After finishing Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, many characters I examined were identified as static or dynamic referring to their beliefs throughout the story. Specifically, I feel Mary Warren was the most static character. Based on this idea, I can infer that although Mary was at first with Abigail, she was then forced to help Proctor, but then blamed him for making her sign the Devil’s Book, taking on Abby’s side. By mainly siding with Abigail, it is obvious why Mary does not want to go to court with Proctor. Although not absolutely clear, Mary is Abigail’s pawn, she does what she wants her to do. By being Abigail’s pawn, this is the main piece of evidence supporting how Mary is a static character. As Abigail goes, Mary goes. Supporting the idea of Mary being the most static character, she remains the same by siding with Abigail at the beginning and end of the story. The first example I found in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” was “...They’ll be callin’ us witches, Abby!...We must tell the truth, Abby!” In that line in the story, not only does it reveal …show more content…
This is shown when she cannot faint along with when Abigail and the girls felt a cool breeze. The only reason Mary blamed Proctor was because she could not be considered a witch by the person she follows, and if proven a witch, Mary would have been killed. This was demonstrated in “The Crucible’ by “My name, he want my name. “I’ll murder you,” he says “if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court,” he says.” Although Mary said this, she had nobody to follow because her “leader” Abigail did not make a scene for them to act along to. However, Parris states before that line “The Devil’s Book? He came with a book?” From this, Mary is able to stay being on Abigail’s side, proving her as a static character, in the
In Arthur Miller 's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, Abigail Williams remained a static character throughout the book. Abigail is a mean, deceitful and manipulative person who always wants her way; she has no remorse about who she hurts along her journey to get her want she wants.
When Mary’s attempt to aid John Proctor and testify against Abigail in court goes awry, she crumbles under pressure and points the finger at John for doing the Devil’s work. Mary showcases a different use of her power, hers being completely different from Abigails. She gets caught up in moments that she is in no way in control off, but still manages to find the easy way out by pinning it on someone else. Arthur Miller displays through Mary’s character that even an innocent likeable character uses the power inside her to save herself by using the easiest way out no matter who gets hurt in the
In The Crucible, I assume that the character Abigail is a static character. Abigail is considered a static character for the reason that no matter what her feelings never change. She does whatever she is yearning to be happy with herself. It makes no difference if she is hurting other people as long she is joyous. An example is how she accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch even though it's not true. She only did it for the reason that she thought she would be able to be with John Proctor. The character John Proctor is a dynamic character. John is considered a dynamic character because he changes his feelings in the entire play. In the beginning he was a quiet farmer and now he is a brave man with a great deal of courage. In the beginning
The Crucible, a novel/play by Arthur Miller displays the chaos of the witch trials within the small town of Salem, Mass. Of the many characters of the novel, John Proctor and Mary Warren are both characters that serve an importance to the novel. The two characters both interact in the stories in different ways. Even though both characters can be seen as minor characters because of their inferior power in the novel, Proctor and Mary Warren serve as important characters to the story line. One reason being the fact that they both bring about problems with and/or against antagonist Abigail Williams such as Mary Warren, who likes the feeling of have authority but gets into unwanted conflict often, and Proctor, who is an very aggressive person
People are very impressionable, especially children. Abigail used destructive power to cause chaos in Salem. In the Crucible she is viewed as strong-willed and independent. She manipulated and used people against each other as a stepping stone to hysteria.
Defense of Mary Warren When it comes to Arthur Miller’s allegorical work, The Crucible, very few characters can be deemed completely innocent. While just about every person in this story has a flaw of envy, pride, or selfishness, characters can often be sorted into the “accuser or accused” categories. One exception to this is Mary Warren. Throughout the story, her loyalties switch back and forth between these two sides. Due to this, she may seem like a selfish and unsympathetic character; that is not the case, however. Mary Warren is an abused and manipulated child, whose decisions in the story are certainly justified, given her situation. The first we see of Mary is when Betty falls ill after the the girls are caught congregating in the woods. Immediately, we see she is terrified, fully aware that them being accused of witchcraft would be “a hangin’ error” (1268). Abigail responds to her fear with an order to lie; she threatens them with violence should they not obey her. Abigail is one of Mary Warren’s main abusers in the story. John Proctor, Mary’s employer, enters the scene next. When he sees her away from his house, he scolds her in a humiliating fashion, even threatening to whip her. From the stage directions, we see she tries “to retain a shred of dignity” (1269), when this happens, leading to the belief that this reproach from Proctor is common in her life. We don’t hear from Mary again until the beginning of Act II. She
There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Some are raised with high expectations, morals, and the majority are raised in a Christian household. And some are raised the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she often views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary also shows how women portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.
In Salem, Mary is a follower who doesn’t take charge for her own actions. In Act Three, the narrator says, “She glances at Abigail, who is staring down at her remorseless. Then, appealing to Proctor….” When Mary glances at Abigail, it shows that she is not confident in her position which puts her in a vulnerable place where she can’t defend and later jeopardizes her life. She additionally endangers other innocent people, as she did not speak up and prove that the other innocent people like Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse; if she has spoken up, she would not have initiated all of the tragic events in
The sudden change in Mary’s opinion of both the girls and John Proctor, exhibits her apparent inability to stand firm against the manipulative powers of Abigail. While this trait could seem negative, passed off as fickle, Mary was able to keep her true identity a mystery to Salem.
Abigail and Mary Warren have one final similarity; they both are apprehensive. While in court when about to be convicted, both girls blamed someone else for being witches and said they saw them with the devil. Then they would say explain that they have found God again so they are off the hook. When all this shenanigans first started, Abigail shouted “I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil. I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!” By saying those names she was taken off the hook, and Goody Hawkins and Goody Booth were now being accused of witchery. This shows that Abigail is apprehensive because, she was scared of what would happen so by blaming it on someone else she didn’t have to worry about what would happen to her. Mary Warren also did the same terrible thing. Right before Mary Warren was to be called a witch by the court she said “You’re the Devil’s Man!” to John Proctor. That made the court decide to convict Proctor instead of her because she cried that she had found God. It made Mary not have to be fearful for her own life anymore.
This is later confirmed when she threatens to “come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and … bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder” (Pg.175) Mary Warren and Betty Parris if they dare to tell the truth. This shows her determination at killing Elizabeth Proctor and securing her own reputation. Unlike many naive villains in other literatures, Abigail sets out a meticulous scheme to frame Elizabeth. First, she witnesses Mary Warren leaving a needle in a doll. Then she “[sticks] two inches [of a needle] in the flesh of her belly”(pg. 203) to frame Elizabeth of performing witchcraft. So mendacious is Abigail that she is willing to injure herself to accomplish her plan. Under her beautiful appearance also lays a manipulative heart. She is capable of manipulating not only the girls into doing things her way, but also the members of the court to her advantage. When questioned by Danforth whether the spirits she has seen are illusion, Abigail steps it up a notch by making the members of the court feel sorry for her and madly refutes, “I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a—” (Pg.210) This, following by Elizabeth's failure to tell the truth and the girl’s verisimilar acting toward the “yellow bird”, further demonstrates her manipulative power which brings the court in her favor. Altogether, many
The characters in Arthur millers The Crucible can teach a lot about people. People can be horrible and terribly deceptive. When placed under pressures and after experiencing trauma peoples real character can come out. In the case of The Crucible Abigail is shown for what she really is. She gets a kind of power and this corrupts her to use the situation to have Elizabeth Proctor sent to jail. Abigail is not the only one who takes advantage of the
The roles in which women play in the drama are very significant due to the fact that they are able to shape the story and give an idea of the nature of one of the strangest events which we call the witch trials. In the play, women are depicted as weak creatures who are expected to submit to men, and whose only access to power is through dishonest means which we see a lot through certain characters. No women in the Crucible possesses extreme power and with the lying and dishonest females having the most power through despicable acts, only means for the truthful, pure-hearted, and family orientated women to be the least powerful. More specifically, women from the drama who fit into these archetypes are Mary Warren,
In conclusion, the numerous characters in The Crucible embodied ranging themes. Abigail rose to power through the witch trials. Many innocent villagers were accused and executed. Her power to manipulate her followers and the town served to prove her deceptive nature. John Proctor protected his reputation by refusing to the sign the confession, and became the tragic hero of the play. The crucible came to be a symbol of superstition and paranoia that tore the community apart in the play, which provided this play meaningful significance
The Salem Witch Trials: a time where the innocent were guilty and the guilty got away with murder. This horrendous event can be further explained through Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Miller has won many awards in his time for writing many dramas that are very popular amongst the people and The Crucible just so happens to be one of them. It tells a story about a harsh time that many people faced when they were losing loved ones who were found guilty since they didn’t confess to a crime that they never committed. While reading the play, a person will find a theme of power. One specific character, Mary Warren, helps show this theme because as soon as she gains power, her character changes drastically. Throughout The Crucible, Mary Warren is portrayed as a very dynamic character since she begins as being very wimpy, then she gains confidence and becomes brave, and then she goes right back to being timid and controlled by Abigail.