Abigail: You loved me, John Proctor, sin
You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!
- Repetition, manipulative tone, irony
Uses love to justify her actions, weaponsises Proctor’s guilt (sin) Public morality and private emotion
Paradox: Love becomes a sinful and corrupting force
Abigail: Blackening My name
She is blackening my name and you bend to her!
- Dialogue, accusatory tone, metaphor
Emotional manipulation to control Proctor, exposing how she frames herself as a victim of injustice
Paradox: Abigail accuses others of moral corruption while embodying it
Abigail: Rumour of witchcraft, deny yourself
The rumour of witchcraft is all about, best you go down and deny it yourself
- Imperative language
- Urgent tone
- Irony
Instructs to deny witchcraft while using accusations for power, shows how easily authority can be distorted by lies / accusations
Anomaly: Young powerless girl manipulates whole society
Danforth: this child? (Abigail) Proctor: it is not a child
Danforth: this child (abigail) would murder your wife? Proctor: it is not a child
- Irony, juxtaposition, dehumanisation
Symbolises anomaly where evil can exist in “pure” people, collective assumption of morality
Abigail: Beware Danforth, so mighty that the power of hell
Let you beware, Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so
mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?
- Diction (words of beware, mighty, hell)
- Manipulative tone
- Characterisation
Reveals Abigail’s deceit and ability to influence authority figures, challenging Danforth for the 1st time
Anomaly: Power and influence are not based off status but by fear, deceit,
Proctor: Keys to the kingdom
The little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!
- Metaphor, personification (writes), Frustrated Tone
Inversion of moral and social order, hysteria corrupts justice
Inconsistency: Legal system is guided by collective hysteria
How is manipulation used to invite readers
Reflect on how human behavior, collective fear, and personal grudges can distort law and morality.
Reflection on the fragility of social and moral order,
