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Character Analysis Essay On The Crucible

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A group of girls are caught conjuring potions and reciting spells in the woods by the town minister, Reverend Parris. Scared of the consequences, the girls lie and say they were controlled by the Devil himself. Along with the Devil, the girls say names of people in the town, accusing them of witchcraft. If the people deny performing witchcraft, they are hanged. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Mary Warren will go to extreme lengths to gain power, including lying and betrayal.
Abigail Williams starts the play as a person who contains no power or authority, as she worked as servant for the Proctors. After Elizabeth Proctor catches John Proctor and Abigail having an affair, she sends Abby away from their service. Abigail’s …show more content…
She sees that she would be regarded highly, if she said she saw devil and that she was seeking help from him. Reverend Hale, a new minister called over from another town to help with the devil acquisitions, helped her from the devil, but the Devil never actually came to Abigail at all. Abigail truly gains power when she says, “I want to open myself! 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. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget bishop with the Devil!” (1048). As a result of disclosing the names of Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop, and Sarah Good, the court began questioning them for witchcraft, therefore giving the power of accusing anybody to …show more content…
By starting out as a servant, Mary holds no power at all. Proctor says to Mary, “Be you foolish, Mary Warren? Be you deaf? I forbid you leave the house, did I not? Why shall I pay you? I am looking for you more often than my cows!” (1035). This implies that Proctor has total control of what Mary can and cannot do.
Towards the end of the play, when Mary and Proctor enter the courtroom to try and prove Elizabeth’s innocents of harming Abigail with a poppet, all the girls torment Mary enough to make Mary betray her owner, Proctor. Mary tells him “You’re the devil’s man” (1094). By Mary saying this she now has turned on Proctor, made him look guilty of witchcraft, and gained a lot of power over him.
Throughout the story of The Crucible, many characters made the transition from being a person that contains no power at all, to containing all the power in the story or some power. To gain the power, the characters lied to the highest court of Massachusetts and Mary Warren betrayed her employers. Abigail Williams transitions from having no power at all, being a servant, to having the court of Massachusetts believing every word she

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