The abuse of power Essays

The abuse of power Essays The abuse of power Essay The abuse of power Essay Danforths status does not change during the play as he is a judge but it can be argued that he is a judge that does not listen to sense and evidence, and will believe anything. The final character I am going to focus this essay on is Mary Warren. Marys character does not manipulate others but is manipulated herself. In comparison to Abigail, Mary can be seen as weak and fragile. She is mainly manipulated by Abigail throughout the play. Abigail: (Shivering visibly. ) It is a wind, a wind! Mary Warren: Abby, dont do that! In my opinion, Arthur Miller created such a character so the audience can easily view the lengths Abigail goes to, to influence and control a situation that could end up unfavourably for her. This illustrates how selfish she is as a person and because of Mary Warren, it helps us to understand the character of Abigail. Danforth, who always seems to believe Abigail, turns against Mary Warren, who was a part of the group of girls accusing people in the public of using witchcraft, and asks Mary Warren about what she is supposedly doing to Abigail, Danforth: (Himself engaged and entered by Abigail. ) Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out? This then eventually causes John Proctor to prove to Danforth that Abigail can not be trusted by telling everyone what has happened between him and Abigail. Mary, as a character, is not strong enough to stand up to a character like Abigail for a fear of what could happen to her. This shows us that the point of Marys character is to show the audience Abigails evil qualities and possibly what Abigail is capable of to protect herself. In conclusion, Abigail had the ability to push around anybody, something she would not have been able to do if the trials for witchcraft had not taken place. Abigail is possibly the most manipulative character in modern literature. By creating Abigail, I believe that Arthur Miller was trying to capture the events of what was happening within his own society at the time. From writing this essay, I have learned that this play is a study of power and manipulation as there is a vast amount of it within just one piece of literature. By writing The Crucible, Arthur Miller has shown his readers that if one person is given too much power, no good would possibly come from it.