Comparison between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams.in The Crucible Essay

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in the 1690s, revolves around the witchcraft hysteria and human vengeance that plague Salem and which split the town into those who use the trials for their own ends and those who desire the good of the society. It is this paradox which we find to be a major theme of The Crucible: good versus evil. In order to keep the community together, members of that community believe that they must in some sense tear it apart. Miller relates the intense hysteria and vengeance over the integrity of the Puritan community to their belief that they are in some sense a chosen people who will forge a new destiny for the world.

In this play there are two leading ladies, I will be comparing is the Comparison between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. They have a lot of similarities in character and attributes but, their motives are far different from each others. Abigail Williams in this play is the evil. We see this very clearly through her character flaws as she is her jealousy, non-religious, lustful revengeful and self-interest. She shows this through out the play. She is the wrong of the play while Elizabeth on the other hand is the right. Elizabeth has a loving caring selfless religious and forgiving character. She is the right in this story of Good against Evil.

But they do share some similarities such as they are both liars. We see Elizabeth lie in court to protect her husbands reputation and name, his name which he describes as it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name! Elizabeth lies for she wants her husband to keep his good name which took him all the years of his life to earn. She could have saved herself but instead she lied in open court and against her religion which she values so high. So even though she did lie about the reason she dismissed Abigail from her services, she did so for the right reasons: to protect her husband, to have a father for her children and because she loves him. She was conservative and would not lie. The only time she lied was to protect her husband. She could have lied and said she was a witch but she did not. Elizabeths morals were much higher than Abigails.

But as for Abigail she lies throughout the play, she lies for her own self gain. We see this many times but a good example as we are comparing her and Elizabeth would be when she lies in court accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witch craft just so that she can be with John. She then also lies when John comes clean about his relationship with Abigail in front of the court so as to save the lives of the people whom she has accused of witchcraft. But she lies saying she had never been with him, and by doing so has him sent to his death.

They are different though when it come to selfishness. Abigail accuses innocent people of witchcraft just so she can be with John Proctor. We see this in Act II when Hale explains that Abigail charged her with murder and witchcraft. Elizabeth asks Hale And she charges me? Hale: Aye. This confirms the lengths Abigail will go to, to get John Proctor. To save her own skin in the beginning she also threatens the girls (Mary and Mercy) telling them "Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you... And you know I can do it... I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down." This portrays that she has no compassion for any of her supposed friends, and is only interested in keeping her self from a whipping.

Whereas Elizabeth Proctor is a selfless person and we see this countless times through the duration of the play. A memorable scene is that of the 2nd Act when Elizabeth proctor is being taken away to jail and instead of making her husband commit a crime in defending her from the law and to prevent her children from not only missing a mother but also a father she agrees to go with Cheever. She simply says to Proctor Ill go John-, and even with his protest she says calmly John- I think I must go with them. Mary there is bread enough for the morning; you will bake in the afternoon you owe me that, and much more. (Now speaking to john)When the children wake, speak nothing of witchcraft it will only frighten them. This clearly shows her selflessness as she speaks no word of her self only of them that she loves and keeps dear to her heart. Finally we see in the last scene how selfless she is, for even though she knows it will be unbearably hard to live life without John and she will not know how to cope with all the pressures of motherhood alone, knowing of all of this, she still lets John be hanged. For she knew that he would either live with himself as a liar or die knowing he told the truth. She didnt want to be the one to take his goodness away he couldnt deprive him of that, no matter what she wanted. Hale: Go to him, take his shame away! Elizabeth: He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him! This to me is one of the most powerful lines in the play for it gives us so much insight to the characters of John and Elizabeth Proctor.

One of the major similarities between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams is that they both love John Proctor. Elizabeth loves him for many reasons; he is her husband, the father of her children and the love of her life whom she has already spent most of her days with already. We see her convey her love for him in various scenes such as in the court, in the final scene and in act II. In the final scene we see that she will not judge him she thinks him to be a man who no man can be measured to. We observe this when she says John- I never knew such goodness in the world. We also see her true affection here I cannot judge you John. She cannot judge him because no matter what he may be she will always love him; nothing he will do will ever break their everlasting love.

Abigail on the other hand does love him some but with lust wanting and passion. She only wants him because he was the one who took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretence Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! She loves him because he was the one who showed her how to love. He was her first love and as we know you never forget your first love and dread the days you lose her or him. We cannot say she didnt love him but we can say that she loved him for the wrong reasons. But it is sure that they both did love him but both loved him for different reason and with different motives. Elizabeth in my view loved him for all the right reason while Abigail loves him for the selfish reasons but does still love him all the same.

In conclusion Abigail and Elizabeth were very different characters. They did have a various similar qualities but they pursue and showed them in very different ways. They had very different motives. Elizabeth's character portrays a wife in distress after she finds out about her husband's affair, yet she still has courage throughout the play. She shows determination when she is in need of strength to keep her going, after Abigail accused her of witchcraft. Whereas Abigails snobbishness and superiority make many people believe her lies. Her resentment toward those that betray her influences many of her decisions. The authoritative, deceitful character of Abigail Williams is certainly unforgettable. So in the end to conclude they might be similar in some qualities such as love but their characters are completely and utterly different.