We started reading The Crucible in my 11th grade language arts class today. The play is a deliberate reference to McCarthyism that was occurring at the time of its original production in the 1950s. As such, it is easy to identify with John Proctor as the clear protagonist of the story as he is falsely accused and dies rather than spread lies about his friends. Abigail Williams, the girl who spreads those lies and false accusations, is clearly meant to be the chief villain. It is she who started the entire fiasco with her desire to have John for herself and who manages to fatefully turn Mary Warren in the third act.
Yet Abigail's story is not so straight-forward. As a child, she witnessed her parents murdered in front of her. She was then taken in by a resentful and selfishly self-righteous uncle. As a teenager, she fell in love with John Proctor--a married man--who committed statutory rape upon her. At the point that the play begins, she had been cast out of the Proctor's home with her reputation soiled, blamed for Proctor's crime. The story ends with her fleeing in disgrace with the suggestion that she becomes a prostitute, as though that is some sort of karmic justice. Certainly, for a long time I thought of her as such. It is only in the past decade or so that I have come to realize that she was a victim.
The true villains of the story are the Putnams. From the beginning, they are the ones who use the fear of witchcraft for their own personal gain, which is especially ironic as it was Ann Putnam who first sends her daughter out to "traffick with spirits." By the third act, it is clear that the Putnams are using the witch hunt to increase their own property and prosperity. Even in the end, they never receive any kind of justice for (or even acknowledgement of) their part in the horrid affair.
I still like John Proctor as he manages to redeem himself in the end, not just by refusing to lie about his friends, but in his final request for forgiveness. Still, I do not like how vilified Abigail Williams is made out to be, especially considering that the true villains (not just the Putnams, but also Judge Hathorne and Governor Danforth) manage to escape unscathed. I suppose it makes sense that this is the case, as Arthur Miller put this play to stage while McCarthyism was still at its height and the villains in that part of history were still profiting from their own witch hunts.
Yet Abigail's story is not so straight-forward. As a child, she witnessed her parents murdered in front of her. She was then taken in by a resentful and selfishly self-righteous uncle. As a teenager, she fell in love with John Proctor--a married man--who committed statutory rape upon her. At the point that the play begins, she had been cast out of the Proctor's home with her reputation soiled, blamed for Proctor's crime. The story ends with her fleeing in disgrace with the suggestion that she becomes a prostitute, as though that is some sort of karmic justice. Certainly, for a long time I thought of her as such. It is only in the past decade or so that I have come to realize that she was a victim.
The true villains of the story are the Putnams. From the beginning, they are the ones who use the fear of witchcraft for their own personal gain, which is especially ironic as it was Ann Putnam who first sends her daughter out to "traffick with spirits." By the third act, it is clear that the Putnams are using the witch hunt to increase their own property and prosperity. Even in the end, they never receive any kind of justice for (or even acknowledgement of) their part in the horrid affair.
I still like John Proctor as he manages to redeem himself in the end, not just by refusing to lie about his friends, but in his final request for forgiveness. Still, I do not like how vilified Abigail Williams is made out to be, especially considering that the true villains (not just the Putnams, but also Judge Hathorne and Governor Danforth) manage to escape unscathed. I suppose it makes sense that this is the case, as Arthur Miller put this play to stage while McCarthyism was still at its height and the villains in that part of history were still profiting from their own witch hunts.
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