Casey Morsell Mr. Schaefer American Literature Period 6 October 27, 2016 Who is most responsible for the trials? "Responsibility is accepting that you are the cause and the solution of the matter" - Unknown. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. If a person was accused of witchcraft, then they would be executed. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams, Thomas Putnam, and Reverend Parris are responsible for the trials. Abigail Williams accuses Tituba of witchcraft to divert attention from her and the girls transgression. Reverend Parris, deeply engaged in the witch hunt, has also falsely accused random people of witchcraft. Thomas Putnam is guilty because he had people falsely accuse other people for his own benefit. Abigail Williams, Thomas Putnam and Reverend Parris are responsible for the trials because they falsely accuse other people of witchcraft. Abigail Williams is the initiator or the cause of trials in the play. She and her friends were out in the woods playing with spells and witchcraft. After nearly being caught, Abigail falsely accuses Tituba for witchcraft to divert attention from her and the girl’s transgressions in the woods. …show more content…
Putnam also falsely accused people, but in a different way. In the play, Putnam used his daughter Ruth to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft, so he could own Jacob’s land. Putnam also had his wife Ann, accuse Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft, after killing his newborns. While speaking with Hale about Rebecca, “ Francis, with a mocking, half —hearted laugh: For murder, she’s charged! Mockingly quoting the warrant: “ For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s babies.”(Miller). Rebecca was later hung after she was accused of murder. Nearly all of Putnam’s false accusations of witchcraft were successful and this caused many people to
Before the town fled with stories of witch-craft, there once was a young women who worked for a family but fell in love with the wife's husband. That husband turned out to be John Proctor and that lovely young lady, of course turned out to be Abigail Williams. For some say it was really the start of it all. In the eyes of Abigail, she is destined to be with John Proctor. She would do anything to make him hers, even if that required killing his wife Elizabeth Proctor to do so.John Proctor is not such a bad guy, but his only problem was the fact he fell into temptation of lust. Which causes Abigail to believe he loves her. Once Mr. Proctor denies her love for him multiple times, she turns into the eyes of witch-craft. That ladies and gentlemen is what catches our attention on her blaming Tituba. Abigail builds up her lies on the people of Salem until she finds the right moment to be able to claim Elizabeth Proctor as a
Responsibility is a huge part of a person’s everyday life. Generally most people will take responsibility for their actions. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the theme of responsibility is spread positively throughout the play. The play focuses around the Salem Witch, where Abigail Williams, her friends, the Proctors and a few others are the main focus.
Imagine being accused of something you never did just because someone had something against you. That is exactly what the characters in “The Crucible” were going through. The author, Arthur Miller, used the play as an allegory. He wanted to compare the Salem witch trials to the McCarthyism. McCarthyism, created by Joseph P. McCarthy, was popular during the cold war and it falsely accused people of being a communist with no evidence to support the accusation. It became popular because of the spread of communism in China and Europe. In the United States, anyone could accuse someone of being a communist and could ruin their lives. That is exactly what Miller was trying to portray in “The Crucible.” If someone accused another person of witchcraft their whole lives could be turned upside down. They could even possibly be hanged. Throughout the story there are an abundance of arguments. Most of the arguments come from Act III in the courthouse. The arguments are all different, but they all end up being the same in the sense that people are being falsely accused. The arguments that are like that include Giles accusing Putnam, Proctor accusing Abigail, and Parris accusing Proctor.
Although, Abigail is accusing innocent people for being witches, but the judges doesn't know that Abigail is lying because she want to hide her affair with John proctor. In the beginning of the play, Abigail first accuse Tituba for witchcraft. For example Abigail said “ she made me do it! She made betty do it!” (miller page 482). Abigail is telling Mr hale and Mr. parris that tituba is making abigail and betty to do witchcraft, but actually Abigail want tituba to make love potion for John proctor to love her. Everyone in salem town is believe her with big lies. Everyone is scared of Abigail because they can be accuse. Abigail and her friend are blaming others for witchcraft and pretending they are getting hurt. People are getting arrest or getting hang up because abigail and her friends doesn't like them. According to cheever “ There be so many cows wanderin’ the highroads, now their master are in jail and much disagreement who they will
First, Abigail is responsible for the convictions because she is the master manipulator and knows how to take advantage of the people around her. When Betty becomes ill the girls and Abigail are questioned about what they were doing in the woods in order to not get in trouble Abigail tells Rev. Hale that Tituba was conjuring spirits. In an effort to put all the blame on Tituba to stay out
The Crucible is a play about the Salem Witchcraft Trials. In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, ninety one people were accused of witchcraft. A group of girls were caught dancing in the forest one night which is what caused the witchcraft trials. The group of girls started accusing people of witchcraft and the ringleader of the group was Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor then accused his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of witchcraft so she could be with him. Although Judge Danforth was responsible because he sentenced people to hang but the person ultimately responsible for the deaths in Salem is Abigail Williams because she accused people of witchcraft, accused people for her love interests, and threatened people
The devastating Salem witch trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. By the end of the trials many people were accused, nineteen were executed and several more died in prison. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, captures the hysteria that developed during the Salem witch trials. Crucible character, Abigail Williams, represents the repressed desires that many of the Puritans possess. Abigail’s readiness to abandon Puritan social restrictions sets her apart from the other characters, and eventually leads to her downfall. Abigail Williams uses manipulation and cruelty to create an atmosphere of terror and intimidation in her town. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams leads the hysteria in Salem by taking extreme measures to succeed in attaining John Proctor's love.
In 1992 everything would change for a small village named Salem. A group of girls was caught dancing and conjuring spirits. The girls were accused of witchcraft.This cause panic in the village and rumors that the devil is loose in the village. Abigail Williams should be held responsible for the imprisonment and execution of innocent people because she lied to save her own skin and she also had an affair with John Proctor.
A month after the murder of Mrs. Abigail Parker, the trial was held on March 14th, 2016. Two identical twin brothers Mr. Rob Adams and Mr. Bob Adamson were on trial after being accused of first-degree murder.
In the crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail, Tituba, and Judge Danforth are most responsible for causing and prolonging the witch trials. Abigail was the first one to start accusing people. Tituba was the one who led the girls into the forest and John proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams.
Abigail Williams is the leader of the girls. She was the first one who got blamed for this. She is the first one who lied and blamed all of the witchcraft on Tituba. Abigail wanted to hide the truth because she feared of getting caught, and what would happen. She lied
One of the characters who was responsible for the madness in Salem is Abigail Williams. In the play Abigail hides the fact that she danced in the woods with the other girls (Miller143). She then proceeds to threaten the other girls so they don't say anything (Miller144). Because she refused to tell the truth she accused Tituba. She also accused Goody Good and Sarah Osburn which starts a chain reaction. When Mary Warren tried to expose Abigail and the rest of the girls, Abigail then
Behind all of the trials, the most responsible for the trials would have to be Abigail Williams. The reasoning behind this opinion is because throughout the entire story is she has manipulated several people in order to cover for the actions she has been doing. Abigail made her way into John Proctor's relationship and is willing to do anything to have John Proctor to herself. As the story continued, Abigail and the Salem Girls began to gain more and more power. With the girls and Abigail having the power the wanted, it caused about 20 people to die in the town. Allowing Abigail to continue to create lies, the attention is not towards her. She blamed others for that had to do anything with witchcraft. Although she created lots of lies, the court
The examination of Rebecca Nurse was recorded by the Reverend Samuel Parris, whose own young daughter Betty was one of the accusers together Betty's cousin, twelve-year old Abigail Williams. He writes that the examination opened with Hathorne turning his attention not to Nurse, but rather to Abigail Williams. Williams reported to the magistrates that the apparition of Nurse had just that morning, as well as on previous occasions, afflicted her. Shortly after this statement, Ann Putnam, Jr. launched into a "grievous fit" and before Rebecca Nurse even began to testify, the the tone of the examination had been
In act one of the play, Abigail is trying to get herself and the group of girls she was with out of trouble, and she was failing. While she was still being questioned, and Betty examined, Tituba was brought in and Abby had finally had an idea, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” (Miller 23). Abigail decided to pass the blame on, to thrust it to a slave from Barbados. She knew no one would question her, because people already thought that Tituba hasd some workings in the supernatural, that she could speak to the dead. And in this first act of passing the blame on, it lead to the whole town blaming each other for simple misunderstandings, and finding ways to get rid of their rivals. Throughout the play Abigail Williams, and the girls with her, accuse people of witchcraft in open court. After Mr. Proctor tells Mary Warren that Sarah Good being a witch is ridiculous, Mary says, “Mr. Proctor, in open court she near to