Thursday, August 22, 2013

In what way has Mary Warren changed and what changed her?This pertains to Act 2

In Act 1, Mary Warren seems to be one of the more soft-spoken girls.  She is much quieter than Abigail or Mercy Lewis but, at the same time, is not as shy and afraid as Betty.  In Act 2, John Proctor is discussing Mary Warren with Elizabeth.  Elizabeth brings up the fact that Mary has been in the courts and John says that he “forbid her to go”.   The way in which Proctor says this, leads the reader to believe that Mary is a very naïve, subservient girl who will do what she is told, but she is now beginning to change.  John forbids her to go, yet she goes anyway.  This proves that Mary is becoming more like Abigail in that she is disobedient, disrespectful, and feels that she has become powerful.  In Act 2, there is evidence that Mary does fear Proctor.  When she returns from court, John tells her to go to bed.  Mary’s response is that she is seventeen and she will go to bed when she wants.  John responds by telling her that he will beat her and she quickly goes to bed.  At this point, it seems that Mary is feeling everything out and trying to see just how far she can go with her power-trip. But, by the end of Act 3, Mary has become a completely different girl and no longer fears Proctor as she does in Act 2. 

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