Today's article explores the scientific basis of the perception that women are somehow more virtuous and less corrupt than men: "Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?"
It is an interesting thought, especially when the theory is applied to The Crucible. Is Abigail somehow more virtuous than the corrupt, greedy, and power-hungry men that have created the stifiling patriarchy, rife with hypocrisy and systematic oppression, the very society that she rebels against?
Read the article and respond to the following questions in the comment section of this post:
- What is the relationship between gender, government, and the perception of corruption?
- How does this article affect your perception of The Crucible? Is Abigail absolved of any of her guilt? Explain.
Women are thought to be more honest and less corrupt, according to Alejandro Gertz Manero. The whole point of the articles is that women are less corrupt! Another idea, perhaps the main idea of the article that Mr. Clark gave his class to read is that having women in the government and politics may reduce crime and in turn will reduce corruption. Men, on the other hand, are usually stereotyped in certain areas as corrupt and too powerful, and history has showed it flat on the people's faces. Not many women have been corrupt throughout history. Men have shown to be more corrupt and less honest.
ReplyDeleteThis article affected my perception of "The Crucible" because I used to think that women are associated with positive connotations always all the time, and how men use their power to take over people and oppress, as seen in today's society through IFunny, media, and how men used to treat women back then and now. Also, men have been very controlling, for example, Saddam Hussein, Assad, and many other tyrants and dictators. I have never heard of a woman dictator or tyranny, let alone entering the President's Cabinet, with the exception of Hillary Clinton. However, this article made me think again and changed my thinking that woman can be tough and dictate over others, as seen in "The Crucible". Abigail is the perfect example. She is thought to be a nice, caring little girl, but in the inside, she can oppress others. In other words, she is thought to be less corrupt than the others in the book, but in the inside, she has a pot of wickedness and so much corruption that the other people in Salem started to listen to her. Abigail is free from her guilt because she started to blackmail her two friends into confessing magic; and she is acting like the queen, controlling and checking every pawn and knight in the chess of court and trials. This way, she is away from being captured by her guilt.
How do I indent to make paragraphs in this type of sampling space of typing?
ReplyDeleteHit the spacebar 5 times.
ReplyDeleteokay
ReplyDeleteI feel people think women are less corrupted and people bring up corruption with government because they are many men and some women who are sneaky and liars. Politicians see that women are more friendly and less sly with their work cause they are generally good at what they do. But sometimes women do not have the same position then men so if women do not have the higher jobs with more power then they can not be judged for not being corrupt or not because they have not been tested with their own abilities. Therefore all these things involve one and another.
ReplyDeleteI feel Abigail shows off less as a threat because she is a sassy and cute girl to everyone. For an example Harthorn when found out Abigail may of been fooling around with a married man he was shocked because he liked her for being who she is and thought she was an innocent girl. She could of got away because no one would of thought a girl like Abigail would do such a thing and they would believe what she said so her guilty conscience does not be punished.
It seems that females are much more trust worthy then males, see that is why I love girls in the first place. Males do tell more fictitious stories and lie more than females, a good example would be my mother and father. My mother does everything she says but on the other hand my father tries to either escape doing it or just plainly doesn’t even do it. In the article “Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?” by Tania Lombrozo she describes about a research by Justin Esarey and Gina Chirillo in which they say that in more democratic countries, they found that women were less likely than men to except bribery. On the other side, in more autocratic countries the relationship between gender and attitudes to bribery was much weaker. In all reality if you watch the news usually you’ll see men taking bribes and doing malign things.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about The Crucible and Abigail, and then think about the article I realize that it is probably the males of that society’s fault that Abigail is like that in the first place. She basically only wanted to have Proctor because Abigail had intercourse with him, and by doing this it made her go crazy over him. This conflict could be avoided if John Proctor remain loyal to his wife Elisabeth (this scenario a good example to be but in the article). To include, the town basically gave her control of the court because she could accuse anyone of witchcraft and the accused could potentially die for not admitting what they are not, just because the judge, who is a male, let Abigail get to much power. It is not entirely the towns fault though; Abigail is manipulating everyone into believing her, and in saying this she is not absolving any of her guilt, because she doesn’t admit having sex with John Proctor at all or even drinking blood so some witchcraft will kill Elizabeth Proctor.
Interesting. You imply that if Proctor had simply remained true to Elizabeth, none of it would have happened. Also, to use malign as an adjective, change it to "malignant."
DeleteMen especially those in a position of power seem to have a greater chance of being corrupt than women. For instance, Julius Caesar had power through the roman military and the senate eventually made him dictator for 6 months. But, as everybody knows he soon became overwhelmed with all the power he recently was given and declared himself dictator for life. Also, in Mexico the police forces are starting to hire more women over men because they believe that women are less likely to take bribes and they also have proof that this opinion is actually true. That is why women are less likely to become corrupt unlike men.
ReplyDeleteAlthough women are seen today as pure human beings that always do the right thing that is not true for all women. The Crucible effected my view of women because i did believe even before today that women are less corrupt than men, but in the Crucible Abigail is in charge and she is corrupt by my point of view. The only reason she is accusing people with false accusations is because she wants to take Elizabeth Proctor out of the picture so she can be with John whom she already " knows". That is how The Crucible effected my view of the way women are perceived in our world.
In the article, “Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?” it is stated that women are believed to have higher standards and be more honest than most men. The relationship between women, government, and the perception of corruption is that it is thought that women are least likely to become corrupt and therefore should have roles in the government. The article says that women with roles in a democratic government have high standards.
ReplyDeleteThis article did not change my view of The Crucible because most of the women in the play are actually corrupt. The article stated that women are more likely to be corrupt in an autocratic government, or a government with absolute power. The girls in The Crucible have a lot of power and like women in a government with absolute power have a higher chance of becoming corrupt. Abigail is not absolved of any of her guilt because she realized that she had power and she became corrupt. She used her power to try and get her way in the mean time she was hurting others.
"The article stated that women are more likely to be corrupt in an autocratic government, or a government with absolute power." No. According to the article, in autocratic societies, there is less of a discreption between the corruptability of men and women.
DeleteThe perception of corruption is very widespread nowadays and is often twisted. Many people solely based off of just principle, tend to think that women are less corrupt than others, by seeing women as more of a motherly and caring figure in our society. As many know in some cases this can be the complete opposite, but people just seem to see men as more corrupt than women. As for women in the government and the perception of corruption, a study was done in a few different types of government and the results showed that women in a democratic government are much less likely to accept bribes and other acts of corruption, while in a government where the ruler has absolute power there were no such relationships. In Mexico City, the police force is trying to replace the male traffic cops with female traffic cops because they believe women are less corrupt and would be more justified in their actions than men. Mexico is a democracy but this was not the reason why they think women are less corrupt than men, women do not share the same standards as men in Mexico. The Police Chief, Carlos Ortega Carpinteyro, who was in charge of this change stated, "We get too many short and fat ones. We need tall women that render respect when out in the streets." while talking about hiring women traffic officers, which shows that women do not have the same standards as men.
ReplyDeleteThis article did not drastically affect my perception of The Crucible. It has brought some points in the play to mind, such as both genders being corrupt in the court and blaming others for things that have not been done. As for Abigail, she should not be pardoned for all the wrong doing she has done in the court because there is no discrimination in the court, everyone is blaming everyone for anything that could possibly benefit themselves. The men are not the only ones being corrupt and blaming people of witchcraft for land and other benefits, Abigail and her little "posse" of girls have been joining in to accuse people as well. Another example from the play would be Mary Warren blaming Proctor with false accusations just to save herself.
The idea that women are less corrupted then men is somewhat twisted. Although men in many cases tend to be more corrupt, it is mainly because the role we play in society. Men tend to be more power hungry, and fight to obtain it. Somewhere along the path to power, men show signs of corruption, doing things that hurt or negatively affect others for personal benefit. Women on the other hand tend to be more caring, and honest not only with others, but themselves. This leads to the idea of them playing a bigger role in government. Given the facts stated, they would work to better our country as a whole, and do what is right.
ReplyDeleteThis does not affect my point of view towards The Crucible. Abigail is simply an exception to this theory. She is probably one of the most corrupt person in their society. The fact that she gets away with what she does, and feels what she is doing is right, she more then likely will never feel any guilt.
Not in all cases are women less corrupt than men. Mexico has attempted to replace the male force with women to reduce the corruption among traffic cops. Women tend to be more caring, and trustworthy than men. Although it seems most women would not be fit for the job because they are known for being less assertive than men. Women are known to be the more caring, polite figure in our society. Therefore, very rarely do you see them replacing men in their profession. For example, within the government. Men basically are known to make up the government. Anytime a women runs for president they are overpowered by men because society undermines the power of women.
ReplyDeleteThis article does not affect my perception on The Crucible because the whole of women cannot be judged by the acts on one girl. that goes for anything else. Women are known to be more trustworthy than men. Although Abigail kind of ruins that whole outlook for herself. She is not free from the actions that she has taken. She has a mind of her own, and that's all. She has not a care in the world that she is home wrecking a relationship between John and Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail is getting caught up in her guilt rather being free from it.
In the article it talks about the idea that women are less corrupt then man. In my opinion this is not true, you could have a very corrupt women in society, it's very possible. Now when you think about this in a government stand point you think, if there was a dictatorship, which is when one person has complete power over the society, it doesn't matter if you are male or female, you could still be equally as corrupt in the peoples' eyes because most of the time a dictatorship is ran on fear.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this article really didn't change my views towards The Crucible because I didn't understand the correlation between the two. But on the other note, I do believe that Abigail was absolved of her guilt because she ran away from her problems in Salem.
"Now when you think about this in a government stand point you think, if there was a dictatorship, which is when one person has complete power over the society, it doesn't matter if you are male or female, you could still be equally as corrupt in the peoples' eyes because most of the time a dictatorship is ran on fear." Salient point, Robert.
DeleteNathan Harring
ReplyDeleteThere is a whole bunch of debate on the topic of corruption. One of these topics is that females are less corrupt than males and should hold roles in government. Females are perceived to not be as corrupt as man. If a female were to be corrupt they would take it in a more harsh way than man would. In Mexico they are thinking about replacing male traffic officers with female officers. This is because women like everything to be in order and if something is corrupt they will react to it in more than man. Women in a democracy have high standards and they are good leaders some people think. There is tons of debate over Gender, Government, and corruption.
This does not change my point of view towards the crucible. I do not think that Abigail applies to this. People did not think about this back then. Abigail was corrupt and there is no doubt about it. She is one of the most corrupt people I have ever read about. Abigail is not a nice person and I think other peoples perceptions will be similar to mine. My view on her has not changed and this does not affect how I view Abigail.
There seems to be a lot of controversy when it comes to corruption. It is said that men should run the government as opposed to women. people say men are more corrupt than women because they are more likely to give into a bribe. In Mexico, they want to switch the male traffic cops to females cops because they believe the females will be more assertive and not give in to corruption.
ReplyDeleteMy view on Abigail is not changed because I don't think she relates to this at all. This wasn't really recognized at the time.
The article spoke of a study conducted and the results ultimately determined that women were somehow less corrupt than men. It was found that women were less accepting of corruption if it was considered socially unacceptable. Therefore, women who were a part of a democracy, showed that they were much less accepting of corruption than men in the same type of government. In an autocracy, the discrepancy between men and women did not exist so both genders were equally as accepting of corruption. I honestly do not believe any of this. All people are capable of being corrupted so it would be stupid to say that a specific group is more likely to be corrupted than another. Women definitely can be held to a higher standard at times but they aren't always morally correct, they definitely aren't always "pure", and they certainly are not superior to men. This article makes women seem like goddesses. I wish that were the case but unfortunately they're humans too and just as likely to succumb to their true nature as men.
ReplyDeleteThis article does not affect my perspective of The Crucible. The article just reinforced my negative opinion of Abigail. She is definitely not innocent. I understand that the women were oppressed but there were so many better ways she could have handled the situation ! I understand that she's a teenager and has little control over her feelings but she was responsible for the slandering and deaths of way too many innocent people. I really do like the long-term consequences of Abigail's behavior but for right now, I am content hating her.
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DeleteI forgot to mention this but I find it extremely coincidental that the author of the article is a woman.
DeleteSo, you think there is an underlying sexism here?
DeleteLet me play devil's advocate: is it fair to say that the majority of evil perpetrated in the history of mankind was committed and controlled most directly by men?
If given dominance in society, would women begin to become more corrupt?
Apria, you are my philosopher! Keep it up!
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ReplyDeleteIn the article, “Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?”, it tells the reader that women are known for being more truthful and set higher standards for themselves than men do. The relationship between women, government, and perception of corruptness is that women are calmer and better put together. They can uphold the responsibilities of being in the government because there less corrupt.
ReplyDeleteThis article does change my perception of “The Crucible”. The way the article brought out the points about women, I would never have thought about it this way. The article stated that women are more likely to be corrupt in a government with absolute power. The girls in the play have a lot of power, which eventually becomes corrupt. Abigail is one of the women in “The Crucible” that start corrupting their society. Abigail is not absolved of any of her guilt because she realizes she has power and becomes corrupt.
Power, not gender, corrupts. Intersting and concise.
DeleteIn this article it states that women are less likely to be corrupt than men. This is because society makes women out to be more gentle and trustworthy people. In my opinion I think that women are less corrupt because they value their power more. For example, in government, women weren't always allowed to have a say and it was solely male dominated. Now that women have more power I think that they don't want to risk losing it by becoming corrupt. Men on the other hand have had this power for a while and as a result become more corrupt. This article did not really change my opinion of the crucible. I still believe that the men were very corrupt and that is why Salem is the way it is. Abigail, on the other hand is in my opinion corrupt as well. I think she has so much power that she is basically controlling everyone in the town and turning them against each other. Abigail should not be absolved of any of her guilt because what she did was wrong and sneaky.
ReplyDeletePithy and meaningful. Nice!
DeleteThe artical "Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?" basically states the findings of research done by Esarey and Chirillo, in an attempt to answer the question are women in fact, less corrupt than men, or are potentionally less likely to become corrupt? According to the findings, in a democracy with females participating in the government would reduce corruption. However in autocratic societies or societies with one definite ruler, female patrticipation in the government will not reduce the likelihood of corruption. Perhaps this is because both men and women are equally afraid of the punishments of corruption, considering dictatorships seem to be more strick and have more severe consiquences. There does seem to be a popular idea than women are less corrupt than men. I do agree that women are not as corrupt as men as history will demonstrait for us; just by looking at past rulers, emperors, and dictators, more men have become currupt. Although, there havent been many powerful women leaders in the world so far. So how can you really tell if women wouldn't be the same way if it was a more women dominated world? Lets say history is the complete opposite of what it has been, and women have been in charge more often. Could we have been as corrupt as the men were? We may never know, or not for a while atleast.
ReplyDeleteThis article doesn't really affect my perception of The Crucible. Is Abigail really corrupt? Definitely, but thats obvious without reading the article. She basically goes "boy crazy" over Proctor even though he is married, and will do anything to be with him. Shes is a smart girl, but she also lies, tricks people, and accuses people of witchcraft, getting them killed and all to keep the blame off herself. Even if Proctor didn't have an affair with her and none of this would have happened, she still has no right to kill innocent people and cause the whole town to go crazy and hang one supposed "witch" after another.
In the article above it is clear that the perception of women in society shows that women, in certain circumstances, can be less corrupt then men. In governments such democracies it is often seen that women are less corrupt because of perceptions of what is right and wrong in society. With these perceptions, women are more conscious of their actions because they know that they are already looked down upon as the weaker sex. In autocracies, where one person has absolute power, women and men are usually equally corrupt. Here, both genders know the awful consequences of wrongdoings; whereas in democracies, men are aware that they have a greater possibility of getting away with corruption. In Mexico, this is one of the main reasons that women cops are preferred over men.
ReplyDeleteThis article does actually affect my view of "The Crucible." Even though the character, Abigail does many, inappropriate and terrible things, all of the problematic events occurring in Salem do not solely come from her. In a society where all joy is banned and all actions are publicized and judged, it is no surprise that when a few innocent girls danced it the woods, it was made to be a terrorizing issue. The root of all problems come from the controlling men of the society. As an oppressed teenage girl, Abigail's inappropriate actions stem from the controlling men in society. If the men in society had never been egotistical, oppressive and cowardly then the "fun" that the girls had in the woods would not have happened, let alone have led to a tarnished society. I am in no way saying that Abigail's hate-filled actions are acceptable, however she is not the only one to be blamed for the troubled cause of events.
Insightful, Alex! You understand the article!
DeleteThis article discusses the difference in corruption of women and men in government. It explains how women and men are equally corrupt in autocracies. This is because most autocracies have stricter punishments for their citizens who do not abide by the laws. As a result, the consequences are severe and many people living under that type of government fear the law, whether or not it is a male or female in charge. Also, it states how women are less corrupt in democracies. Unlike autocracies, a democratic government's punishments aren't necessarily severe and consequences depend on a lot of different factors. I don't really believe that a being a certain gender can cause someone to be corrupted or not. There are many women as well as men in government who are corrupt and it is not specific to a type of gender to always be immoral.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the article did not affect my perception of The Crucible. In my opinion, Abigail does not apply to this. Also, I don't believe she was absolved of her guilt and I believe she is corrupt. The only reason why she stared making false accusations was because she felt the only way to bring her idea of "excitement" into the town was to send everyone off to their death. But it doesn't help that the men in that society are fueling the fire. By them going along with Abigail and her entourage, it shows that they are completely brainwashed and are taking Abby's accusations as truth.
The article “Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?” states that women are only less corrupt than men when it is socially acceptable or because of the type of government that is in place. For example in more democratic countries women are less likely to accept bribes or become corrupt where men are more likely to become corrupt. The relationship between gender, government, and the perception of corruption is that some people believe women are less corrupt than men and that is why women should have a larger part in the government. I personally believe that women are not less corrupt than men. Women are thought to be gentle, kind, and honest but not all women are the same and I think it is wrong to say that one gender is better than the other. This article did not change my perception of “The Crucible” because I still think that Abigail is evil and that just because Abigail was a girl everyone believed she was sweet and innocent but in the end it was because of her the town was in chaos.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of corruption seems to be everywhere now-a-days. In this article, we explore the possibility that women are less corrupt than men are especially when it comes to all things political. However this is very untrue. There is a double standard. Women are seen as gentle, caring, understanding, and as "nurture" rather than "nature". This is why the Mexican police force experimented with this employment of more females, but what they seem to forget is that everyone in power hungry making it just as easy for a woman to become corrupt just as a man. The difference is that a man will be punished and scolded for becoming corrupt and woman will get away with it because, well she's a woman and how much harm can a woman do? The answer: a lot. We see this in The Crucible with Abigail, that lying, minipulative, coniving harlot. She plays the men of the town like a fiddle and we are supposed to believe that this is because of the oppressive male patriarchy. But evil is evil and corrupt is corrupt. If anything the oppressive patriarchy delayed this taking over of Abigail and her minions. Abigail had a goal from day 1 and nothing was going to get in her way. She was corrupt from the start. She is not absolved of her guilt at all because she will still always be hate-filled and spiteful. A bad person is a bad person regardless of sex and everyone has the same ability to become as corrupt as the next one does. Point, blank, period.
ReplyDeleteMaren, the evil woman is a stock character from literature. Check out my favorite:
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Ames
The article, "Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?" basically describes that in society, women are more likely to be trustworthy and less corrupt than men, and that women tend to set themselves up with a higher standard. In a summarized news report from Rice University, Justin Esarey and Gina Chirillo compared gender and politics. The relationship between women, government, and the perception of corruption is that most women have more patience than men, allowing them be able to be less corrupt.
ReplyDeleteThis article doesn't really change the way I feel about The Crucible. Is Abigail corrupt? Obviously. Abigail is head over heels for Proctor, even though Proctor is a grown man and she is a teenager. Abigail is into much trickery, and tends to get exactly what she wants. She accuses people of witchcraft to get Goody Proctor out of the way so she can get to Proctor. You don't have to read all of The Crucible to realize that something is a little fishy with Abigail. Abigail should not be absolved of her guilt since she practically got everyone in the town in jail of hanged. Even though she isn't the 'hang-er', and she wan't the only one involved in the wrong doing, she still does not deserve absolution.
Isn't ironic how some villains literally cause the deaths of others without physically touching anyone or perpetrating the crimes themselves?
DeleteThat may be the mark of true evil! Ooh, you have inspired me to have a mini-epiphany!
In the article, “Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?”, it tells the reader that women have higher standards and are more honest than men are. Women, government, and the perception of corruptness is the fact that women are thought to be calmer than men and not as easy to convince. They can uphold the responsibilities of being in the government because they are less corrupt.
ReplyDeleteThis article does change my perception of “The Crucible”. The article stated that women are more likely to be corrupt in a government with absolute power. The girls in the play have a lot of power, which causes them to become corrupt. Abigail is the most corrupt woman in “The Crucible”. Abigail is not absolved of any of her guilt due to the fact that she took her power and abused it for her own good.
In the article it says that women are less corrupt than men are. They are thought to be more honest and since women did not always have the standards they have no they take it very seriously. If society sees corruption as unacceptable then women are less excepting of it then men are. The relationship between gender, government and the perception of government is that women are less likely to become corrupt then men.
ReplyDeleteReading the article did not affect my opinion on "The Crucible". Yes, Abigail is absolutely corrupt and some of it is because of the way the society was back then but that still doesn't give her the right to send people to their death by hanging. She was just being a brat because she didn't get what she wanted which was Proctor. Instead of handling it in a mature way or just accepting it she decides to accuse all these women of being witches and drink blood to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail is not absolved of her guilt because she realized she had power and used it to her advantage.
In the article, "Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?" states that women and men have a difference in corruption in the government. The relationship between gender, government and the perception of corruption is that women are seen to be 'weaker', more trustworthy, and nurturing than men. The article also states that, it depends on the type of government that they have, whether it be a democracy or autocracy. In an autocracy, where supreme power is under the hands of one person, the article states that corruption would be equally acceptable. Whereas in a democracy, women in government had lower ratings of corruption.
ReplyDeleteThis article does not change my perception of Abigail in The Crucible. Abigail is without a doubt corrupt. She accuses, lies and manipulates people and she is surely aware of what she is doing. At first she just wanted to save herself, but when she realized what power she had over everyone, she used it to her advantage.
In the article, "Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?" women are described as more honest and more trustworthy. The relationship between gender, government, and the perception of corruption is very clear. Women aren't exactly accepted in the government, yet corruption can be shown by either gender. The difference is that, if a man was corrupted he would be less looked down on than a woman would. Which honestly isn't fair to anyone. It all depends on how you look at life, because anyone can be corrupted by power, money, ect. so gender really shouldn't matter in government or who is corrupted more.
ReplyDeleteThis does not affect my perception of The Crucible in any way. This is because i already realized that almost everyone in the play was/is corrupt. Abigail is not absolved of any of her guilt. Since she basically gets away with murder multiple times and no one bats an eye at it. This caused her to get a lot of power in the town so everyone believed what she said. Even when Proctor tells them he "knew her," they don't think he is truthful; letting her get away with another lie. Therefore The Crucible is full of corruption and guilt that is only seen by some.
It is impossible to make a connection between gender, government, and corruption. How can men and women judge the degree of corruptness among men and women? Besides that, how does one even measure corruptness? Who is to say how corrupt another person or entire gender is? Men and women? Genders? There is no third-party gender to judge the corruptness of males and females. There is no possible that men and women can place the label "corrupt" on other men and women. Whether it is a democracy or an autocracy, it is not the type of government that makes the people corrupt. All in all, it's impossible to say that society defines the corruption of men and women, when the society IS men and women.
ReplyDeleteThis does not changes my opinion of Abigail. Every person is equal likely to be corrupt and we cannot blame the "patriarchy" of the time for her manipulative actions.
The article brings up that in Mexico they are trying to use more female traffic cops instead of male. They believe this is better because females have a smaller chance of being corrupt. This is just a matter of perception. However, females are seen as gentle, weak, fragile people. They are the dregs of society in a male dominated world. Already being seen as the weaker being, females would most likely cooperate more than a male in government jobs in fear of being even more looked down upon. A male would already know he is more powerful and be less likely to follow rules and have a higher chance of being corrupt.
ReplyDeleteIn The Crucible, Abigail Williams is wrong, manipulative, and corrupt. She is the source of all evil... HOWEVER, she is STILL seen as somewhat gentle because she is a girl. As strong and cruel as she is, weak is just how they viewed women back then...and now too. Abigail being a female does not excuse her from any of her nasty actions. She is aware that she has an advantage over others because of her gender and trickery. She still must pay.
PS. I had to make a new blog account thingy...
Menya zavut Masha!! Pazhulsta pozvonite mne Masha :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Ames
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Ames
DeleteExactly my point.
DeleteThere is a lot of debate when it comes down to corruption and in the article, it says that women are less corrupt then men. In our society women are thought of as more gentle and motherly. Therefore the relationship between gender, government and the perception of corruption is that women are seen to be weak, motherly and gentle.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, my perspective of The Crucible was not drastically affected in any significant way. However, there is no doubt that Abigail was very corrupt. She had no right in the way she sent people to their deaths. She knew she had power and she took advantage of it. Abigail is not absolved of her guilt because she abuses her power and becomes corrupt.
In the article, “Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men?”, it states that the perception of corruption is dependent on many factors, such as, the type of government, whether or not corruption is socially acceptable, and oddly enough, gender. The relationship between the three is that women are more trustworthy and least likely to disobey when in a democratic government because they have higher standards and are forced to protect their reputation or else they’d be considered weak. Whereas, in an autocratic government, the distinction was non-existent for the rules were stricter and there was no need for people to decide who was and who wasn’t corrupt because there was only one person to decide that; the dictator. So who is more corrupt? The answer isn’t exactly clear because women haven’t been given the same amount of chance to have total control. The few women who were (Queen Elizabeth, etc.) never made any movement to be perceived as evil. Unlike those like Hitler, who knew they had power and were not afraid to use it. Women very well could be corrupt, but there is no fair representation to support that.
ReplyDeleteThis has not changed my initial view of, The Crucible, but has only heightened my slight respect for Abigail. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still an awful person, but she’s smart and knows how to get around this male-dominated society to get her way. Somehow, Abigail is more virtuous than the power-hungry men in this play because without this patriarchy, I believe Abigail wouldn’t hurt a fly. Without the men constantly looming over the women, Abigail would have never felt the need to surpass the men or outsmart them and would have just done her own thing. It is the men controlling the women that is driving them to want to undermine them and become self-righteous like Reverend Parris and Thomas Putnam. It’s only fair that women could also have that freedom and respect, without being corrupt.
There is something compelling about Abigail, and I agree that she is somehow less evil than the "Danforths" of the world. However, I do think her intentions to hurt Elizabeth are palpable. So, I cannot think of her as harmless without the patriarchy; she simply uses the men to try to get what she wants, and this desire is partially vengeful.
Delete