Abigail's Reputation in The Crucible Essay Example

Because she is a female, Abigail’s reputation is based on her “purity” and she would lose more credibility than John if the court believed the affair happened. In the town of Salem, women are set to very high standards. They were expected to be “pure” and do everything asked of them. In act one, Paris is concerned about Abigail's name in the town and says “Your name in the town - it is entirely white, is it not?” (Miller 11). Paris was questioning Abigail’s purity because if she or any woman did anything slightly wrong, it was a big deal. Women who were not pure also got treated poorly. Men were able to treat women this way and there was nothing they could do about it. There was definitely more pressure on women to please people, especially the men. Women were thought of as weak, and as though they only had the ability to cook and clean. Those who did everything expected of them, and worked to please the men, were the only women who held a somewhat higher social standing. 

The men in Salem could ultimately get away with more wrongful things. In the play, John Proctor told the court that he had an affair with Abigail. He was not necessarily in trouble, and he was still treated the same. The court thought differently about Abigail. Judge Danforth was waiting for Elizabeth to speak on the situation, and said to Abigail “And if she tell me, child, it were for harlotry, may God spread His mercy on you” (Miller 103). The court was only interested in what Abigail did, and overemphasized her situation. This shows that Abby would lose more credibility than John, because if Elizabeth would have admitted that John had an affair, Abby would be arrested and no longer trusted. After John admitted to the affair, he was not imprisoned and he was still listened to. Women were held to a higher standard, and if they broke that standard, they would ruin their good name. Women in Salem had a higher risk of hurting their reputations.

John Proctor didn’t utilize his social power to stop the witch hunt soon enough, because by the time he tried to assert his power, the court had already become more powerful than him. In the beginning of the play, John proctor had a decent amount of power. He was respected by the town. When the witch hunt started to get out of hand, John had the power to end it. He could tell the court about the affair and expose what kind of a person Abigail was, which would lead the court to stop believing Abigail’s false accusations. Proctor could also tell the court about the girls dancing in the woods, but expose that he and Abby were alone together. In one scene of the play, Proctor is talking to Mary Warren about those who were condemned for witchcraft and says “But the proof! The proof!” (Miller 55). He then realized that he was the only one who knew about this proof, which had the power to end the witchcraft nonsense. He was hesitant to tell the truth because it would reveal that he was alone with Abigail. He was also hesitant to admit the affair because that would hurt his reputation. John Proctor was avoiding the truth in a very important situation. 

As each day passed, John was losing power. More and more innocent people were being condemned for witchcraft. The longer the witch hunt went on, more people were turning on each other and lying to protect themselves. John’s proof was now worth much less because so many others had “confessed” which led the court to believe that there was witchcraft within the town. The judges would also be less likely to do something after hearing John Proctor’s proof because people were already being hanged. The court had gotten too powerful, and now John was in a bad situation. He had waited too long to admit the truth and he himself was now accused. He had the option to confess to witchcraft or be hanged; he had lost all of his power. At the end of the play, John Proctor confesses to witchcraft but refuses to hand over his signature. Judge Danforth, who holds a lot of power, says “You will give me your honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope” (Miller 133). This shows how much power the court had by being able to hang him at any given moment, and how little power John had.  John was also already not trusted because he didn’t go to church regularly, and his wife was suspected of being a witch. John Proctor held in the truth for too long which led him to being in the situation he was in; being powerless.