The Crucible,

“The Crucible” is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953. The play is set in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 during the Salem witch trials. It can be seen that paranoia has consumed the village of Salem, this leads to the deconstruction of the community. The main characters in the play Abigail and Proctor have had an affair this leads to conflict between the two characters when Proctor no longer wants to carry on the affair. Abigail and her friends are found dancing in the forest, when questioned Abigail claims that they are working with the devil; Abigail then goes on to accuse older woman from the village of witchcraft. It can be seen that Abigail doesn’t know the seriousness of her situation.
During act one it can be seen that Abigail is trying to intimidate the other girls into doing what she wants, “reddish work” suggesting that she has seen bad things; Abigail is making out that she is quite hard but no one really knows what she is capable of. Abigail also says “shudder you” to scare the rest of the girls, ironically she is the one that is scared that the adults will find out. In reference to Abigail beating Betty Miller uses the word “smashes” in the stage direction which shows that she is capable of violence. This shows that Abigail is willing to get others into trouble rather than take the blame herself; she is putting innocent people at the risk of being hanged.
Abigail shows how she is not over her affair with Proctor when they are left alone, “winningly” suggests that she is confident in her ability to get Proctor back and seduce him; one could argue that she is using sexuality to scare and manipulate him to ruin his marriage. The use of the word “confidential” suggests that she loves the secrecy of their relationship. It can be seen that Abigail is determined to continue the relationship with Proctor, the audience know this because she is flirting with him and trying to flatter him, “how strong you are” she is trying to soften him up so...