Motivation of "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller: Characters

Essay by philiphan08High School, 10th gradeA+, August 2006

download word file, 4 pages 0.0

Downloaded 47 times

"John Proctor: I'll tell you what's walking Salem-- vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant's vengeance! I'll not give my wife to vengeance! (Miller, 379)". This quote by John Proctor was spoken in response to one of the many motives in the Salem witch trails in The Crucible. The witch trials were seen by some as an opportunity to obtain personal gain through accusing others of witchcraft. There were many motivational goals for the characters in The Crucible such as, sexual, political, and financial.

The character, in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", who holds a sexually motivated goal for accusing others, is Abigail Williams. When Abigail is the Proctors' housekeeper, she and John Proctor commit adultery before the Salem witch trails. John, however, feels guilty of his crime and sees through Abigail's methods to kill his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, by accusing her (From Page to Stage).

Abigail and the other girls fake being bewitched to convince others of the witchcraft's validity of the accused (Scheidt, 11). The other people being accused of witch craft only strengthened her chances of winning support for accusing Elizabeth Proctor. Her main goal is to eradicate Elizabeth Proctor and to gain back John's "love". "When suspicion swings to his wife, John is forced to choose: keep quiet about his lechery or expose Abigail and possibly forfeit his own life (High Intensity)". She uses the Salem witch trails, in such a way, to try and achieve her single goal of winning back John Proctor, by trapping him. She fakes being attacked by Elizabeth Proctor allegedly using a voodoo doll to pierce Abigail's stomach. Her goal is...