`Empowerement throught the Calling Out` The Crucible

Mary Warren : An Examination of the Powerful and the Powerless in The Crucible

The Salem Witch Trials represent an embarrassing time in the history of American when suspicion and fear was allowed to override sense and rationality . However , an imbalance of power , both real and perceived contributed to this fear . For example , Salem subjugated women and the young in favor of the elder men . Arthur Miller , in The Crucible exposes how the witch trials give power to those who had been without it before . Mary Warren is a character that represents this

power shift and embodies the negative aspects of human nature that makes its abuse so tragic

Mary , though one of the oldest at eighteen , is one of the weakest of the girls as the play opens . Her first lines of the play , as the girls huddle at Betty 's bedside , exemplify her fear . She cries , What 'll we do ? The village is out ! I just come from the farm the whole country 's talkin ' witchcraft ! They 'll be callin ' us witches , Abby (Miller 17 . She immediately wants to tell the truth to avoid trouble , but is stopped by the icy Abby

Abby isn 't the only one who controls Mary . The Proctors have hired Mary as their serving girl , and John s her around roughly . I forbid you to leave the house ' he says , and I 'll show you a great doin ' on your arse one of these days (Miller , 20 . It is clear that Mary 's position throughout Act I of the play is that of the weakling

However , things take a turn as the questioning begins in Act II . Her presence in court has given Mary a small sense of power . According to Christopher Bixby , The Crucible is a play about the seductive nature of power .a study in power and the mechanisms by which power is sustained challenged and lost (xvii-xviii . Mary 's power derives from her willingness to offer information at court . This information is , in part , a public condemnation against Goody Osburn , which Mary only remembers after being situated in the mayhem of accusations at court that day . She later offers that her testimony was the result of the frenzy invoked by the accusations of Abby and the other girls . She says to the judge , .I heard the other girls screaming , and you , Your honor , you seemed to believe them (100 . The thought of being believed by a respected elder seems to fuel Mary 's desire to embellish the truth

Once offered , her testimony elevates her to a higher power , one of near respect of the men that would never have given her words any credence before . She transforms from a cowering girl to a defiant one , telling John , I 'll not be ed to bed no more , Mr . Proctor , I am eighteen and a woman , however , single (Miller 57 . However , once in court , her resolve buckles . She attempts to make right her earlier false testimony , but finds Abby a more formidable...