Anarchy in Salem Village

             In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many characters pretend that they have been bewitched in order to accomplish personal goals. Others simply took advantage of the hysteria by accusing other people of practicing witchcraft. Three characters that abused this power the most were Abigail Williams, Mr. Putnam, and Mrs. Putnam. These three characters were responsible for the hangings of many people and for ruining many more lives.
             Abigail Williams may have been the worst of the three characters. Abigail was almost single-handedly responsible for the outbreak of the hysteria. This is because after her and the other girls were caught dancing in the woods, Abigail was the one who almost forced the other girls to name "witches". This is because Abigail threatened the other girls to keep quiet about the rituals that went on in the woods. Abigail, along with the other girls, than acted as if she were bewitched. Her purpose for doing this was to simply be with the man she loved, John Proctor. Abigail had an affair with John, but he stayed with his wife, Elizabeth. Therefore, Abigail's ultimate plan was to essentially get rid of Elizabeth so that she can have John.
             Another character with a hidden agenda was Mrs. Putnam. Mrs. Putnam had had eight children, seven of which had died within one day of their birth. Mrs. Putnam believes that someone had used witchcraft to murder the babies. Because of this, she began to name names, hopefully getting back at the people, or person, that killed her children. She ultimately accuses Rebecca Nurse, a midwife, for the crimes.
             The final character that abused the mass confusion was Mrs. Putnam's husband, Mr. Thomas Putnam. Thomas's personal motive was to get revenge for his brother-in-law being denied the position as minister. When his brother-in-law ran for minister, a small faction thwarted his relative's aspirations. By adding to the outbrea
             ...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Anarchy in Salem Village. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 20:52, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/76388.html