The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Judge Danforth is responsible for the outcomes in Salem because he is arrogant, superstitious, and unwilling to listen to reason. Danforth accuses countless girls of witchcraft with no proof to support

Also, throughout the play Abigail accuses many people of witchcraft in order to save herself. An example of this is when Hale questions Abigail in act 1, and Abigail accuses several girls of

She starts accusing people of witch craft and makes herself look like the victim of everything. In my opinion, Abigail is not the victim she is just a young teenage girl who is obsessed with a married man and is willing to do anything to keep him to her. Abigail is partially responsible for the things that occurred in Salem.

In the play, The Crucible, a story told where the reader learns about lies, deceit, and hypocrisy. The play highlights how the puritans viewed witch trials in 1692. The character that was the most to blame for the Salem Witch trials and dreadful hangings, is Abigail Williams. There are two reasons Abigail Williams became the cause of all the Witch trials and hangings, the first being that she refused to admit to what she was doing in the forest with the other girls, the second was that she was resentful of the Proctor family.

Scapegoating was most prevalent in the book during the Salem witch trials with women being the ones who mostly blamed each other, but this was only due to the fact that more women were accused of being witches than men. “She sends spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!” (Act II, Pg. 44) In this quote, Abigail scapegoats Tituba and accuses her of sending spirits and cursing her to make her laugh while she prays in church. This scapegoating shows how Abigail didn’t take accountability for her actions and she instead had to put the blame on someone else to save her own life.

Abigail Williams is to blame for the witch trials as a result of accusing others. Abigail constantly lies throughout The Crucible to make sure she does not get caught. When one of the girls, Mary Warren, testifies against the others, they turn on her. The girls act as if Mary has sent an evil spirit onto them and Abigail exclaims, “But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary”.

Reverend Parris, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Reverend Hale’s desire for Proctor’s confession demonstrates their need to keep up their reputations and the well-being of the citizens of Salem. A motive for Proctor’s confession is for Reverend Parris and Danforth’s reputations to be upheld and avoid a rebellion of the townspeople against the court and leaders. Parris fears that if Proctor is to be hanged, then the town will attempt to overthrow the court for it’s dishonesty and rebel against him. Danforth’s beliefs are similar to Parris’: if Proctor does not confess, then his reputation of holding up an honest and valid court would be ruined.

In a small village called Salem, witchcraft and sorcery exist, however everyone is pointing fingers but not a single soul knows who is actually to blame for this nonsense. During this time period of hysteria, there are multiple scenes that are very questionable due to one person and one person only. Abigail is the one most responsible for the hysteria and witchcraft in Salem. She threatens the group of girls that accompanied her in the woods while they all danced. She has also lied about many things on multiple occasions in which causes an extreme amount of suspicion.

Reverend Hale and Judge Danforth are two authoritative figures in The Crucible whose roles in society are to lead the community in the ways and likeness of God so that the people of Salem can, basically, be good Puritans. Despite their similar intentions, there are also blaring differences which distinctly separate the two and their beliefs. To start, both Hale and Danforth work chiefly to serve God and lead his people on Earth to live holy and just lives. When the question of the Devil and witchcraft arise within Salem, both men come to investigate and cleanse the town of evil. While Judge Danforth considers himself “a minister of the Lord” and does “not take a life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience

By examining the characters of the play, I believe that the three major characters who should be blamed the most for the witch trials are Abigail Williams,

The theocracy in Salem was essential to a Puritan society where everything was subject to spiritual scrutiny and enabled individuals like Parris to assume power over the village. This entitlement also allowed for greater consolidation of power through persecutions and trials where the defendants were often guilty until proven innocent. Like most Puritans, Danforth remains convinced of the reality of witchcraft testified by Abigail in Act Three, an act integrated with immense dramatic irony. Despite the persuasion of Hale who once held substantial power over the town with as the Puritan pastor of Beverly, Danforth is quick to imprison and condemn a suspect to death demonstrating the powerplay in Salem as orchestrated by Abigail and the girls

and so she was fired by Elizabeth. So abigail accused Elizabeth to be a witch so she would be hanged. My thesis statement is that during the salem witch trials people were accused of witchery based on personality, looks, race, and if they liked each other or not but not based on actual crime.

Danforth: Judge, Jury, and Executioner Judge Danforth’s position in the crucible is the Judge assigned to the proceedings of the Salem witch trials. Instead of treating this immense responsibility with the respect and restraint that is needed, Danforth abused his power by betraying the people of Salem and the Law. He did not listen to the people of Salem defending themselves before inevitably being sent to death; and he cared more about his reputation and the law than he did about peoples’ lives. Danforth was a ruthless power over the people of Salem he demanded respect for himself and the court; and nothing was more important than that.

Abigail Williams was the goody two shoes that kept her reputation high, until she turned on many with a single lie. In The Crucible By Arthur Miller, is set in the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts where a witch outbreak has jailed many of the women from a fault of one girl named Abigail. It causes havoc in Salem that will lead to death in the village. Abigail has shown many transformations and showed that she is very dynamic from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences throughout the story of The Crucible. Abigail has shown that she has grown mentally and emotionally.

During the Salem Witch Trials a lot of people were accused of using witchcraft. As a result many people died for other people’s lies, rumors, and selfishness. There is one person that really caused and is most to blame for all the chaos, her name is Abigail. Abigail is to blame for all that has happened in the Witch Trials, the reason for that is because of all the accusing and lying she has done. In addition, it all leads up to her for instance, she used a doll to accuse people of witchcraft.