Mary Warren's Reputation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Mary Warren’s character draws a great illustration of the stereotype that women are the inferior sex. She as a character is naive, easily manipulated, and is portrayed as weak. Mary gets thrown into the witchcraft nonsense because of this. Her character is also a prime example of how women were often shoved aside and ignored. When Mary tries to stand up for herself, saying “I would have you speak civilly to me, from this out!”, in the text, it’s stated that Proctor replies “in horror, muttering in disgust at her, “Go to bed.””. (page 57) This shows how women’s requests were often cast aside and neglected. Why? Because they were viewed as insignificant; as

Arthur Miller made sure to point out that having a good reputation was very important to the characters in The Crucible. After all, they are Puritans. Puritans always felt the pressure to succeed. They were on a “city upon hill” (Winthrop 1). They believed that everyone looked up to them-- that they were always in the spotlight. If they ever slacked off, it would feel like the end of the world for them. It is shown in the book that if one does not have a good name, then they’ll be rejected by the society. They might as well do anything to make sure they have a good reputation. This led to the Puritans’ hyper concern for reputation that was a driving force behind the witch trials as dramatized in The Crucible. Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale,

In the beginning of The Crucible, Mary Warren is timorous and afraid to speak up. On pages 37 through 38, John Proctor is trying to convince Mary Warren to go to court with him. He wants her to tell the judges the truth about how Abigail is manipulating the judges, but Mary Warren refuses. In this conversation, Mary Warren spurned to go to court and tell the judges the truth. She does this because she knows the trouble that can come out of attacking Abigail. If she blames Abigail for all of this mischief, the girls will turn on her and accuse her of witchcraft. On page 38, Mary Warren frighteningly says to John Proctor “I cannot, they’ll turn on me” In this direct quote, Mary is expressing her fear of what Abigail and the rest of the girls are capable of doing to her. She understands

She lied when she and the other girls got caught doing Witchcraft and dancing in the forest. This is against the belief of the town’s people. Mary and the girls blamed their actions on Tituba, so she would get in trouble instead of them. Mary Warren’s change indicates that she went through a significant transition during the movie The Crucible. Lawrence Kohlberg’s research explains what

Miller’s use of Mary Warren’s refusal to be ordered by her boss, John Proctor, shows how even the slightest things make people feel powerful. For example Miller writes, “MARY WARREN: (with a stamp of her foot). I’ll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single!” (Act II, pg. 196).

Mary was able to pretend in court but not in the vestry because she claims to be with God now. Additionally, in court she was apart of the group of girls. Once being isolated she was unable to pretend as no one else was with her. Without a mob mentality she was no able to pretend as being in a mob motivates an individual to loose themselves. As found in The Crucible, “I heard the other girls screaming and you, Your Honor… I only thought I saw them but I did not…” (107). Mary is now unable to pretend because she is no longer in a group.

That damn Mary Warren! Her weak mind has been infected by the abomination that is Abigail Williams, and I’ve now lost my one piece of evidence. The girl who I once took a fancy to is now my greatest foe, and she has the advantage. Even the magistrate of this court believes their daft pretense! No one in Salem is safe from the formidable curse casted by the deceiving child. What is there left for me to do?

Many people would go straight to accusing Abigail Williams for all the mayhem in Salem Village, but she definitely should not have all of the blame. Many others were falsely accusing people and one in particular even had opportunities to end it all, and that girl is Mary Warren. Driven by fear, Mary Warren, in Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, lies and falsely accusing innocent people; ultimately leaving 20 people dead and many more in an awful jail. Mary Warren accused innocents of witchcraft, did not end all the hysteria even with opportunities, and is the reason many people are dead, specifically John Proctor.

Preserving his or her reputation is a prevalent theme throughout the entirety of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Many characters within the story are willing to risk anything to keep their reputation from being sullied in Salem. Two such characters are Abigail Williams and John Proctor, who both went to extremes to preserve their reputation. Firstly, being someone who holds many dark secrets, Abigail Williams places a great deal of pride in her good name. She is a girl whom is willing to lie to the public as to avoid trouble or scandal. She even goes so far as to say “Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar”(Miller 1240). Although Goody Proctor is presented in the story as one who can tell no lies,

Miller shows Mary as the type of woman that cannot think for herself but has to follow the crowd. In the court scene Mary lies and says that John Proctor bewitched her and starts to change up her story because of the control that Abigail holds over her. Here is once again another example of how Miller shows women in the play as something negative rather than positive. In one of the scenes in the play Mary lies out of a situation to save herself and throw John Proctor under the bus. This could simply be for revenge, or failure to think for herself. Mary Warren a is a slave she is only a slave she is paid in full wags but can’t act on her own. Mary Warren is introduced as a naive girl that is being controlled by Abigail. Not only is she being

In The Crucible act III, Mary Warren, one of the girls who was caught in the forest with Abigail dancing and conjuring spirits, cracks under pressure when Danforth accuses her of making a pact with the devil. When Mary joined the girls in the forest she had not realized how much chaos and trouble she would be getting herself into. During the start of the trials, Marry seems to enjoy the power it gives her. However, as the trails resume she begins to feel guilty about her actions. She does not enjoy watching innocent people being convicted for her child's play.

Mary Warren, a timid, submissive child adds to the growing hysteria of salem. Mary Warren is weak and unsure of herself in The Crucible. This is shown in Act 3, Page 108,” With a hysterical cry, Mary Warren starts to run, Proctor catches her.” This shows that when she is confronted by Abigail, and she is “bewitched’ by Mary, she is too timid and weak to stand up for the truth. She was unable to fight against the lie she had a hand in creating.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Mary Warren is presented to the audience as a shy and lonely character with a lack of fortitude. Her weak will and timid nature puts her in many situations where she refuses to stand up and do what she knows is right. Mary Warren succumbs under peer pressure and societal expectations, placing her in a predicament that causes her to harm other people and put blame on innocent people. She is not an evil person, but as a result of her giving in to what people want, she makes a few malicious decisions. She is however a very easily persuaded character as she will change her opinion on something. This depends on who has the most power and influence on her as well as who is going to keep her the safest. As the play

Parris even asks about Abigail’s reputation when he says, “Your name in the town-it is entirely white is it not?”(Miller 12). Abigail defends her name to a tee and even goes as far as accusing others and staying in the spotlight so she is absolved from partaking in witchcraft herself. In life it’s said that your reputation precedes you, even after death it is what you are remembered by. “ Where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel”, Abigails name is taken to a whole other level when she starts labeling the witches (Miller 53). Elizabeth is another character who knows the importance of a good name and when she is asked whether John cheated she protected him and denied the allegations (Schlueter 113). By the time the trials have been started, there is not much left to hold on to besides family and reputations. John Proctor and Rebecca both are people, “willing to lay down their lives if need be to preserve their dignity” (Schlueter 115). To hold onto something even more than life shows great courage.

Mary Warren is seen throughout the play as being the lovable servant that is loyal to the Proctors and appears to pose no threat whatsoever. However, Mary holds a dark secret that the entire audience finds out in the middle of the play, she is a cold-hearted liar. Mary proves to be the second biggest liar in the entire play right behind Abigail as she will pick those who oppose her and will accuse them of witchcraft so that they may be silenced before they can continue with the truth. Mary proves this little claim true when she has both Elizabeth and John Proctor thrown in jail as they have both learned the truth and are making an attempt to stop everything that is happening. Mary Warren is probably the biggest liar in the story right behind Abigail Williams as she will turn against the family that gave her a place to sleep and a home to live in, in order to be saved by the truth that is leaking out.