Mary Warren In The Crucible

Mary Warren's discreet selfishness led to Elizabeth Proctor being jailed and John Proctor being hanged. In Act Two, Mary came home from the courthouse and gifted Elizabeth with a poppet she spent all day sewing because it symbolizes something out of the ordinary, perhaps witchcraft (Miller 56). She is trying to frame Elizabeth for having something strange in her home that she should not have. Mary does this because her friend Abigail wants Elizabeth Proctor gone so Abigail can be with her husband, John Proctor. Mary wants Abigail to approve of her and will do whatever it takes to get that approval; however, Mary does.

Furthermore, Miller uses the relationship between these characters to portray to his audience that witchcraft wasn’t the real problem in Salem but rather the leaders who abused their authority through mass hysteria. Therefore, 1950s America was struggling with corruption not communism. Even Though Mary Warren realizes that denouncing innocent people as witches would cause immense damage she feels obligated to go along with Abigail. To further explain, Mary recognizes once she goes against Abigail's intentions, Abigail will claim witchcraft on her in an attempt to silence her. This is Miller’s direct attack at the trials where countless people were wrongly accused of communism, other words known as the red scare.

Revealing the Impurities “Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test,” said by Rick Warren, expresses how the true nature of people are revealed through tests of character, such as community crisis or chaos like the witch trials in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible expressed how the Red Scare was in the 1950s through comparing it to the witch trials. The characters that most accurately represented the effect of this chaos were Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey and Mary Warren. Rebecca Nurse was an admired, well-respected older woman within the town of Salem. Giles Corey was a weak-minded, malleable, robust man that constantly switched between opinions.

Mary Warren is a selfish fearful liar. Exposition (Background Information): In the 1950s, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible because he was inspired by the Red Scare and the mass hysteria it caused. During the Red Scare Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, would target and accused American citizens of being communists, including Arther Miller. Thesis:

But when fingers were pointed in her way, that's where her skills were under developed. She had lived so long without being in the spotlight of accusation. So when she finally was put under judgment, she broke. She forced the spotlight onto Abigail creating a scene in the courtroom. Mary Warren grabbed onto the only tactic she knew, to exude a

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, guilt deeply affects the actions and behavior of the characters. The guilt that the character feels is the driving force that causes them to make decisions that they would not have made otherwise. In the play, the characters' guilt stems from multiple sources, including their misdeeds and the social pressures of Salem's puritan community. The first character seen with guilt in the play is John Proctor. Farmer Procter had a two-timing affair with Abigail Williams, the main antagonist of the play.

In the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, two of the most important characters are, Mary Warren and Reverend John Hale. The story takes place in Salem, 1692, when supposedly witchcraft ran rampant. John Hale gives us the knowledge of witchcraft and puritan beliefs, in the story, in order to decide whether someone was a witch or not, while Mary Warren assists Abigail Williams in the false accusations presented in order to alleviate the punishment they were facing for the actual practicing of witchcraft as well as dancing. In the story John Hale is intelligent while Mary Warren seems to want good, but is too nervous to take a stand on it.

At the start, John Proctor, a local farmer and Elizabeth’s husband, was said to have had an affair with Abigail, which he and Elizabeth had argued about many times. On act two, When his wife was accused of witchery, he fought back and defended his wife as he knows that Elizabeth never took part with any witchcraft. When Elizabeth was taken by the authorities, Proctor already planned to go to court to fight for Elizabeth’s case of accusations. He tells Mary Warren that they will be going to court and she will go to court with him and explain that the doll came from her and that it wasn’t Elizabeth’s fault. Mary then tells Proctor that she can’t do that because Abigail kill her and that Abigail would charge Proctor with lechery.

In Arthur Miller's play, dignity and reflection of one's self plays an important role in what makes up a person's character. Through John Proctor's actions and words, Miller's element of tragedy that emphasizes laying down one's life for personal dignity is demonstrated in The Crucible as people will go any extent to accomplish their desires and fight for their beliefs, despite the consequences because they are trying to protect who they are. Tragedy lies within

While alone, Abigail and the girls approach Mary threateningly, trying to hurt her for ratting them out. Though, when confronted, the girls pretend to be attacked by Mary’s spirit, and when accused of witchcraft by Judge Danforth Mary immediately resorts to lying and blames John for tempting her into witchery. Mary was being attacked by both the girls and the judges and no one believed her when she told the truth, so Mary pushed the blame to John Proctor. Mary Warren did it for her safety,

After continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.

When faced with the fear of punishment, it's human nature to lie and save yourself even at the expense of others. In the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren is an eighteen-year-old servant working in the Proctor household. Initially, Mary believes that telling the truth is better than hiding the events that occurred in the forest. Fearful of the repercussions brought by revealing the truth, Mary decides to join Abigail's group; gaining confidence and power at the expense of her honesty. As the play progresses, Mary is, once again, forced to pick between lying and telling the truth to save Elizabeth from hanging.

Jacob Skripchuk Ms. Fleetwood English 3 February 9th 2022 Fragile Like Glass: An Analysis of Mary Warren From The Crucible Glass appears sturdy and stiff, but it shatters under even the slightest amount of pressure, leaving permanent damage. And that minuscule force can lead to a large web of cracks. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible places readers in the late 17th century, during the Salem witch trials, showing us the power dynamics of the time, how characters wield power, and the fragility of others.

Mary is part of the courts and seems to use this to manipulate her employer, Mr. Proctor. Her first act of defiance was when she told him that he could not order her to bed, give her whippings, or stop her from going to court proceedings (Miller, pg. 59). It is not certain if she knew the intent of Abigail to use the poppet to condemn Elizabeth Proctor. However, when she asked by Mr. Proctor to tell the truth about the poppet, she adamantly says that she cannot because she fears the girls will turn on her. When she does have a change of heart and is put in front of the courts, she shows her weak side and you can see her confidence wane.

Mary desperately wants to tell the truth because she believes their punishment will be less severe if they are truthful. Because of this Abigail threatened her and the other girls, saying they will not tell the truth, so the girls decide to use the two afflicted girls to their advantage and claim witchcraft. Their claim of witchcraft leads to an entire mess of people being falsely accused. John Proctor knows that the girls are lying but doesn't do anything about it until his wife is arrested. Whereupon he forces Mary Warren to tell him the truth and say that she will tell the truth to the court to save all of the innocent people.