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Post by rebeccaki116 on Oct 22, 2012 21:29:06 GMT -5
In class the other day it was brought up that Abigail was the only character who “survived” or didn’t suffer detriments at the end of The Crucible. This was ironic considering she was the driving force under the tyranny of consensus to begin with. Perhaps this was the reason she was able to end up untouched. What I was wondering is if anyone else came out at the end of the play without suffering in addition to Abby? Was she the only one? If so, then who do you think suffered the most as a result of the accusations?
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Post by idach116 on Oct 28, 2012 18:25:01 GMT -5
I think that there are many characters who got out without suffering, such as Danforth, Betty, Cheever, Herrick, and Hathorne. In short, those who were loyal to and drove the tyranny of consensus ahead to benefit themselves with power and authority.
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Post by laurensc116 on Oct 31, 2012 14:15:08 GMT -5
I believe that Abigail ultimately was the only character to escape the Salem witch trials. Everyone was affected negatively in some way, or brainwashed into helping drive the tyranny of consensus. People such as Danforth and the other driving forces of the court were driven by their excess power and may not have been visually hurt, but were greatly involved in causing pain that they may not have caused if they were not given more power than they've ever dealt with before. I believe Hale suffered the most because he always remained true to his cause of trying to do the right thing and help people, but still has to live with the shame that many innocent people still died. Although many people died and it could be argued that they suffered more than Hale, it could be argued that they died voluntarily with their dignity to protect their beliefs while Hale has to live in mental suffering with all of his ideals and efforts crushed.
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Post by maryri116 on Nov 12, 2012 18:57:24 GMT -5
I think that Abigail did end up suffering in the end. She never set her mind out to ruin Salem and run away from the mayhem. One of her motives for feeding into the witchcraft hysteria was the potential for Elizabeth Proctor to be hanged, leaving John Proctor an emotional bachelor. It's obvious from her brief scene with Proctor in Act I that she loves him deeply and craves his attention, and his refusal to love her stabs at her already wounded heart. In the end, Abigail never got what she wanted: she did not win the love of John nor did she live the life of a wife that she wanted to live. Her power was shortlived, eventually ending when Salemites began to detest the witch trials, and, alas, that power never gave her what she truly wanted. Moreover, her own acts essentially killed her love. I can only assume that knowing this hurts her deeply and makes her regret her actions. Yes, maybe others were more seriously affected than Abigail, but its neglectful to suggest that she was unaffected by the hysteria.
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