“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea” (Notes from Underground), a quote that embodies the true theme, self-interest, of The Crucible. The play is about the Salem Witch Trials and the events that took place. Dancing in the forest turns into one big mess as multiple things are uncovered and accusations of witchcraft are thrown out loosely. Friends and neighbors start to turn on each other and ultimately 19 innocent people are put to death along with more than 200 being jailed. All because of the self-interests of certain people and more specifically, the antagonist Abigail Williams as she is the one behind the whole series of events. Abigail Williams is one of the key figures in this play and as the antagonist with
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“She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer” (Act 1, 1260). These were the words of Abigail as she tried to accuse Tituba, a slave, about what happened in the forest and get the blame taken off of her for Betty’s condition at that moment. It shows how Abigail turned to illogical reasoning just to protect her name. There were many ironic situations that happened in The Crucible. “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; It 's God 's work I do" (Act 4, 1312) is verbally ironic because Abigail is in fact doing the opposite of God’s work. She’s actually doing the devil 's work by making her friends lie and accuse people of witchcraft. An instance of dramatic irony occurred when Abigail was having dinner at Parris’s home, starting to fake like she was in pain, and naming Elizabeth as the cause. A needle was discovered in her stomach and Elizabeth is then arrested for witchcraft. It is obvious to the audience that Elizabeth is not to blame but to the other characters in the play, it is …show more content…
In the first few years of the Cold War there was an immense anti-Communist feeling. As a result, there was “witch hunts” to seek out the supporters of communism. Similar to the accusations of Salem citizens, the alleged Communists were persuaded to confess and accuse others to avoid punishment. This led to false and loosely based accusations and when people started to the notice the corruption, they began going with the program and “cooperating” in an attempt to save themselves with little to no regard for anybody else. Those who did not want to go along with the way things were going saw their lives turn upside
“She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer” (Act 1, 1260). These were the words of Abigail as she tried to accuse Tituba, a slave, about what happened in the forest and get the blame taken off of her for Betty’s condition at that moment. It shows how Abigail turned to illogical reasoning just to protect her name. There were many ironic situations that happened in The Crucible. “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; It 's God 's work I do" (Act 4, 1312) is verbally ironic because Abigail is in fact doing the opposite of God’s work. She’s actually doing the devil 's work by making her friends lie and accuse people of witchcraft. An instance of dramatic irony occurred when Abigail was having dinner at Parris’s home, starting to fake like she was in pain, and naming Elizabeth as the cause. A needle was discovered in her stomach and Elizabeth is then arrested for witchcraft. It is obvious to the audience that Elizabeth is not to blame but to the other characters in the play, it is …show more content…
In the first few years of the Cold War there was an immense anti-Communist feeling. As a result, there was “witch hunts” to seek out the supporters of communism. Similar to the accusations of Salem citizens, the alleged Communists were persuaded to confess and accuse others to avoid punishment. This led to false and loosely based accusations and when people started to the notice the corruption, they began going with the program and “cooperating” in an attempt to save themselves with little to no regard for anybody else. Those who did not want to go along with the way things were going saw their lives turn upside