Is Abigail Williams a Symptom or Cause of Events Which Take Place in 'The Crucible'?
Is Abigail Williams a Symptom or Cause if Events
Which Take Place in 'The Crucible'?
After reading 'The Crucible', I feel that in a society like the one described in the play, things along those lines would have been inevitable, when one takes into account the way things worked there. For example, it was a theocracy, which means they are governed by the Church, which in turn goes by the ruling of the Holy Bible, and not any laws passed by regular means. Another major contributor to all this tension is the fact that out of the eight children, Ruth is the only one who survived. Mrs Putnam is convinced that they have all been killed by supernatural means, and is always paranoid and suspicious of anything out of the ordinary. This means when the cries of witch start spreading, she is convinced she has at last found the cause of death of her seven infants, and is determined to see those she sees as responsible hanged. She seems so desperate to pin the blame on someone who cannot be proven either way that it seemed that she was almost looking for any scapegoat to take the blame for those unfortunate events. She even goes as far as to send her only remaining child Ruth to Tituba in an attempt to get her to conjure spirits so she could contact the souls of her dead children. This ties her into things, but she never really emerges in the play as a candidate for any kind of punishment. This has most probably come as a result of her husband being a powerful landowner, making any allegations against him or his family like playing with fire.
With this being a theocratic society, where the Church and State are one, and the laws given down by God are interpreted very strictly and literally by the people here, which means that breaking the law here would also be going against God's will, so the consequences of any offence are dire. In Salem, everything can be classed as black or white, with God, or in league with the devil; with no shades of grey in between. This is shown by Danforth's speech: "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road in between." This kind of attitude makes everyone very afraid of being seen as not closely bonded with God, as it would imply that they had dealings with the Devil. As Puritans, these strict Christians believe the worst thing that they can do is to defy 'God Almighty', so when John Proctor ends his affair with Abigail, she uses these accusations, as they demand the full attention of the court, right away. She is very clever in what she says, as shown by her outburst at the end of Act One, after Tituba confesses to witchcraft in the woods. She screams: "I want to open myself! ... I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand." And in Salem, although consorting with the Devil and "witchcraft's a hanging error', confessing it would redeem her, and freeing her from any kind of guilt. She uses this very well to protect her own reputation, and is quick to start naming names to ease the burden from her shoulders onto others. These actions show the length of Abigail's selfishness, and its success in Salem sets and example for the other girls who are quick to latch on and do the same, thus suggesting Abigail may be the cause of events which take place in the Crucible.
Which Take Place in 'The Crucible'?
After reading 'The Crucible', I feel that in a society like the one described in the play, things along those lines would have been inevitable, when one takes into account the way things worked there. For example, it was a theocracy, which means they are governed by the Church, which in turn goes by the ruling of the Holy Bible, and not any laws passed by regular means. Another major contributor to all this tension is the fact that out of the eight children, Ruth is the only one who survived. Mrs Putnam is convinced that they have all been killed by supernatural means, and is always paranoid and suspicious of anything out of the ordinary. This means when the cries of witch start spreading, she is convinced she has at last found the cause of death of her seven infants, and is determined to see those she sees as responsible hanged. She seems so desperate to pin the blame on someone who cannot be proven either way that it seemed that she was almost looking for any scapegoat to take the blame for those unfortunate events. She even goes as far as to send her only remaining child Ruth to Tituba in an attempt to get her to conjure spirits so she could contact the souls of her dead children. This ties her into things, but she never really emerges in the play as a candidate for any kind of punishment. This has most probably come as a result of her husband being a powerful landowner, making any allegations against him or his family like playing with fire.
With this being a theocratic society, where the Church and State are one, and the laws given down by God are interpreted very strictly and literally by the people here, which means that breaking the law here would also be going against God's will, so the consequences of any offence are dire. In Salem, everything can be classed as black or white, with God, or in league with the devil; with no shades of grey in between. This is shown by Danforth's speech: "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road in between." This kind of attitude makes everyone very afraid of being seen as not closely bonded with God, as it would imply that they had dealings with the Devil. As Puritans, these strict Christians believe the worst thing that they can do is to defy 'God Almighty', so when John Proctor ends his affair with Abigail, she uses these accusations, as they demand the full attention of the court, right away. She is very clever in what she says, as shown by her outburst at the end of Act One, after Tituba confesses to witchcraft in the woods. She screams: "I want to open myself! ... I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand." And in Salem, although consorting with the Devil and "witchcraft's a hanging error', confessing it would redeem her, and freeing her from any kind of guilt. She uses this very well to protect her own reputation, and is quick to start naming names to ease the burden from her shoulders onto others. These actions show the length of Abigail's selfishness, and its success in Salem sets and example for the other girls who are quick to latch on and do the same, thus suggesting Abigail may be the cause of events which take place in the Crucible.
