The Crucible Essay Topics

Lessons Learned From The Crucible

The Crucible teaches us any lessons that we will encounter somewhere in our lives. It teaches us that people are scared of other people being different than them. It also teaches is that when it comes to people obtaining what they want their morals won't matter at all. These lessons are shown throughout the story, our history, and our everyday lives. This story shows us in many different ways of how people are scared of other being different. It shows us this when in Act 1 reverend Hale asked Abigail; "Abigail, it may be your cousin is dying. Did you call the Devil last night?" to which Abigail responded "I never called him! Tituba, Tituba..." Here we can easily see how Abigail blamed thewitchcraft issue that she was being accused of on Tituba.

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Central Ideas In The Crucible

In this essay I will talk about two main central ideas. First, some people accuse innocent people for witchery. Secondly, there is a lot of hatred in the town of Salem. Innocent people were being accused of witchery. One reason, all the young ladies shouted out names of innocent people saying they saw them with the devil. The young girls were accused so they confessed and lied to the about other people to save themselves. Another,Mary Warrenthen accused John Proctor of being the Devil's man. Mary Warren said that John was the one that controlled the women. Innocent people are being accused by young women that are just trying to save themselves. There was a lot of hatred that was dispersed across the town. First, Elizabeth Proctor was enraged with Abigail Williams because Elizabeth assumed that Abigail was messing around with her husband. Secondly, John proctor was triggered at Abigail for not letting the past go. John was trying to focus on his wife but Abigail was beginning to take him back. There was a bunch angry and caos....show more content... The innocents became angry for being accused and accused others. This has cause sixteen deaths in Salem. In conclusion, the two main central ideas cause pain and grief for some people. Hatred and lies were all over the

Objective Summary

The play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller this story is based off a true event that happened in Salem, Massachusetts about the Salem witch trials. The story starts off in a nice little town where everyone knows everybody and everyone was friendly with each other. One night there were girls spotted in the woods doing things they shouldn't. The girl later were brought in for questioning about everything and they denied all of it. One of the girls that was soon later identified being in the woods has gotten terribly "sick" but the people think something else is going on. Soon or later two of the girls thought it would be a good idea for them to start accusing others to try to get their names cleared. The court proceeds to questioning

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller it's a play based on the Salem witch trials. The play takes place in the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The town minister, reverend Paris discovered a group of young girls including his niece Abigail Williams and a group of young girls dancing in the woods. Reverend Paris believed that Abigail and the girls were practicing witchcraft due to their odd behaviors in the woods. While the girls were dancing Abigail was drinking chicken blood as part of a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife. The Salem witchcraft trials began when the girls suspected that they were going to be punished for their actions. Once in court, the girls started to lie and accuse other people of witchcraft to deflect blame on themselves. During the trials,...show more content...

Because they were still a premature community, society was still trying to figure out how to manage the legal system. The courtroom was full of lies, false accusations, vengeance, and many trying to save their reputation. Parris is afraid to confess that he found the girls including his niece and his daughter doing witchcraft, he knew that it would hurt his reputation so he blames Abigail of dishonoring him and his family.

When asked by his wife to confess about Abigail confession, John Proctor declines his wife wish because he knew that him confessing also meant to confess about his infidelity and adultery. Reverend Hale, a witchcraft expert starts questioning everyone and their answers makes Abigail look bad so Abigail blames Tituba, reverend Parris slave and saves her reputation. The Putnams asked Tituba if the others (people they don't like) were also witches, Tituba confessed and blamed the others of being witches too. Parris, John Proctor, Abigail, Tituba and the Putnams actions can be considered examples of false accusations, vengeance and guarding of reputation and morality in the witch

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The Crucible: (Argument Essay) There's has been people who either have been manipulated and then there's people that have manipulated people. Being experienced with situation can make it easy for one to manipulate anyone. For example in "The Crucible" it demonstrates how one young child can manipulate everyone from children to an adult into believing her vengeance story. With the right situation experience one can manipulate with ease, but it shouldn't be easy for one to manipulate half of the people in the town. In the story "The Crucible" Abigail and her cousin are accused of being witches. IN act one it states "We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there's the whole of it" (Abigail Page 1). They got caught dancing and doing things they were forbidden to do. Since that day the entire town thinks of then as witches. That being said Abigail tries to make things right. Additionally in act one Abigail states "let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about a thing or I will came to you in the black of some terrible night" (Page 19). From there forward Abigail started to accuse Tituba. Tituba then confessed "He say Mr. Parris must be killed! And No! I don't hate that man. I don't want to kill that man". But he says, "You work for me, Tituba, and I make you free!"(Page 44).This confession and accession give's Abigail and Betty a chance to act Innocent and accuse random people as well. The accession keep coming and keep adding up. At the beginning of act one there were only 12 people accused, now there are 55 people who are going to be questioned. In act two Mary tells Elizabeth "I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair, and passed the time with sewing" (Page 53). Then when Mary hands the poppet she went to bed, and hale comes to talk to them. While hale was taking Cheever come to take Elizabeth. He then finds the poppet and ask questions about it. Cheever then explains "Abigail William, sir she sat to dinner in reverend Parris's house tonight, and without word nor warin' she falls to the floor" he said "And he goes to save her and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw

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1. Though set in post–World War II United States, the play contains themes and concerns about the fast–growing American market that resonate in today's global marketplace. What parallels do you see between the world of Miller's play and our own? Cite specific lines from the dialogue in your response.

I see a parallel of people obsessed with being "liked". The idea of people being "liked" or "well–liked" reoccurs throughout the play. Willy is fixated on whether people are "liked" or "well–liked", which is odd for someone working in business results–orientated should take priority over being liked. "WILLY: Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not–liked. He's liked, but he's not – well liked."

2. In act I, Biff and Happy have a...show more content...

If there is no tragedy, then there can be no tragic hero. There is no possibility of victory for Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman", so the play doesn't fit Miller's definition of a tragedy. Willy's fate is entirely his own doing. He has absolute free–will, unlike Oedipus. Willy has agency and chooses, time and time again, to double–down on his mistakes rather than fix them,e.g., when his wife gives him a way to save face (when he was trying to lie about his comission) but also recognize that he's delusional Willy chooses to try and sell his delusional view that he's a good salesman. Willy is not an average man. Willy is no hero, and he is definitely not a tragic hero. Willy gives himself no possibility of victory. His suicide at the end was no sacrifice: it was self–serving, desperate, and a furthering of his Get more content

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible the witch trials in Salem were a devastating time. The entire community was in disorder and chaos because of personal vengeance. This included accusations of innocent town's people being called witches, so they hanged and were jailed. Throughout the play certain characters help the rise of witchcraft as well as the disapproval of all the innocent people who were being convicted for no reason. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character whom comes to rid of the evil spirits in Salem, yet he later tries to end the trials. Hale realizes the accusations are false, attempts to postpone the hangings, and persuade the victims to lie conveys that he is a dynamic character and changes throughout the play. Hale realizes...show more content...

Hale sees now, and believes entirely that everything he thought was true is a lie and so he leaves town. Secondly, after Hale returns he wants to try and help postpone the hangings because he knows the accused are innocent. He returns just in time for the day John Proctor is to hang. He comes back to town because he knows that John is truly innocent. He has changed into a better man and he wants to now save the lives of those who he had a help in condemning. So he says to Danforth, "Excellency, if you postpone a week and publish to the town that you are striving for their confessions, that speak mercy on your part, not faltering." (Miller 130) Hale is trying to show them, that they are helping the Church rid of evil by postponing the hangings and having the accused confess to dealing with the devil. Hale has become more desperate because he wants the accused to live; he blames himself for them being accused and not seeing that the accusations were false earlier. Hale came the first time to rid the town of what he thought was evil, and now he has returned to save the lives of the so called "evil people". Lastly, when he knows he cannot postpone the hangings, he tries to persuade Proctor and the others to lie so that they can live. Hale goes to Elizabeth and pleads with her to tell her husband to lie; this is Hale's final desperation. He says to Elizabeth, "You know do you not, that

The Crucible takes place in a town named Salem in 1692. Parris comes to find out that his daughter and neas and some other girls are doing witchcraft. One of the girls are Abigail Williams, she was fired from her babysitting job by elizabeth proctor for cheating with her husband and she's now trying to make a curse to kill Mrs. proctor. Betty got sick so the witch craft doctor came in to take a look at her and they found out. Tituba accuse the girls and the girls accuse others Tituba ends up making a doll with a needle in it's stomach and abigail accuses Goody Proctor of making it so Goody procter get arested. At this point they're all in court any every one turns onjohn proctor. Giles and Proctor get put in jail then when the judge asks for

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The Crucible Writing Prompts Capital punishment is a much debated topic today. Are you for or against it? Why? Well I think capital punishment shouldn't be up for debate anyways because it's wrong. I am against this statement and I'm going to tell you why. First, I believe nobody should have that much control over no one's life. Man should not be able to say when somebody should die. I think capital punishment is more like doing God's work. I believe that no on crime is that bad that you should be killed. Therefore, capital punishment should be considered as murder. I believe if you order somebody to be killed you are trying to do God job so you are a murderer. No human should tell when the next man should be killed because nobody is perfect.

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Kayla Kemp

Mrs. Canfield

Junior English

12 October 2017

The Crucible

Puritans had a strict and disciplined lifestyle that was live to achieve the grace of God. They believed that people that were sinners, liars, and adulterers were damned in the eyes of God. In The Crucible the main antagonist was Abigail. She showed tendencies to be spiteful, jealous, and vengeful.

One of the main antagonist was Abigail Williams, Abigail would use her spitefulness to blame other people she showed hate too. In the text it states, "she is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend her! (Miller 22). What abigail was saying is that Elizabeth Proctor is trying to ruin Abby's name in the village. In the text it states, "don't lie! To Hale: she comes to me while i sleep; she's always making me dream corruptions!.. Sometimes i wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her barbados songs and tempting me–(Miller 41). Abigail is trying to blame tituba because before all this the tension was on abby and she didn't like the tension so she turned it on Tituba....show more content... In the text it states, "oh, i marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be–" (Miller 22). Abby is saying how strong John is to be holding back her feelings toward her. Abby is just so jealous she says things just to weaken john. In the text it states, " you did, you did you drank a charm to kill John Proctors wife, you drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!"(Miller 18). Betty was admitting that Abby drank a charm just so she can kill Goody Proctor, Abby is that jealous that she will do anything to get rid of

The Crucible is a complex and intriguing novel with events, characters and themes comparable to almost every period of human history. It is common for humans to fear change and what is unknown, in the play The Crucible this is witchcraft and the devil, in more recent times it can be seen in post World War Two and Cold War United States, through McCarthyism. The themes in the crucible are as important to people in the 21st century as in Salem in 1692. These include justice, reputation, hysteria, intolerance and empowerment. All of these are common themes throughout human history. The characters in The Crucible are also important to people of the 21st century as they can teach us a little bit about people around us and their reactions when...show more content...

Reputation shines as a theme in the play. Through reputation comes discrimination and in the crucible almost all the witches are judged on reputation and this is important in today's world especially with things such as racism. Another critical theme in The Crucible is the role that hysteria can play in tearing apart a community. Hysteria messes with logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered upstanding people, are committing unbelievable crimes. Intolerance is key in the crucible. Because Salem is a theocratic society, moral and state laws are the same and therefore there is no room for error and intolerance becomes current. Danforth shows this when in Act III he says "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it." Empowerment is central in modern day society and appears in The Crucible many times. The play shows how power corrupts and how certain characters use there power in association with fear, to get there way. The characters in Arthur millers The Crucible can teach a lot about people. People can be horrible and terribly deceptive. When placed under pressures and after experiencing trauma peoples real character can come out. In the case of The Crucible Abigail is shown for what she really is. She gets a kind of power and this corrupts her to use the situation to have Elizabeth Proctor sent to jail. Abigail is not the only one who takes advantage of the

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All eyes on them, some even with tears, and the three thick ropes with a noose on each end. They dangle there waiting... This was happening now, it was really happening. His heart was beating out of his chest and his palms were sweating, as he stepped up, step by step until death itself was palpable. As he looked out into the crowd, he felt the rope being placed around his neck, then as the rough rope got tighter he could feel the relief of his sins. He knew he was doing right by god, he was ready. As they said their prayer in unison, one by one the floor beneath them all was swept away and all that was left was the three bodies hanging silently. In the play, Arthur Miller wrote called, The CrucibleJohn Proctor says "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" (Miller 143). He had a very strong belief that if his name was blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore, for the sake of his name, reputation, and his kids John's decision to die was a heroic one.

To begin, family life and friendship was very important to John Proctor, husband, and father of three. If he lived then he could not possibly raise his kids to be men in the world if he himself was a fraud of a man. He wanted to teach them that they should stand up for what they believe in and not give into pressure by others in life. By dying, he taught his kids that not only was he a honorable man, but he also was a good example of standing your ground and doing the right thing. John Proctor is not a man known to go to church often, but he must of remembered this quote from the bible: "No one has love greater than this that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends"(John 15:13). This quote means that someone who surrenders his or her soul for their friends has lots of love, and by dying and standing up for what he believed in he taught his kids a valuable lesson.

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In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses themes to display thoughts throughout the book. The theme that seems to be the center point of the story is religion. Religion is on the character's minds with every action they do. When something goes wrong in the town, religion is sought out as a cause. When the witch trials begin, the devil is supposed to be the source of the troubles. Arthur Miller vividly uses religion to show the readers how important religion is to the people of Salem. At the start of The Crucible, we find Reverend Parris praying. Arthur Miller automatically shows us religion is important. "Reverend Parris is discovered kneeling beside the bed, evidently in prayer." When the people of Salem realize something is wrong with Betty...show more content...

"Theology, sir is a fortress may not be accounted small." Arthur Miller uses religion to display the lives of the people in Salem throughout Act 3. In Act 3, the theme of religion has a different meaning than before. Now, the theme of religion is used in a manipulative way so the people can get what they want. Abigail and the rest of the girls are using Mary Warren because she has turned against them. Abigail pretends Mary is a yellow bird and is taking over their spirits. "Draw back your spirit out of them!" As soon as Abigail and the girls blame Mary for witchcraft Danforth believes them and starts to accuse Mary. "You have seen the Devil, you have made compact with Lucifer, have you not?" Mary Warren responds to the accusations with turning against Proctor. She completely disregards the pact they have made in order to save herself. "I'll not hang with you! I love God, I love God." In Act 4, Arthur Miller uses religion to test the characters. In Act 4, the characters would either hold on to their religion and beliefs or give in to save themselves. John Proctor is the character who does not want to give in however he does not want to die. He wants to have a compromise but the authority will not let him do so. "It is no part of salvation, that you should use me!" Rebecca Nurse is another character who has the choice to confess but she does not give in. "Another judgment waits us all!"

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Examples Of Scapegoating In The Crucible

While reading the crucible and analyzing other documents, Scapegoating became a relevant occurrence in communities. Societies will turn to scapegoating a group of people to place blame for a problem or event; there is evidence shown regarding scapegoating in " The Crucible" / Salem witch trials, "The Holocaust", and in politics. These three examples all relate to scapegoating because they all discriminate and place blame of something the community cannot control on a specific group of people. The crucible provides evidence of scapegoating due to the false accusations of witchcraft witchcraft toward innocent citizens of salem. The Salem witch trials was when accusations were made towards the citizens of Salem involving witchcraft. These accusations led to nineteen killings and many more people jailed. An example of scapegoating in the crucible is seen in the following quote, "Oh Mary it is black art to change your shape...No I cannot, cannot stop my mouth; it is God's work I do"(120). This quote describes a "scapegoat" because instead of Abigail accepting that she had been caught in a lie, she turns to please Mary Warrenunder blame. This showed Abigail was only in judgement of herself and did not care about the way Mary Warren was perceived by others. The quote proved to be as scapegoat because the fault was shifted to Mary to Abigail in the clear. Another example of a scapegoat from "The Crucible" was when Mary Warren accusedJohn Proctor of being a witch. This is seen Get more content

Examples Of Conflict In The Crucible

The Crucible by Arthur Miller Plot :

In "The Crucible" Arthur Miller made the plot develops through the conflicts by using high tension and climaxes. He ends each of the four acts with a climax. In addition, he allowed the protagonist to develop throughout the acts. "The Crucible" has many internal and external conflicts. The major external conflict is John Proctor trying to save his wife from being hanged by the town officials for supposedly being a witch. The major internal conflict is John trying to decide between saving himself and family from being hanged, or accept the death penalty for false accusations against him. The main conflict sharply differentiated good and evil as John Proctor, theprotagonist of the play is faced with the...show more content...

We can see that shifts are made as the narrator inserts times to describe characters and tell us what we should think about them such as when Miller tell us that Judge Hathorne is a bitter man. In addition, each inserted stage direction indicates exactly what a character is thinking or feeling. The narrator is able to jump into any character's mind at any given moment in a justified way. Miller allowed the narrator to weave in and out of many characters' internal workings, letting the audience see what drives them. This helps establish the tragic events throughout "The Crucible" and allows the audience to have a better understanding of the factors that led to the accusations and the impact of those actions. Arthur Miller shows the audience the good and evil within people and brings out the mad hysterical qualities in a mob. He displays that even deeply religious people make mistakes in their lives. He does this through his characters, who through their own imperfections and beliefs bring the witch–hunts to a complete

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Ben BoydEnglish 11H The Crucible: Thematic Essay The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a rich and enticing play set in the late 1600's describing the epic horrors and emotions through the events of the Salem witch trials. The Crucible, focuses primarily on the inconsistencies of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that can result from dark desires and hidden agendas. The play begins with the discovery of several young girls and an African American slave, Tituba, in the woods just outside of Salem, dancing and pretending to conjure spirits. The Puritans of Salem stood for complete religious intolerance and stressed the need to follow the ways of the bible literally without exception. The actions of the women in...show more content...

Even though he knew it was wrong it was up to him to admit that he had done it to stay honest to himself, keep his name clean, and live free from guilt. The act of confession by John also demonstrates his act of self preservation. If John had not confessed he would not have been physically hurt, but moreover mentally impacted. His act of self preservation was through relieving himself of the guilt he would have had to endure if he had not told his wife, Elizabeth, of his actions. Elizabeth demonstrates her act of self–preservation by tiptoeing around Johns feelings. "Quietly, fearing to anger him by prodding" (51) Due to Elizabeth's social status, she is unable to speak out and say what she may truly feel. In a ways, Elizabeth said many of the things she said in a mild tone in fear of causing John to lose his temper. Reverend Hale, and apparent expert on witchcraft who insists on doing everything by the book, demonstrates his social responsibility by solely doing his job correctly. Even though in today's society it is clear that witchcraft does not exist, it is apparent that in this play, witchcraft is studied to the extremes. This being said, Hales social responsibility was simply to determine whether or not each accused person was a witch or not. Hale determines and eventually realizes that his own good intentions and commitment to god governed his actions of keeping certain people alive despite the "by the book" evidence which had been Get more content

The Crucible Many different parts form together to make up the society we see in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Whether it be religion, government, or social roles; they all play some sort of impacting part to the characters we met while watching The Crucible. Who knew that religion and government could change a person's life in a matter of minutes like it did so many times throughout the movie. The characters like Abigail Williams and John Proctor both knew the risks of going against these roles and what it would do to their everyday lives, but both characters chose to do it in more ways than one. Religion played a huge role throughout The Crucible and all of the characters were expected to show some sort of respect...show more content...

As a viewer you can tell that religion and politics are very similar in that time period and that they go hand in hand because of how similar they really are. Social roles also played a huge factor into the lives of many within the society from The Crucible. People had roles that they knew they could not disobey because these roles played such an influence within their lives. Abigail Williams, for example, was helping the Proctor family out around the house when Goody Proctor had suspicions of adultery between Abigail and her husband. Once these suspicions became a reality Abigail was let go from helping their family. A viewer can tell that once a person disobeyed their social role they were considered as an "outcast". Another way I noticed social roles playing a part within The Crucible's society was when John Proctor was about to sign his name off to be free with his wife but ended up ripping the paper into shreds because he could not bring himself to ruin his name. John said "because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life" shows how important having a good reputation towards a person's name really is. In those days, a peb rson's name was all that had. If that person tarnished their name that was it, there was nothing left to be worthy for. Both John Proctor and Abigail Williams knew this and that is why John ripped that paper to shreds and why when Abigail was asked why she no longer worked for the Proctor's she did

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Textual Analysis The Crucible The text which I have chosen to analyse is from the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, just looking at Act One of this play. In Act One the scene opens in Reverend Parris's house, in the year of 1692; the scene focuses on Betty being 'ill' in bed and 'laying limp', showing the powerful forces, they believe to be witchcraft has overcome her. This extract highlights the importance of the themes that are throughout the play and the ideas of townspeople's lives in Salem, in which the characters portray. This play is set in a theocratic society, where the church and the state are one, and where the religion is strict and shapes their beliefs. Within this Act the narrator describes Salem town as having a strict Puritan way of life with an outlook on the rest of the world as one of "parochial snobbery". One of the most important themes to look at in The Crucible is hysteria. The hysteria is tearing the Salem community apart, it creates people's fear of their neighbours and they believe that friends and even family are committing unbelievable crimes of witchcraft and communicating with the devil. To highlight the theme of hysteria we can see how Tituba is [terrified] and [falls to her knees]; in which she is full of hysteria when questioned by Hale by breaking down and confesses to being a witch, though earlier denying practicing witchcraft. Hysteria rises as everyone begins to blame each other, and with Abigail shouting accusations at Tituba that Get

One of the many works written and driven by Puritan influence, The Crucible by Arthur Miller has continued to influence life and thinkings. Its story tracing the 1692 Salem Witch Trials has been widely read, received and understood, along with influencing the reader and their ideals. The play has manifested into more than words on a page and has become of the greatest influences, even sixty years after its publication. Though its story has not changed and is merely a retelling of the original itself, its themes have greatly impacted its universal and enduring state. The first theme that helped create The Crucible's universal state was intolerance. Intolerance began, within history, years before the Salem Witch Trials and years before the creation of the New England Colonies. Puritan beliefs were outcasted by the King and its government, causing their migration to the new territory of what would become the United States. This created the Puritan colonies and the city of Salem. With their migration based on the want of religious freedom, a theocratic society was created. Every member of the society was expected to worship and believe in God and those that opposed the court, the men that decided God's will, also opposed God himself. During Act Three, Proctor is accused of trying to overthrow the court, thus having his intentions to overthrow God. Danforth states that "these trials...[are] the voice[s] of...show more content...

The history of religious and government intolerance creates a bridge between the 1692 witch trials and present society, including the impending McCarthyism of the 1950s. Hysteria continues to cause riots and uprisings within the world and reputation is still held to a high level of respect. Without these main themes, The Crucible would not be a piece of work that is still prevalent within society and continues to teach

An Analysis of the Crucible Arthur Miller was a very public figure in the mid twentieth century who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, accused of Communist affiliation, and married to Marilyn Monroe. Yet Miller's works were never about the lives of such dramatic individuals, instead they described the complex lives led by ordinary people. Miller evoked powerful feelings–love, vanity, pride, and greed–from the seemingly simple events of the Crucible that allows for diverse gender based, social, and psychological interpretation. The experiences of Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor, the social conflict in Salem, and the persistent themes of hysteria and guilt throughout the Crucible can be analyzed from feminist, Marxist, and psychological...show more content...

According to British literary analyst Christopher Bigsby, on "one hand stands the church, which provides the defining language within which all social, political and moral debate is conducted."(85) On the opposite side of the spectrum stood the minorities, slaves, and women. Because women "belonged" to the man of the household, any property or money they owned belonged to male. This automatically placed women at the bottom of the social hierarchy, only slightly above slaves and indentured servants. Even within the ranks of women, distinguished wives like Elizabeth earned the respect of Salem's population while promiscuous girls like Abigail were scorned and suspected of witchcraft. As "sexuality was proscribed, the imagination distrusted, and emotions focused on the stirring of the spirit", rebellion was the only way for those with the least amount of power to make their voice heard. (Bigsby 84) By inverting the social spectrum with Abigail at the top, the repressed internal desires of the lower class were released through a rebellion against the upper class. Yet the judges, the elite even amongst the upper class, remained immune from the effects of the rebellion because their position was no different from that of Abigail's. The judges expressed perverse pleasure from witnessing those with power "stripped"; the idea of taking an individual's freedom and putting a person in bondage was a twisted manifestation of sexual desire. The emergence of the judges' repressed desires shows that the self–placed restraints of theocratic society were much more flexible for the elites than they were for the lower