Abigail Williams And The Crucible

The Salem Witch Trials will forever be a historical phenomenon that countless writers are drawn to; therefore, why did Arthur Miller desire to dramatize such events? Arthur Miller’s fascination with the Salem Witch Trials, in addition to the communist conflict of the 1960s, contributed to the creation of The Crucible. Miller alters each character to make their personalities more potent than the factual documentation suggests. The Crucible is a play that directly references Miller’s experience of communism; moreover, Miller exaggerates certain events of the play in order to mirror the McCarthyism era. Miller’s work, comprising of historical record of the trials and communism, effectively grabbed the public’s attention surrounding the communist …show more content…
One character of The Crucible, Abigail Williams, is Reverend Parris’ niece in the play. Historically, there is no concrete evidence to prove a hereditary relationship between the two characters (Burns). Next, the characters of John and Elizabeth Proctor are not farmers as Miller described; instead, the Proctors were local tavern-keepers. In addition, the two judges of the The Crucible, Hathorne and Danforth, actually branch off into the identities of presiding judges of the Salem Witch Trials. One of Miller’s most controversial incorporations is the affair between John Proctor and Abigail. According to Moss, “As The Crucible took shape, he focused more on the individual personal struggles that, when combined, created the larger hysteria…The supposed extramarital affair between John Proctor and Abigail Williams, for example, required that Miller ‘read between the lines’ of the official documents” (Moss and Wilson - “The Crucible” 84). Consequently, Miller alters the ages of Abigail and John Proctor because the gap between each character’s ages is too vast to be believable. Abigail is truly eleven years old, but Miller presents Abigail’s character at seventeen years old (Moss and Wilson - “The Crucible” 84). Though Miller incorporates historical inaccuracies in his play, the events have an essential purpose of compelling the reader through an unexpected …show more content…
Defined, a “crucible” is a melting pot, where metals become heated until valuable metals separate from base metals. The title of Miller’s play represents how hardships of humanity can result in spiritual refinement (“The Crucible” 129). The title of the play provides an introduction to Miller’s views of Puritan religion and it’s values. Miller portrays the characters of Salem as solely concerned with their own reputations, rather than focusing on religion (Ondaatje 327). The historical records of Salem do not portray each citizen as embodying this selfish attitude, but Miller establishes the idea himself. Miller criticizes religion by implying that people value themselves over religion; moreover, Miller applies this idea to both the citizens of Salem and the people of the communism era. Another example of distorted religion involves the relationship between Abigail and Reverend Parris. Because of Abigail’s uncle having a strict and loveless relationship towards her, she begins to find attraction to materials that contrast Puritanism. Abigail turns to black magic and aggressiveness, which the Puritan community forbids (“The Crucible” 135). Miller uses religion in this instance to imply that an obstructed enforcement of religion has dire consequences among believers. Puritanism is understood as