Throughout the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, hysteria fueled by the fear of witchcraft spreads like wildfire through the damaged and subdued Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Crucible illustrates that it only takes one person to make an entire society become unhinged, especially violently. Abbigail Parris’ motivation for fueling the hysteria was the power and respect that she receives as a result of it, and she, as a character, demonstrates that in the right conditions, all it takes is a spark from a strong character to set the whole world aflame, as many are always willing to join the drama.
Abbigail Parris was the central figure to the hysteria throughout The Crucible, and she revels in the fact that she has the ability to create such a frenzy due to the intense conditioning she has received by the Puritan society to see herself as a powerless figure. She was lacking power as a result of her position in society and the circumstances through which she grew up.…