaining the trust of the court and therefore destroying Elizabeth. She didn’t care who she had to run over to be able to attain Proctor. As she accused more and more people she strengthened her position and increased her power in the town. The people who she condemned to death were just used as medium to the fulfillment of her goals. Another instant when Abigail uses deceitful language to persuade people to believe a lie happened when she confessed she had done the devil’s work but wanted God. She claimed, “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand.” She knew that if she confessed to dancing with the devil and said how she wanted God then she wouldn’t be charged as a witch. Deception is a major feature in Sun Tzu’s, Art of War principles. Sun Tzu wrote, “…He carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe. Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdom.” Everything she said and did was planned to perfection. She kept all her plans in secret; as a result, she was able to destroy Elizabeth and make people believe she was