Crucible Essay

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is based in Puritan Massachusetts in the town of Salem in the year of 1692. The play is focused on the girls accusing people of witchcraft and the people that know the girls are lying and are against the accusations. Rumors are spread throughout the town and the fear of the citizens of Salem blinds them all. Their common sense is thrown out the window and the only thing they can think is witches. In The Crucible, there are many characters that contribute to the Salem witch trials, the three most responsible are Mary Warren, Reverend Parris and the character most responsible is Abigail.

Reverend Parris is responsible for the Salem witch trials. He finds his daughter Betty, niece Abigail, slave Tituba and all of their friends dancing in the forest. He immediately thinks that they are doing the Devil’s work and conjuring spirits. Those things were not allowed in Puritan times. He scares the girls and Betty then takes sick and will not speak. She looks like she is dead but she is still breathing. “No- no there be no unnatural cause here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mr. Hale will surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. There be none” (9). Parris does not want to look to witchcraft for Betty’s illness, but he calls for Reverend Hale just to check things out. By calling Hale, Parris gets everyone in the town all worked up about the possibility of witches in their village. If Parris would have just let Betty play her little game for a few days, she would eventually snap out of it because of human needs. Abigail would have never gotten the idea to accuse innocent people of working with the Devil.        

Mary Warren is also in responsible for the witch trials. She knows that Abigail is falsely accusing Elizabeth Proctor of sending her spirit on her and stabbing her with a needle. Mary saw Abigail put the needle into the doll that she made for Elizabeth. To save his wife, John Proctor makes Mary Warren go to court and tell the judges that Abigail and all the other girls are lying. “I-I cannot tell how, but I did. I-I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I- It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I-I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not” (106). Mary is telling the judges that the whole feeling of the courtroom was making her feel like there were actually spirits being sent upon her. They ask her to faint like she did in the courtroom before but, she cannot. What was stopping her? If she would have shown the judges she could faint on command the judges would be suspicious of Abigail and all of her followers. Mary Warren could have ended the witch trials and that is why she is one of the characters most responsible for them.

            Abigail is the most responsible for the Salem witch trials. She is the mastermind throughout the whole play. Abby has power and she loves it. She can accuse people of being innocent or guilty of witchcraft. The judges always believe her, so if she did not want someone around anymore, they could be put in jail or hanged by saying a few words or faking a faint. “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. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (48)! Abby says this when Reverend Hale is trying to get Tituba, to confess to working with the Devil. Abby sees Tituba’s confession as a way to get power in the town and be the ultimate puppeteer in the lives of the citizens of Salem. Abigail says that she was with the Devil and says she saw Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, and Bridget Bishop. It was easy for her to accuse them even though she knew the consequences of witchcraft could result in death.  As soon as Abby starts saying these things Betty wakes up all of a sudden and starts calling out innocent people’s names too. Abigail is most responsible for the witch trials because she ultimately started the accusations and kept them going until she ran away.

There are many people in The Crucible that were responsible for the witch trials in Salem, the three most responsible characters are Reverend Parris, Mary Warren, and Abigail. Parris was responsible because he overreacted about Betty’s “illness” and had the whole town in frenzy about witchcraft. Mary was responsible because she could have ended the whole ordeal but she did not. Abigail is most responsible for the witch trials because she stroked the match that started the wildfire of witchcraft accusations. The whole play is full of “what ifs”, but the ultimate question starts with what would have happened if Reverend Parris never had sent for Reverend Hale.