In The Crucible, the themes of piety and virtue are recurring. Most of the time, the two are being used to take advantage of a situation. In the cases of Abigail Williams and the girls who back up her ideas of witchcraft in Salem, this is extremely true. In a town based around religion, the courts, churches, and people are all going to believe who claim their works are associated with God. In The Crucible, the most repetitive themes of piety and virtue being used to increase a reputation deal with Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and the entire court system of Salem, Massachusetts.
In the case of Abigail Williams and her group of so-called “godsends,” piety is being used to make the town believe there are certain people conjuring Satan. They were caught conjuring spirits in the woods by the Reverend Parris, and they are willing to do anything to keep their names clean in Salem. This results in hundreds of accusations on the women of the town, stating that they have seen those women dealing with the devil. The girls know this is not true, yet in order not to be accused of witchcraft, they keep up their charade of innocence and continue their accusations.
On a completely opposite side of the spectrum, John Proctor uses piety to keep a good image of himself. This group of girls accuses him of witchcraft, yet he cannot bring himself to confess to the act, which is the only way his life can be spared. His pride and love of God is too strong to confess to defying it. Differing from the girls, John Proctor is not afraid admit the truth in his situation. The only reason the court would accept his confession is to save his life.
Dealing with the courts, a tricky situation is brought up. They have the choice to both side with John Proctor (the truth) and defy the girls, or to side with the girls. Siding with John Proctor would have proved that the court cannot be swayed by immature behavior, and would have also saved many innocent lives. On the other hand, the courts...