Crucible Essay
Ashton Schaefer
English 11
11/27/12
Crucible essay
Between February 1692 and may 1693 there were a series of hangings because of people accused of witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts. I think Abigail is the guiltiest person in the Crucible because she had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. Abigail convinced a lot of people that witchcraft was real or intimidated them into going along with it. She also convinced the girls and herself to send many to their deaths. The first reason I believe Abigail is guilty is that she had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. The affair happened when Abigail was in service as a maid to John and Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth was sickly and bedridden at the time. Then later in the story she stuck a needle in the poppet that Mary was making in the court house and accused Elizabeth of witchcraft so that when they go to search Elizabeth Proctor’s house, they would find the poppet with a needle stuck into it and then Abigail stabbed her self in the gut with a small needle to make it appear like voodoo. So then Elizabeth would get arrested and tried as a witch. If she wouldn’t confess then she would hang witch is exactly what Elizabeth wanted. She also approached John when he was alone multiple times trying to convince him to leave Elizabeth and run away with her. The more John ignored her and told her it wasn’t going to happen the more irritated and desperate she got driving Abby to get Elizabeth hung as mentioned above. The second reason I believe she is the guiltiest person in the novel is that she convinced a lot of people that witchcraft was real or intimidated them into going along with it. Such as when Parris sees them dancing in the woods she tries to cover it up and insists that nothing happened in the woods. But after continuous questioning and pressure she says that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring the spirits of Putnam’s dead babies. Mercy then shows up when Parris
English 11
11/27/12
Crucible essay
Between February 1692 and may 1693 there were a series of hangings because of people accused of witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts. I think Abigail is the guiltiest person in the Crucible because she had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. Abigail convinced a lot of people that witchcraft was real or intimidated them into going along with it. She also convinced the girls and herself to send many to their deaths. The first reason I believe Abigail is guilty is that she had an affair with John Proctor and tried to kill his wife. The affair happened when Abigail was in service as a maid to John and Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth was sickly and bedridden at the time. Then later in the story she stuck a needle in the poppet that Mary was making in the court house and accused Elizabeth of witchcraft so that when they go to search Elizabeth Proctor’s house, they would find the poppet with a needle stuck into it and then Abigail stabbed her self in the gut with a small needle to make it appear like voodoo. So then Elizabeth would get arrested and tried as a witch. If she wouldn’t confess then she would hang witch is exactly what Elizabeth wanted. She also approached John when he was alone multiple times trying to convince him to leave Elizabeth and run away with her. The more John ignored her and told her it wasn’t going to happen the more irritated and desperate she got driving Abby to get Elizabeth hung as mentioned above. The second reason I believe she is the guiltiest person in the novel is that she convinced a lot of people that witchcraft was real or intimidated them into going along with it. Such as when Parris sees them dancing in the woods she tries to cover it up and insists that nothing happened in the woods. But after continuous questioning and pressure she says that Tituba and Ruth were conjuring the spirits of Putnam’s dead babies. Mercy then shows up when Parris
Cited: Mary Warren’s Quotes pages 18-19 Act One