Crucible
Does power corrupt? In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Miller takes his readers on a journey back to 1692 to revisit the Salem witchcraft trials. He cleverly portrays a small Puritan town and the disappearance of their commitment to each other and the truth. One of the main characters in Miller's play is Abigail Williams, who is a seventeen year old orphan with an "endless capacity for dissembling".(p.8) She, along with an evil land owner, Thomas Putnam, and a distinguished judge, Danforth, is able to corrupt the town to get what they want. Through their manipulating tactics of deceiving the town and making them believe that evil has taken over, Danforth, Putnam, and Abigail Williams are able to destroy the morals and values the town once had to get what they want. Judge Danforth is the first of the three individuals that use power to corrupt. He is a deputy governor and a "grave man in his sixties... with an exact loyalty to his position and cause (p.85)." Danforth sees his position as judge as an important one, and in the case of witchcraft in Salem, his main objective is to "rid the town of all evil (p.140)." However, he misuses his power to punish the innocent in order to please the town's majority. An example of ho
The last character who repeatedly uses power to destroy the town and help herself is Abigail Williams. Throughout the novel, Abigail is described as a lonely, yet driven character with an undying need for control. She yearns to rule over the town and manipulate her love-interest John Proctor. In the story, Abigail is the culprit behind all the events of evil that have suddenly occurred in Salem. Abigail's need for control is what possesses her to commit the crimes she commits, and she uses witchcraft as a catalyst to destroy the town and eventually herself. One of the many events where Abigail uses her power to corrupt occurs in the courtroom during the trial. Marry Warren and John Proctor go to try to prove that Abigail and the other girls are lying about being involved in witchcraft. To protect herself, from being condemned of witchcraft, Abigail bursts out and claims that Marry is possessed by the Devil and that she is using her power over Abigail and the rest of the girls. She cries, "Mary! Don't come down (p.115)," in an attempt to convince the judge that Mary is controlling them with the work of the devil in the form of an imaginary bird. By doing this, Abigail manages to make Marry's and John Proctor's testimony meaningless. Another instance where Abigail uses her power to destroy people in the town occurs when she causes Elizabeth Proctor to be ta
Some common words found in the essay are:
Judge Danforth, John Proctor, Thomas Putnam, Giles Corey, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Paris, Crucible Miller, Abigail Williams, Salem Abigail's, Williams Throughout, power corrupt, john proctor, abigail williams, people town, elizabeth proctor, judge danforth, involved witchcraft, town believe evil, thomas putnam, town occurs, corrupt town,
Approximate Word count = 926
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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