“Nobody, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time (Laurence Sterne).” In The Crucible, playwright Arthur Miller wrote the character of Mary Warren to be coerced into two differing conflicts driven by her obligations and influences in acts two and three, just as Sterne’s quote describes. Throughout the play, the character of Mary Warren was pulled by the compelling influences and obligations put on her by John Proctor and Abigail Williams; this relates to the theme of power and what people do for it that was presented throughout the play.
Furthermore, in acts two and three Mary Warren was obligated to help John Proctor get Elizabeth out of jail. She had an obligation because it was her poppet that got Elizabeth thrown in jail in the first place. This was proved when Cheever went to the Proctor’s house with a warrant where he asked Elizabeth if she had a poppet to prove she
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Mary Warren liked the amount of power she held in the court. She even argues with Elizabeth and says she had a reason to not show up to work since she considered herself a vital judge of the court. On one hand, Mary Warren knows it was the right action to do; help Elizabeth because she contributed to Elizabeth’s arrest. On the other hand, she knows she will lose Abigail's alliance if she testifies against her, and she does not want to lose the power that she was given through being associated with Abigail. Abigail was by far Mary Warren’s most significant influence. She was able to make Mary Warren go into mass hysteria and convince her to take back the truth, and support Abigail's claims of seeing demons and spirits as truth. This shows one of the main themes of the play, the actions people take, ultimately betrayal, to keep their
Mary Warren has an inadequate personality. When Mercy Lewis starts to question Abigail,
Mary Warren not going against Abigail and confessing the truth shows that Mary Warren will do things even if she does not want to, to please Abigail. Second, Marry Warren makes a poppet in court and gives it to Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of stabbing her through the poppet with a needle. Then Elizabeth Proctor gets taken to jail and John Proctor tells Mary Warren she must confess that she made the poppet. Mary Warren shows herself being scared of turning against Abigail by saying, “She’ll kill me for sayin’ that!...”
Elizabeth didn’t understand this cruel treatment, so she ran away. Elizabeth had worked for the Ashley family a long time, and losing her was not something the Ashleys would put up with. The Ashleys went to law enforcement, forcing
In the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, two of the most important characters are, Mary Warren and Reverend John Hale. The story takes place in Salem, 1692, when supposedly witchcraft ran rampant. John Hale gives us the knowledge of witchcraft and puritan beliefs, in the story, in order to decide whether someone was a witch or not, while Mary Warren assists Abigail Williams in the false accusations presented in order to alleviate the punishment they were facing for the actual practicing of witchcraft as well as dancing. In the story John Hale is intelligent while Mary Warren seems to want good, but is too nervous to take a stand on it.
The way groupthink is portrayed in “The Crucible” changes our interpretations of how a character is influenced by society, and changes one’s views on life. Groupthink is a major theme that comes up frequently in the play through the work of Salem’s society. A character who is persistently a victim of groupthink is Mary Warren. Mary Warren is a seventeen year old girl who is the servant of the Proctor’s house, and is influenced by groupthink by Abby’s group.
Abigail herself is a complex character. She is motivated by her love for John Proctor and her desire for retribution against Elizabeth for separating them. Her actions serve as a prime example of how our decisions can have a significant impact on those around us and how rumours and lies can spread like wildfire and cause irreparable
In act three of the crucible, Mary Warren accused John Proctor of witchcraft. The reason being, either way, she would be going to jail but if she found some way to soften the blow a little she could be let of a little easier. The way she picked in the heat of the moment was blaming John Proctor of witchcraft. She was being blamed by the girls that she was a witch and had absolutely no way to defend herself because the judges already are on Abigail's side. She then dropped the bomb and said that John was a witch and made her do it all.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.
During court, Mary said she heard “the other girls screaming” and that Danforth “seemed to believe them” so she followed suit (Miller 107). Abigail and her friends saw the court believing their act, so they continued with their theatrics. This same display of emotion from Proctor also works at convincing Danforth Abigail’s words are not to be trusted, and her accusations against his wife have no
After continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.
Adolescent minds are the most intelligent kind of mind. A young brain is filled with creativity, imagination and innocence. Though the thought process of a teen is assumed to be selfish there are other factors involved. A combination of these characteristics seems almost dangerous. One would undermine a juvenile to use these qualities to manipulate the court for their own selfish wishes or pleasures.
When faced with the fear of punishment, it's human nature to lie and save yourself even at the expense of others. In the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren is an eighteen-year-old servant working in the Proctor household. Initially, Mary believes that telling the truth is better than hiding the events that occurred in the forest. Fearful of the repercussions brought by revealing the truth, Mary decides to join Abigail's group; gaining confidence and power at the expense of her honesty. As the play progresses, Mary is, once again, forced to pick between lying and telling the truth to save Elizabeth from hanging.
She help but many to death, along with the others following Abigails unholy agenda. In act two, the reader can see a change in Mary's attitude. She starts to stand up to John Proctor, seeming to have a new found confidence. She is still naive about Abby and what she is doing, but with the help of John Proctor, she begins to understand whats happening and admits she was pretending to be choked by spirits in the court. She goes before the court to testify the evil Abby is commiting.
Mary is part of the courts and seems to use this to manipulate her employer, Mr. Proctor. Her first act of defiance was when she told him that he could not order her to bed, give her whippings, or stop her from going to court proceedings (Miller, pg. 59). It is not certain if she knew the intent of Abigail to use the poppet to condemn Elizabeth Proctor. However, when she asked by Mr. Proctor to tell the truth about the poppet, she adamantly says that she cannot because she fears the girls will turn on her. When she does have a change of heart and is put in front of the courts, she shows her weak side and you can see her confidence wane.
Now we learn that all of the problems lead directly to Abigail. She is not to be trusted and would just bring pain. Abigail presence is felt throughout the story in many ways. At the beginning of Act 2, they are eating dinner and talking. After they're done, Elizabeth starts talking about how Mary Warren went to the court to accuse Abigail.