The Crucible
Abigail was a corrupt, cynical, and dishonest character throughout the Salem witch trials. She accused innocent people of the community of Salem of being witches. Most of the time she did this in seek of revenge on the people, but other times she did it so that she wouldn’t get caught for lying.
Abigail was not a very old character she was 14-18 years old and still single. She was out of a job after the proctors kicked her out, and was not trusted by anyone after the incident at the proctor's house. She was not old enough to be anything other than a servant but no one wanted her.
Abigail was not looked as a very good person in the community. You could say that she was immaculate. She was suspected to lechery or must have done something that was very wrong, but it was not ascertain to the community what she had done. All they knew was that Elizabeth Proctor had to arbitrate to thrown her out of her house and no one knew why. This made the people of the community notice that she had done something wrong and then no one would hire her back as a
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The Indictment this is what you could say the Salem witch trials were all about and this is how Abigail got people found guilty and excommunicated from the church. She scared all of her friends to lie and it almost made them seem subservient to her. She was the first accuser and accused Tituba and after that everything went downhill. The judges seemed like they had a lot of predilection towards her and did not want to listen to the people that were accused unless they admitted to witchcraft. An example of this is Tituba confessed so she was not hanged but she accused many people too just so she could save herself. Throughout the story Abigail was very arbitrated through the story because she had to try and come up with things to get others on trial and pretend every
If she had not lied than the accused people would have lived. Abigail is also very manipulative. After they were caught in the woods she tells the girls play along and threatened if they
Abigail uses the fact that every person shes accused has been a witch to secure her position as a trust worth witness in court. As seen when the suspension is raised to her, Abigail says, “I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I see my blood running out! I have been near to murdered every day because I have done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people -- and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a --” (113). She uses the fact that there is a perceived danger in callout witches as one can try to kill her because they feel threated or that she 's been hurt by witchcraft when it was just self-inflicted wounds.
And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (175). Another example of Abigail being manipulative was when Mary Warren tried to turn her in for lying.
In Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” (1953), it is shown that people seem to forget basic morals when dealing with mass hysteria. Puritans in the play do not want the devil or any other demonic figures such as witches in their community, they will go to great lengths, as far as turning their back on their own people to get rid of these demonic figures as shown in “The Crucible”. This idea of witches in the community caused chaos in the village which led to the deaths of 20 people in the village. Do people in the play not care about the consequences other people face because of their actions? In the play, loyalty falls far below self selfishness in the face of mass hysteria.
In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts the Salem Witch trials began. This all started because a group of girl were found dancing in the woods naked and calling for the devil. Abigail Williams was one of these girls. Abigail is not the good girl everyone thinks she is. She has some flaws that include jealousy, mendacity and spitefulness.
This act of deception ultimately leads to Elizabeth's arrest and accusation of witchcraft. Abigail's influence over the other accusers and her willingness to lie and manipulate the situation
She accused Elizabeth of being a witch hoping she would be hanged in order to have John come back to her. She also set up Mary Warren using the doll she helped her make by sticking a needle through it. All of this started out with false accusations by Abigail, and people believed her because they were
“Inside each of us there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And on cannot exist without the other”. (Eric Burdon) In Miller’s play The Crucible Abigail and Elizabeth both had to choose between good and evil.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws: lust, vengeance, and jealously that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunts in Salem. Abigail Williams started the entire suspicion of there being active member of witchcraft throughout Salem, Massachusetts. She did this for her own benefits and used trickery to get what she wanted. Abigail was corrupt and only cared for her own desires. There are many reasons that these flaws are crucial to the outcome of the play.
For example, Abigail harshly threatens the girls with the fact that she is capable of killing them. The group of girls, deciding that keeping quiet is far better than being murdered,
Like Abigail utterly told liars about how Elizabeth spirit had stabbed her at the dinner table but actually Abigail framed Goody Proctor with the doll Mary Warren had made as evidence to stable herself. Also Abigail accused Mary Warren for working with the devil in the setting of act three in the courtroom. The girls in courtroom acted as if Mary spirit was attacking them ,to scare her back to their side. Giles Corey also accused Thomas Putnam for being gluttonous for more land and therefore accusing his neighbors for it.
Abigail defies all judgements against innocence as she is the driven evil force in The Crucible. Arthur Miller shows Abigail Williams to instinctively defend herself, as it is the humane reaction when accused of wrongdoing. It is common to tell a lie but, the intention of sabotage is a different story. Abigail had many tricks up her sleeve to manipulate the court. Her purpose to convince the town of her innocence was one of many.
She was the epitome of an immoral, self-centered person. Many people were executed on her behalf and even more were damned. Everything she did agonized someone else. Through tyranny, she forced her friends to protect her. In the end, though, Abigail had no choice but to run away from where she had previously
Abigail Williams: The Conniving Woman of the Crucible The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Massachusetts in 1629. Many people were accused of being a witch and many lives were lost. In Author Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the most to blame for the events of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail is one of the main characters in the play.
One common question about The Crucible is how Abigail Williams is the most evil force in the play. It is shocking when a girl talks back to authority out of disagreement, but few go as far as Abigail Williams. While she may only be 11 years old, her manipulative and vengeful personality allows her fool her Uncle and later turns a whole town against each other. She is really a master of manipulation and trickery, and she gets herself into affairs without punishment and has threaten all who oppose here. Abigail really is the devil in human form.