The Crucible: Personal Motives

Personal Motives
Fear, greed, ambition, revenge, and jealousy are personal motives used in the 21st Century as well as in the 1600s. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, illustrates fear, greed, ambition, revenge, and jealousy, and how each of them led to the loss of many innocent lives in Salem, MA, in 1692. Abigail Williams, Ann and Thomas Putnam, and Reverend Parris had personal motives that contributed to the outbreak of hysteria in Salem Village.
Abigail Williams, the child who started all the hysteria, had three major motives: jealousy, revenge, and fear. Abigail charged Tituba with witchcraft because she feared punishment from getting caught dancing in the woods, a forbidden activity in Puritan times. As a result of Abigail charging Tituba, Tituba then charged others. Abigail also charged Elizabeth Proctor because she was jealo...