Williams, had an ulterior motive for accusing Elizabeth Proctor. In The Crucible, Abigail believedthat if she got rid of Goody Proctor, then John Proctor, her husband, would turn to Abby. John Proctor hadan affair with Abigail, but for him it was just lust, while Abigail believed it to be true love. She told Johnthat he loves her, and once she destroys Elizabeth, they will be free to love one another. John is horrifiedat this, but can do nothing to convince Abigail that he is not in love with her. Because of Abigail's twistedplot to secure John for herself, Elizabeth is arrested. It is the hidden motives behind the accusations thatfan the flames of the Salem witch trials. To get the complete picture of the causes behind the witch trials,you must look at the physical reasons as well. Two historians, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, drewa map of Salem Village and plotted the accusers, the defendants, and the accused witches. An interestingpicture arose when a line was drawn dividing the town into east and west. It became clear that nearly allthe accusers lived on the west side, and almost all the defenders and accused witches lived on the eastside. To determine the cause of the east-west split, the historians examined many disputes, chief amongthem being the choice of ministers. Once Salem Village was granted the right to have its own meetinghouse, quarrels arose over who would preach in the pulpit. There were four ministers between the timeperiod of when the meeting house was built and the end of the witch trials. The arguments over ministerssoon became a power struggle. There were two factions that arose during this dispute, and it was notedthat one group supported two ministers while the other group supported the other two ministers. Eachgroup wanted to prove its influence by choosing a minister and making him the spiritual guide to SalemVillage. The two groups were found to coincide closely with the east-west division. When the econ...
