Evil Force of the Crucible

The Evil Force of The Crucible Written about a small town’s suffering, The Crucible creates an allegory connecting the Salem Witch Trials of1692 to the McCarthy trials of the mid-20th century. At the beginning of this Play, one can see the anarchy created by a group of girls. The girls, led by Abigail William, were simply sporting around in the woods. This incident led to the pointing of fingers, false confessions, vengeance and ultimately the death of more than 15 innocent Puritans who did not, in fact, commit witchery. The playwright, Arthur Miller, focuses on the hysteria this group causes for the town of Salem and while doing this he pokes at the current problem of the McCarthy Trials. Puritans were those who moved from England with intentions of Purifying the corrupt ways of the Church of England. This ideology of this “perfect” religion passed every test but life itself; the high standards that were demanded to keep the religion going could not be met as time passed. The Puritans endorsed Theocracy, a flawed system of justice that blends church and state; therefore uniting the jobs of judges and minsters. Hence, one could not fight the court because it could be seen as an attempt to overthrow God. Using the power of the court to her advantage, Abigail Williams became the force of evil for not only the town of Salem but for the Puritan Religion itself by committing the sins of adultery, bearing false witness against thy neighbor and causing the deaths of innocent people. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' In the Puritan religion, it is a sin to commit adultery, because it is included in the Ten Commandments. Abigail Williams takes this sin to the next level. Before the play opens, Abigail was a servant for the Proctor family. During this time, she became very close with John Proctor, the patriarch. Though it is not said exactly what happened between them, it is known that adultery was committed. After they were caught Abigail still held feelings of