Miller’s patriarchal society is explored through the changing power roles that are highlighted through the characters and the portrayal of the genders.
The situational power status of the women in ‘The Crucible’ provided little opportunities to better themselves through education or employment – oppressed by the socially expected behaviour. When caught dancing in the forest and soon after accused of Witchcraft, Abigail Williams and the girls took control of the situation by displacing their persecution and accusing innocent women in the town. In the beginning of the play, the power was presented to Mr Putnam, Giles Correy, John Proctor and Reverend Parris who ‘felt insulted if someone rose to shut the door without asking his permission’ (Act I). Male characters are continually redeemed by the power “put in [our] hands to discover the Devil’s agents among [us]”. When confessing his affair to the justice court, Proctor was not persecuted for his actions but instead renowned for his honesty. Adversely, Abigail was labelled a ‘lump of vanity’ and condemned with ‘a whore’s vengeance’, the justice court accused of ‘pulling down heaven and raising a whore’ by John. The double standard served by the men …show more content…
Overall, Abigail’s character can be interpreted as the archetypal nature of a female – a sweet, scared, sexual being who can turn on their ‘own kind’ at any given time. Christened as ‘little crazy children [that are] jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law’ (Act II) by John Proctor, the deficiency of faith in the seriousness of their accusations persuading the reader to reduce a girl into a one-dimensional, manipulative
The situational power status of the women in ‘The Crucible’ provided little opportunities to better themselves through education or employment – oppressed by the socially expected behaviour. When caught dancing in the forest and soon after accused of Witchcraft, Abigail Williams and the girls took control of the situation by displacing their persecution and accusing innocent women in the town. In the beginning of the play, the power was presented to Mr Putnam, Giles Correy, John Proctor and Reverend Parris who ‘felt insulted if someone rose to shut the door without asking his permission’ (Act I). Male characters are continually redeemed by the power “put in [our] hands to discover the Devil’s agents among [us]”. When confessing his affair to the justice court, Proctor was not persecuted for his actions but instead renowned for his honesty. Adversely, Abigail was labelled a ‘lump of vanity’ and condemned with ‘a whore’s vengeance’, the justice court accused of ‘pulling down heaven and raising a whore’ by John. The double standard served by the men …show more content…
Overall, Abigail’s character can be interpreted as the archetypal nature of a female – a sweet, scared, sexual being who can turn on their ‘own kind’ at any given time. Christened as ‘little crazy children [that are] jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law’ (Act II) by John Proctor, the deficiency of faith in the seriousness of their accusations persuading the reader to reduce a girl into a one-dimensional, manipulative