The Oppression Of Women In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The girls, led by Abigail Williams, continue to accuse others of witchcraft, even though they have been warned about the sin of lying under oath. When Marry Warren threatens to expose the group's lies, Abigail pressures her back into the group by accusing Mary of witchcraft ( The

There has come a time in everyone’s life when their character was called into question, or someone accused them wrongly of something they did not do. This puts a person’s morality on the line and tests whether they will do what’s best for them or the masses. The Crucible by Arthur Miller shows the characters John Proctor, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Abigail Williams going through this same test. The play provides a narrative on how people choose to value their own reputation and honor over protecting the lives of themselves and others.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller, was a play full of drama, romance and crime. John Proctor tearing up his confession to recover his sense of goodness is a believable act. The reason beginning he doesn’t want to tarnish the reputations of the good christian men and women that died before him. John Proctor is a sinful man; he committed adultery, he plows on sundays, and he only goes to church once a month. Proctor says “Since we built the church there were pewter candlesticks upon the altar; Francis Nurse made them, y’know, and a sweeter hand never touched the metal.

It was expected that women would follow a strict and religious role in society where they got married, had children, and spent their lives tending to their home along with all their husband’s needs. The Puritan church preached that females were more susceptible to the devil and that they were supposed instruments of satan which further spread and confirmed to Puritans this idea of inferiority. Mostly women were targeted due to the fact that a woman associated with the devil was more reasonable and believable to Puritans. Abigail Williams was a servant girl and did not rank remotely high within society. Her newfound ability to make decisions within Salem was rare and it was the first time that these girls had gained any sort of power within the town.

This article was written in 1998, two years before the event occurred. This date is significant because it shows the readers at the time how their everyday peers were acting and gives them an idea of how they should act as well. Furthermore, in The Crucible, John Proctor takes Mary Warren to the court to testify against Abigail and reveal all her lies. Mary is trying her hardest to compose herself but Abigail puts on an act to deceive the court. “I believe him!

I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part salvation that you should use me,” (137). Even though, Danforth knows that John Proctor is innocent, he still made the people put John to his

Although Miller, through his characters, never states that witches do not exist, through chapters such as Abigail, establishes that the people accused do not partake in witchcraft. The consequence of witches consists of executions, typically via hangings, and torture. The rampant false belief of witches and the effect build fear of punishment and allegation. Once someone introduces the dismay to abigail, she resorts to spreading more fear, thus the false belief of black magic invokes actions resulting in fear, seen in Abigail’s harboring of the situation, made possible by her dissimulative manner and conformity to others’

Imagine a world when females could not read books, practice medicine, remarry, or even live in poverty without being accused of witchcraft. As hard as it is to believe, this was the reality of the Salem community in the 1690’s. The story “The Crucible,” centers around a male protagonist while both sexualizing and villinazing the persecuted women of the Salem Witch Trials. The antagonist, Abigail, represents the stereotypical female that uses dishonesty and manipulation to get what she wants. Miller, by putting Abigail in a position of power shows his misogynistic ideology, blaming the trials on the so-called corrupt female sexuality unfairly representing women within the story.

At the end of the play, Proctor, “snatches the paper up, and a wild terror is rising in him.” Proctor states, “You will not use me! I am not Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me” (143)! This shows that Proctor would rip up his confession, which can save him, and die for the good of his name.

Of course, the news of this possible witchcraft caused hysteria and panic to spread throughout the town of Salem like wildfire. Abigail used this fear response to her advantage. She confessed to the town, who was desperately trying to find out who the witches were, and told them that she has seen others who have also had dealing with the devil. This cleared her name and also allowed her and the other girls to blame the witchcraft on people they hated (Miller). In the real witch trial, Abigail did indeed do this to clear her name because she knew that the only way of not being hanged was to blame others (Ray).

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characterization of John Proctor through dialogue and stage directions is used to convey the message that it is better for one to die honorably than live dishonorably. The characterization of John Proctor through dialogue is used to show how he is more willing to die with honor than live without it. As John and Elizabeth quarrel about John’s affair, he says,

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was accused of witchcraft. John Proctor was a man of great integrity and knew he did nothing wrong. He was given the choice to confess and lie or be hung. Being the honest and stubborn man that he was, he decided his name was more important than his life. John struggled both internally and with others while trying to fight for what he thought was right.

In the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor was internally triumphant when he gained respect for himself, primarily due to his mission of personal redemption and his integrity. Overwrought by regret of his actions, John Proctor is driven on a mission to personally prove himself. He realizes the enormous mistake of committing lechery with Abigail, and wants to prove to himself he has a good will. Near the final pages of the play, Proctor was asked if he was accompanied when doing the devil’s work, he responded “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it” (Miller 141).

We all know peer pressure can make you do things, But Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows us the extremes of social pressure and how it can make us do things we would never have thought of doing. One of the major themes in The Crucible is that popular belief causes you to act and operate differently than you would normally. Some examples of this is Mary’s behavior, the girls fainting, and Proctors struggle to not confess. One of the main examples of someone giving in to social pressure is when Mary Warren decides to convict Proctor and say he is working with the devil.

When a woman is accused of being a witch and her life is in danger in 1600’s Salem, MA what recourse does she have to protect herself? Women of the time had no authority; they were seen as property of the men they married or were born to. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible takes place during the famous Salem witch trials. It all starts when young Abigail Williams has an affair with John Proctor and practices witchcraft in an attempt to kill John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth.