Thursday, October 31, 2013

Blog #6: The Crucible through the eyes of a psychologist

For this blog entry you will need to use the handout we went over in class that summarizes the different psychological theories.

Pick one character or one part of Act 3.

Use one of the theories from the handout we went over in class to analyze that character or that scene. What insights do you gain by viewing that character or scene with this particular psychological lens? How can you explain the behaviors you observed or any characters' decisions? What are some questions that still remain for you?

Be sure to use specific ideas or parts of the theory as you discuss the character or scene you selected.

Be sure to analyze (pick apart) specific lines of dialogue from the play.

Don't forget to give your entry a title and include your name. And of course, proofread before publishing!

47 comments:

  1. John Proctor’s behavior in act 3 can be explained by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At first, Proctor is focused on his esteem needs because there is no apparent danger to his belonging and love, safety, or physiological needs. His primary focus is achievement; he wants to succeed in persuading the court to free Elizabeth and cease the witch trials. He brings in Mary Warren and tells the court that neither she nor the other girls “never saw no spirits” and were lying; he uses her testimony as a means of discounting the idea of witchcraft while preserving his reputation. However, he does not succeed and after a while, he realizes that the situation is more critical than he thought. They could easily convict Elizabeth, which puts John’s belonging and love needs in danger, since his wife is at risk. He begins to plead and argue with Danforth and the rest of the court, but does not confess to lechery, as his safety needs would be put at risk. As he is doing this, the girls begin to act bewitched. Abigail cries, “It is a wind, a wind!” and shivers, and the girls follow along. Proctor now recognizes that the girls’ behavior could very well be seen as “proof” of witchcraft and he, Mary, and Elizabeth could all be charged if he does not do something. Now that his safety needs are in danger, he has no concern for his esteem needs or belonging and love needs regarding respect. He admits to adultery in an attempt to discredit Abigail and save them all.

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    1. Chad-
      I think that another quote would have better tied Proctors connection with the theory. A quote directly from his mouth would certainly be able to add to your blog. One that shows his sacrifice of his good name like when he says "God help me, I lusted,..." this just shows how he then decides to keep his wife over his good name. And still this connects to the theory as his wife is a need.

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    2. I agree with this because John Proctor had proof that Abby and the other girls are lying but doesn't have enough proof that they're lying. There's clear proof that Abby and the other girls make their acting look natural under witchcraft. Danforth believed that Abby and the other girls were under witchcraft.

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  2. Mary Warren in act 3 displays Maslow's psychological theory of hierarchy needs. From the time that John Proctor says that he has made his decision about going to the courts to actually being there telling the truth Mary went along with it. Even if she didn't want to tell the truth and expose the girls, she still knew it was the right thing to do. By doing this Mary knew that the girls would most likely turn on her and accuse her of conjuring spirits or "playing with the devil". During the court session Mary first sticks to her story (the truth) and tells Danforth and others that the girls are all fakes and have been lying about this whole entire thing, and that they have been making up lies to accuse those who they do not like. Abby says "Why do you come, yellow bird?" When she says this she freaks everybody out because she is trying to turn the attention off her and put it on Mary. At first Mary tries to get out of it by saying its not her, but soon she goes along with it. She goes along with it because she knows the girls are more powerful then she is and can take her down way easier then she could take them down. She wants to feel needed and like she has potential. She does this for herself to be well liked by all the girls. This is just like what Maslow says because he knows what it takes to be on top of the social pyramid.

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    1. Also, Mary was probably first telling the truth because she was trying to do the right thing and save people, which would be in esteem needs for achievement. After Abby starts acting like Mary is witching her, though, she gives in and turns on John not only to be liked by the girls, which would be belonging and love, but also because her safety is put in jeopardy. The other theory of motivation also applies, because by turning on John in the end, she is trying to avoid death.

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    2. This can also show how little power Mary Warren had against the girls of the group. Abigail had such great influence over all of the other girls that they would not come forward to tell the truth with Mary. The fact that Mary Warren chose to take side with Abigail again further proves how little influence she has compared to Abigail.

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  3. In act three, Danforth portrays Legitimate power due to his being a judge. Power witch he uses often, for example, for example, when he tells herrick to arrest the farmes for "questioning."

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  4. Brandon Farah: Abigail in act 3 uses power to control the court. More specifically she uses coercive power which is when a parent may tell a child to go to bed they have power over the child, she used this power when john proctor took marry warren to the court and made her testify that there was no witch craft and that they were just dancing in the woods. When marry warren did this she was threatening Abigail’s power. When she did this Abigail outburst and accused Mary warren of witch craft. On page 108 after marry warren accuses Abigail she says “a wind, a cold wind, has come.” She is directing that marry warren is sending her spirit on her to make her cold. When she did this all the other followed in suite because they all know if you go against Abigail she will take you down. Abigail also is so powerful that she threatens the highest judge in the court and nobody does anything about it. She still has her power, and when she accuses Mary warren of being a witch she backs off of accusing Abigail of lying. This is a good example of coercive power because she has power over everyone else, she tells everyone else how things are going to go and she is running the court, not the judges and this is going to spiral out of control eventually. I still don’t understand why all the girls are still following Abigail. I feel like if most of them backed up marry warren they can knock Abigail off her thrown.

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  5. John Proctor's behavior is shown in Maslow's Theory of Hierarchy of Needs. At the beginning of the book, he is very selfish in only thinking of himself, and his reputation as farmer. If his reputation is destroyed, so is his farming business. By doing this, he is thinking only of physical needs. But Proctor slowly works his way up Maslow's pyramid. When his wife Elizabeth is accused as a witch, he thinks of her safety, and wants to set her free. When he goes into court to clear her name, he shows his need to achieve this. He won't back down, and by doing this, he shows esteem needs. At this point, Proctor is almost to the top of Maslow's pyramid. When Proctor admits in court that he committed adulatory, he is now showing that he sees his full potential. He sees that due to this crime that he committed, Abigael may now get in trouble, and all the witches, including his wife will be set free because they will see that she is a fraud. At the end of Act three Proctor had worked his way all the way up Maslow's pyramid. and shows why Proctor behaved the way he did.

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    1. Another way you could look at the Safety Needs is the example that might be used for this would be the fact that Protcor begins to notice the change in his community, especially when he begins to hear the people who are accussed of witchery. Throughout his and Elizabeth's first conversation with Hale on pages 63-71, he partically watches his world crumble along with his safety conforts. Then when Elizabeth is accused he becomes his angered, which therefore leads him and us to Act 3 where he relentlessly tries and to free her and prove her innocence.

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  6. John Proctor has become a very round character in the story. In the beginning he was very selfish and didn't really care about anybody else. This was mainly because of Proctors reputation which was worrying him. When Elizabeth convinced him to go to the court he changed his overall way he thought about everything that was going on, Elizabeth was also being accused of witchery at the time, so all of the pressure was on John Proctor. He had brought in Mary Warren and did as much as he thought he could do to get Elizebeth out of jail and free. This made him tell Danforth the truth about him and Abigail. Admitting to Danforth about him and Abigail changed Proctor and made him a better man then he was in the beginning of the story.

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    1. of the different psychological theories, this could be considered Post-conventional, Higher Focused Morality, because he is acting on his own personal beliefs for the good of the community, even if it means ruining himself.

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    2. Brandon Farah: john proctors goal wasn't only to get Elizabeth out of jail when he went to the court. His goal was also to put a stop to everything in general. Because he knew it wasn't witch craft because of what Abigail told him. So he went to the court to free Elizabeth but to also save everyone else who was convicted. like on page 92 when Danforth asks of proctor can drop the charge proctor says "I-I think i cannot." and Danforth says "Then your purpose is much larger." and proctor agrees with him

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  7. In act three John Proctor's behavior is evolving. His change can be explained by Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Developement. In this theory John Proctor's morality would be described as that of a child. Throughout the play Proctor would not tell Hale or any of the judges about him and Abigail because it would have done the opposite of satisfying his needs. In act three though, Proctor finally reaches a Higher Focused Morality when he tells Judge Hawthorn about his lechery. He now sees his morality as being true to his faith and to his God. An example of his new found morals is when he cries out to God that "I set myself entirely in you hands ." with this he gives himself to God and most likely plans to follow God for the rest of his life.

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    1. To add to this, another way you can tell John is growing up is by the end of act 3. He is going from a child to a grown up because he is realizing what is important to him. Before it was all about John and nobody else. Now he knows that if he does nothing his wife is going to die along with all his friends that have been convicted by Abigail and her friends. He says "I have made a bell of my honor! I have rung the doom of my good name- you will believe me, Mr. Danforth!" This is saying he knows his "good" name is gone and since he is did this he will do anything to prove their innocence. He did evolve because the readers can tell that what he did was very big. He is now focused on others and starting to care less what people think of him.

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  8. In Act 3, John Proctor is motivated by a higher focused mortality. In this scene, Proctor goes to the court with Mary Warren to save his wife, his friends, and to tell the truth. He's told that his wife is saved but he wants to also save his own friends. He also wants to tell the truth on what's really happening in the chaos. He's acting this way because of higher focused morality. He believes that he is upholding certain values. "Proctor: These are my friends. Their wives are also accused-... Proctor: I come not to hurt the court; I only-..." He wants to end all chaos and wants to do the right thing. Proctor doesn't want to go to court, but his drive to save his wife and save his friends is tied to his morals. He judges the actions of the court as wrong and unjust.

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    1. I agree that Proctor is at the court to save his wifes life and do the right thing. This is shown using psychoanalytic theory which means life and death because Proctor would do anything for his wife. His decisions are used to preserve life.

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  9. Throughout Act three there were many instances where characters displayed different stances of the theory of obedience and power, these powers were used in different ways mostly however these power in most circumstances abused by the owner:


    Judge Danforth: As a figure of authority in this society, Danforth immediately gains power, this type of power is called Legitimate power which is power granted by some authority in this case the fact that he is a judge in the court system gives him automatic respect. However in this case, he abuses his power by using it in some forms to try and retain his name and image throughout the Puritan community and not just in Salem. And example of this would be on page 92 when he tells John Proctor this “ We thought it too convenient to be credited. However, if I should tell you now that I will let her be kept another month; and if she begin to show her natural signs, you shall have her living yet another year until she is delivered- what say you to that? Come now. You say your only purpose is to save your wife. Good, then, she is saved at least this year, and a year is long. What say you, sir? It is done now. Will you drop this charge?” He tries to bride Proctor to stop interfering with the trial, if Proctor was to sway the people’s opinion then Danforth’s name and power would be a joke, it also seen throughout the whole act that Danforth uses his role to assert his power and position in the court, especially when Hale or Parris try to speak. Overall the power that Danforth has, has in turn given him some hold over Salem at large.


    Abigail: As the leader of the circle girls, Abigail has taken the Referent Power, which is power given to a person out of admiration or respect. In this case the other girls look to Abigail to know how to react, what to say or do and how to lead them. Abigail has been given power by the community of Salem at large, the people believe what she says and those who don’t know that if they say anything she has the ability to call them a witch and have them hung. Community at large has basically given her the power to decide the fate of their family or neighbors. Therefore it furthermore gives her the power to rid herself of her enemies. Abigail keeps a tight hold on her girls too, Mary Warren throughout act three felt the what it was like to be on the end of the power Abigail has, and that she was better to submissive to it than to try and fight it. In all throughout this entire book, Abigail is constantly abusing this power, it is one reason John Proctor was very leary about confronting her, he knew what kind of person she would become once given the power she now held.

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    1. The whole fear thing becomes even more apparent during the fourth act that we saw in the movie. Abby all of a sudden is hated by everyone and everyone in her town is now deathly, literally, afraid of her. This now creates a sense of fear in Abby because she realizes what she has done and how there is no way for her to escape it. Abby is now acting to save her own life and the life of the one that she went through all of this for, Proctor. This situation that Abby is in now resemebles the Psychoanalytic Theory in that everything Abby does is trying to save her life now. In Act Three she was represented in this theory because she wanted things that threaten her happiness, like Proctor wife, to disappear. With these things, she is trying to preserve her life. Later in Act Four it changes to when Abby realizes that when the town realizes the real reason behind the "witch" trails, she will be persecuted and disliked for the rest of her haunted life. Abby is truly represented by the Psychoanalytic Theory because what she is doing is trying in the long run to save her from death and unhappiness.

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    2. First of all, awesome job. I love the evidence you used to back up that Danforth used Legitimate power. Also I agree when you put that Abiail has Referent power. Danforth has Legitimate power because he uses his high position in the court to make people do what he wants them to do. Since he is such a powerful judge, few to no people will go against what he says. He know this, and uses his power as an advantage by intimidating people and telling people what to do, as your quote from page 92 clearly states.
      Abigail uses Referent power because she is admired and respected by her friends. They do what she tells them because they look up to her, but also are afraid of her. She also has some Coercive power as well though. She has Coercive power because she has the power to punish her friends. Her friends know that if they don't do what they are told, she will hurt, or even kill them. She states this in act one on page 20.

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    3. I agree with you that Abigail Williams displays referent power in the play. However, I dont think that is the only form of power she depicts. Earlier in the play she threatened some of the girls saying that she would come to them in the middle of the night to harm them. That relates to coercive power, the power to punish. Even if Abigail Williams was only threatening to hurt the girls, they believed that she was telling the truth. This made them more fearful of her, granting her more power.

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  10. Ithink that abigail goes with the humanistic theory because since they started this huge lie they have been going with it the entire time until now one of the girls said that they were all faking. the humanistic part is that if someone crosses abigail then she's not going to let anyone get in her way and she will acheive her goal ogf telling everyone there is witches. an example is that on page 115 abigail says "oh, mary, this is a black art to change your shape. no, i cannot, i cannot stop my mouth; its gods work i do."

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    1. i think you should have talked about when abby took the attention away from the court and said there was a bird onn the ceiling but really there wasnt. That part of the book shows her humanistic theory because she takes the focus away from the topic. also you could expand on how she has lots of power and can use it against anyone

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    3. Another way that you can interpret Abigail in this blog is Obedience and Power, more specifically is Coercive Power. Coercive Power is the act of punishing someone that does not obey. In your blog, you said, "the humanistic part is that if someone crosses Abigail then she's not going to let anyone get in her way and she will achieve her goal ogf telling everyone there is witches." In this quote, I feel like you can use Obedience and Power because if anyone got in Abigail's way, or does not listen or obey her and her rules, she would punish them by either threatening to kill them or accuse them for witch craft therefor put them in jail by using Coercive Power to punish them for not obeying her.

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    4. great job anthony didnt know you could do such a good job on this while in the bathroom :]

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  11. Throughtout the entire play Abby has the power to control the girls. When looking at her power through a psychological lens, she uses coercive power. Coercive power means the power to punish. The girls are afriad if they go against abby she will turn on them and accuse them of being witches. If they are accuse witches they will be tried and hung. In act 3 Marry Warren trys to tell the court that abby and the girls were dancing in the woods and are lieing about the witches. When Marry starts to say this, Abby draws everyones attention and points to the ceiling and claims she sees a bird. Marry is so upset that she changes her story and accuses john of being a witch. You can see how abby is using coercive power on Marry on page 119 runs over to Abby and says "Abby, Abby ill never hurt you more... They all watch as Abby, out of her infinite charity, reaches out and draw sobbing marry to her, then lloks up at Dan forth. " This shows she is in control of anyone.

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    1. i feel like Mary Warren has the same power but only for a second when she confesses that all of the girls are faking it all the whole time but then all the girls turn on her. like when she says on pg115 Mary Warren "Abby you mustn't." and all the girls including Abby say "Abby you mustn't." and they try to mimick what she's saying to make it look like shes a witch.

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  12. Micgael Purvey:
    John Proctor has showed that he has changed in Act three of The Crucible. Comparing John Proctor from the beginning of the book to the end of Act three, his behavior has changed and evolved. His change of behavior can be explained by Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development. In the Moral Development theory, children at the age of nine begin to have self-morality. As for adults, their morality is choosing what is wrong and what is right, based upon the circumstances and surrounding an action. John Proctor did not want to anyone to know that he and Abigail had sex because he wanted to keep his reputation safe from the people in Salem, since he cheated on his wife. However, in Act three, Abigail and her friends accuse many women in Salem that they are witches because the girls wanted to eliminate the wives of the husbands that the girls loved and having no competition against them. Abigail accuses Elizabeth, John Proctor’s wife, that she is a witch because she is in love with John. John Proctor finally admits to Mr. Hale and Judge Hathworn that he had an affair with Abigail and that the reason why Abigail accused Elizabeth as witch because she is still in love with John Proctor. John Proctor’s morality has evolved to being good when he admitted about his lechery to Mr. Hale and Judge Hathworn . John Proctor sets up a high level of morality when manned up confessed his lechery to stop the accusing of witch by Abigail and her friends in Salem.

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  13. In the crucible the character John Proctor has a lot if problems and he becomes a dynamic character. He is a example of the Humanistic theory as he is coming into conflict with what is important for himself. He already has food, water and those things necessary to survive but he is trying to maintain an image which is the next level on the hierarchy of needs. The humanistic theory and Maslow's needs triangle and both fully supported by the way that Proctor is acting. Proctor cannot keep his image if he hopes to save his wife and get back the life he once had. He confesses to the affair in order to gain the security and guarantee that his wife will be safe. He confesses and changes his ways in order to get what he wants. "God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whores vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands. I know you must see it now" (page 110). Before Proctor was determined not to let the affair slip out but to get what he wanted which was the safety and security if his wife's life he had to confess. Without the safety and security of his wife's life there was no reason for Proctor to keep moving on so this had to happen before he could move up the triangle.

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  14. I believe that the psychoanalytic theory applies to Marry because when Abigail made Marry out to be a witch, Marry had only two options. Confess or die. She chose to confess because she did not want to die. This is the very definition of the Psychoanalytic Theory.

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    1. To make this stronger you can add in the whole scene of how Mary turned on Proctor to save herself by calling him the "Devils Man", sending him to jail. This can push the connection between the Pyschoanalytic theory and Marys position higher and make the reader see the connection between the theory and the text

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  15. Nick Paquin

    Linking pyschological theories to the crucable by Arthur Miller we can see how the characters act a certian way, based on pyschological facts. The pyschoanalytic theory, can be connected to Abigail in the fact that she is in a life or death position. With all the lies that have been told she is lying to get herself out of a hole she dug for herself when she became power hunger. Going deeper into the theory she's lying to advance herself in the community, and to hide what she orginally did with Proctor. According to the theory, everything we do, is connected back to our survival, and this can be seen in Abigails actions to survive and thrive in Salem.

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  16. Chelsea Snide

    In act 3 of the Crucible it's evident that Abigail is still very powerful. She has both Referent power and Coercive power. Abigail has Referent power because she is still labled as devine and could be looked up as a hero for saving Salem of witchcraft by some, especially in the courts where the judges ultimantly take her word for everything. She even questions the judges. When Danforth asked her a question she responds with "Why, this-this-is a base question,sir." She thinks it's a very low and illegitimate question to ask. If she wasn't so powerful she wouldn't have the nerve to ask this. She also has coercive power because like a parent can punish a child for being wrongsome, or doing something they do not like. Abigail really leads the other girls and threathens to punish them if they go against her. She does this when she frames Mary Warren of witchcraft when she was testifying that Abigail is lying. In the court room Abigail says "I-I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come." After this the girls complain of being cold and all blame Mary Warren for sending her spirit out to them. This is an example of both powers because it shows the girls following Abby because she is like their role model and because they're scared they'll end up in Mary Warren's position. This shows how much power Abigail has over them. I feel like the trials wont stop until Abby is caught lying or she confesses to the hoax

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    1. I completely agree that Abigail is the most influential and powerful character in The Crucible. She gets her power by intimidating her friends and by making the court respect her. Both the Coercive and Referent powers are present in Abigail but I think that the Reward power could be included as well. Abigail has control over the girls by threatening them but she also is somewhat rewarding them for their cooperation. She rewards them with fame and safety from being accused, as long as they do what she wants. Marry Warren is not so lucky because as soon as she tells the truth about what is actually happening Abigail removes her power of reward from Marry Warren. At the end of Act 3 Marry Warren says that she was wrong and runs into the arms of Abigail because she wanted to be saved and protected by Abigail’s powers.

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    2. I agree with you entirely in that Abigail has both total Coercive and Referent power over the village. I think it is important to note however that what Abigail lacks is Legitimate power, or power granted to her by an authority. Although Abigail controls the will of the girls and to an extent the will of townspeople, she has no actual authority over them, and can only manipulate them through fear or bribery. While this may work in day to day life in Salem, without Legitimate Power, Abigail has no actual way of controlling people without being able to threaten them. Therefore, once the court finally discredits her she will be instantly powerless, and have no authority over the people of Salem.

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  17. Throughout Act III of The Crucible almost all of John Proctor's actions can be set into two categories: decisions that help him survive and decisions that can prevent his immediate destruction. As described in psychoanalytic theory, John Proctor is making life or death decisions for his own best interest, nothing more, and nothing less. This is clearly evident when for example Proctor throws Hale and Reverend Paris out of his house because they are being aggressive and he feels that if they stay any longer be couple be accused of being a witch, and his life could be at risk. Furthermore, even when his life is not immediately in danger when his wife is called down to the court, he realizes that on some level he could be next so he weighs the option of testifying to save his wife, and only does so when the danger of his wife (and later him) being killed outweigh the dangers of having his reputation ruined by having the affair with Abigail Williams. One could argue that even at this point of the play Proctor still loves Abigail and still wants to be with her, though the long term threat to his safety after accepting it would be extremely detrimental to his health thus he chooses to hide his love for Abigail to save his own well-being.

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    1. Chelsea Snide

      Everything John Proctor does is too help him surive and avoid him and his wife with being caught up in this witchcraft frenzy. It's evident he doesn't want to get involved until it comes down to his wife being accused when he takes action for survival of his family. In the theory it can also explain the reactions of the towns people when the witches get hung. In the theory it says "We want criminal locked away" they want these people accused of witchcraft to die in protection of their own survival.

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  18. In Act 3 I believe that Abigail is using a Humanistic Theory, Abigail is really self centered and only does stuff to make herself happy sdo in that case if she doesnt get what she wants she'll do anything to be right, even by accusing other villagers. an example of her trying this would be at page 103 when danforth was questioning Abigail and she accused goody proctor for always keeping poppets, when goody proctor never kept poppets. the reason this is a big deal is because Abigail stabbed herself with a needle and accused someone else and then wanted goody proctor to take the blame because abigail found a poppet with a needle inside of it. the quote is ' Goody Proctor always kept poppets". the reason abigail is accusing all of the good people to the village and goody proctor is because she wants goody proctor to get hung so she can get with proctor. she even admitted it when proctor went top jail for confessing something about the the devil because he knew thats what abigail didnt want and so now shes stuck in a position where she has a very bad reputation.

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  19. At the end of Act three, Mary Warren has a very sudden change of character. This change may be due to the Psychoanalytic Theory, a theory which states that life and death are two ideas which drive us. At this portion of the play the girls are resilient to tell the truth so know they are making it seem that Mary Warren is a witch. Mary knows that if she is perceived as a witch, she will hang. With all of the pressure of life and death on her shoulders she blames Proctor as being a witch just to save herself. The Psychoanalytic theory says that all of our actions either help us survive or lead us to our demise. Mary Warren’s decision was logical in the eyes of the Psychoanalytic theory; she was facing death so she made the decision to blame John Proctor, saving her life. This happens when she says to Proctor “You’re the Devil’s man!” Right there Mary Warren turns the situation around by blaming someone else. This saves her life because she says that Proctor made her try to overthrow the court. When she says those words that is where the Psychoanalytic theory proves itself. It shows her making a certain choice that will lead to her survival.

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    1. Once Mary Warren finds out its go back with Abby or die she naturally lies and goes with Abby again. Her decision was just based on life or death and her survival. this fits the psychoanalytic theory perfectly.

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  20. Maeve Gurbey
    Throughout the entire play and notably shown in Act III Abigail Williams shows great power over the group of girls. Abigail can be seen as showing referent power, referring to admiration or great respect, or coercive power, meaning the power to punish. The girls of the group look up to Abigail Williams because of her personality attributes and attitude. Abigail is a strong girl that takes charge and assumes a leadership role. This is a possible reason why many other young girls look up to her in the play. She can also be seen as showing coercive power because she threatens the girls. To certain girls in the group she viciously says, “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.” She best expresses her power in the courtroom. She leads the girls in accusations against citizens of Salem, sending numerous innocent men and women to prison or to be hanged. Abigail and her group are able to accuse many including Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Mary Easty.

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  21. Marcus Charland
    Danforth in act three has the power to realease people or to put them to jail. He also has legitament power which he used to threaten the girls whith it he said ''that the law is based upon the Bible, and the Bible writ by almighty god, forbid the practice of witchcraft and describe death as the penalty thereof.

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  23. Taylor Marshall:
    Abigail's behavior shows Humanistic Theory. Humans are driven to achieve their maximum potential and will always do so unless obstacles are placed in their way. Abigail wants nothing more than to be with John Proctor and get his wife killed so she can be with him. Proctors wife wants him to go to the court and tell everybody the truth that there was no witchcraft in the woods and all the girls are just telling lies and accusing innocent people. Once Proctor and his wife were informed that her name was mentioned in court John realized that he can’t keep his mouth shut any longer because his wife's life is in danger and his could be in danger as well. Once Marry Warren and John Proctor go to the court, Marry tried to accuse the girls and Abigail of lying. Marry wanted to do the right thing and tell the truth but her life was in danger because Abigail had a lot of power over everybody and the girls followed her and listened to her. Once Marry had accused them, Abigail began to turn on her and make all the girls turn on her to make everyone believe that she is a witch as well. Marry realized she couldn’t continue because the girls and Abigail have the majority of power and can convince everyone to believe them instead of her. Abigail says, “Why do you come, yellow bird?” And Marry got scared that they thought she was compacting with the devil. Marry suddenly turned to Proctor and yelled, “Your the devils man!” and “I’ll not hang with you! I love God. I love God” And now everyone started to blame John Proctor. John grew angry and yelled to everyone that god is dead. Furious Danforth ordered him to be taken to jail. Abigail’s plan had backfired because in the process of trying to accuse Marry Warren, It caused her to get scared and turn on John Proctor and now he sits in jail. Now Abigail doesn’t know what to do because she got John in trouble and put in jail.

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  24. I believe that the psychoanalytic theory applies to Marry because when Abigail made Marry out to be a witch, Marry had only two options. Confess or die. She chose to confess because she did not want to die. This is the very definition of the Psychoanalytic Theory. This is also supported in when Marry turned on John Proctor. She knew that she was going to die if she did not. This also shows how she was willing to sacrifice an innocent mans life just to protect her own skin.

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  25. Abigail has power to control the group of girls. Whatever she does they do, whatever she tells them they listen. Abigail technically controls the court. She uses coercive power, which is when the parent tells the child to go to time out. She uses that power on Mary Warren. When Mary Warren did this she was threatening Abigail's power. And when she did this Abby outburst and accused Mary Warren of witchcraft.

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