Jealousy is one of the driving forces in the Crucible. The characters often make rash decisions purely out of jealousy. In the book Abigail shows great envy toward Elizabeth, the wife of Proctor, because she is in love with Proctor. Abigail had previous intimate relations with Proctor, so she assumed that meant that he would be committed to her instead of Elizabeth. She shows just how jealous of Elizabeth she was when she said, "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let he turn you like a-(Miller, 150)". Here Abigail makes John doubt the integrity of his wife by calling her petty names. She resorts to such a childish tactic because of how jealous she is of Elizabeth.

Jealousy is also a large motivator in modern day life. On December 14, 2012 we saw a massive display of jealousy. On that day Adam Lanza killed 26 people in the Sandy Hook elementary school and one at his home, with a possible motive. It is believed that, "Adam Lanza hated his mother since he believed she loved her students at Sandy Hook more than him (Daily Mail, 2012)". Adam was motivated to kill all of these people because he was jealous of the affection that he felt they were getting from his mother. This scenario is related to the scene from the Crucible because they both showed how jealousy can drive people to be cruel. If the world was free of jealousy there would be a significant decrease in hate and cruelty.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York: Viking, 1953. Print.

Boyle, Louise. "Adam Lanza Hated His Mother He Shot Dead Because He Thought 'she Loved the Students at Sandy Hook More than Him'" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.