The Salem witch trials was a series of trials held in Salem, Massachusetts around the time of 1692 where twenty people were hanged for practicing witchcraft and mass hysteria was amongst the townspeople of Salem. The Crucible by Arthur Miller goes a step further and creates a play set in Salem during this time period. Chaos is loose among the townspeople, the court is not properly doing the job of acting as a fair judicial system. In the play during the mass hysteria, three people by the names of John Proctor, Francis Nurse, and Giles Corey try to go to court in order to release their wives from captivity. However, the men fail as the fear in the community and court which allows for people to look out for just themselves and no one else and
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A prime example of this situation is between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor as Abigail uses the accusations during this time period to murder Elizabeth Proctor and be with her wife John Proctor as Abigail has feelings for him. Towards the end of act one, Abigail talks to John claiming, “Abigail: ‘Oh, I marvel how such a strong man let such a sickly wife be—’Proctor: ‘You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!’ Abigail: ‘She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn to you like a—”’ (Miller 23, 24). Here, the reader can truly see how each character feels for one another and how Abigail truly despises Elizabeth for being the wife of John Proctor. Since Abigail is a powerful figure amongst the youth of the community, she can use this power to achieve her personal vendetta of having Elizabeth hanged for witchcraft. Furthermore, personal grudges fuels the chaos in Salem as Christopher Bigsby a literary reviewer states, “Miller implicitly makes the observation in “The Crucible” that at least some accusations were based on land rights, as he explains feuds among the Proctors, Coreys, Nurses, and Putnam, however he falls short of making any connection between these feuds and gender. Abigail, who begins the play strenuously objecting to the charges of witchraft, unwittingly stumbles upon a strategy for revenge as well as power. Abigail tries to destroy the marriage between the Proctors by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft” (47). Here, Bigsby states that the main reason Elizabeth Proctor accusation is true is because of the real intentions Abigail has for ruining the bond between Elizabeth and John Proctor. Additionally, Leonard Moss another literary critic states in his “Four Social Plays” chapter regarding The Crucible that personal
A prime example of this situation is between Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor as Abigail uses the accusations during this time period to murder Elizabeth Proctor and be with her wife John Proctor as Abigail has feelings for him. Towards the end of act one, Abigail talks to John claiming, “Abigail: ‘Oh, I marvel how such a strong man let such a sickly wife be—’Proctor: ‘You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!’ Abigail: ‘She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn to you like a—”’ (Miller 23, 24). Here, the reader can truly see how each character feels for one another and how Abigail truly despises Elizabeth for being the wife of John Proctor. Since Abigail is a powerful figure amongst the youth of the community, she can use this power to achieve her personal vendetta of having Elizabeth hanged for witchcraft. Furthermore, personal grudges fuels the chaos in Salem as Christopher Bigsby a literary reviewer states, “Miller implicitly makes the observation in “The Crucible” that at least some accusations were based on land rights, as he explains feuds among the Proctors, Coreys, Nurses, and Putnam, however he falls short of making any connection between these feuds and gender. Abigail, who begins the play strenuously objecting to the charges of witchraft, unwittingly stumbles upon a strategy for revenge as well as power. Abigail tries to destroy the marriage between the Proctors by accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft” (47). Here, Bigsby states that the main reason Elizabeth Proctor accusation is true is because of the real intentions Abigail has for ruining the bond between Elizabeth and John Proctor. Additionally, Leonard Moss another literary critic states in his “Four Social Plays” chapter regarding The Crucible that personal