Christopher Light Ms. Scannell Honors 10B English 7 June 2023 In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, The main character Abigail Williams deceived many characters for their safety. As time goes on Abigail is later perceived as the antagonist rather than the protagonist through the many casualties caused by her deceptions. She constantly lies and this repetition ends in overall destruction that tears the community apart. Abigail uses her ability to lie to others as leverage to keep herself safe from her wrongdoings. After being accused of witchcraft Abigail uses the fear of the unknown as her way to blame others for what she has done, in doing so Abagail fabricates her reality where she is in the right and those who have been blamed are in the wrong. Through her dramatic performances and “supernatural visions” she successfully convinces the judge and her entitled uncle that she is innocent. By blaming others she saw this as an advantage not only to …show more content…
As the lies escalate so do the punishments. If one declines that they were involved with the witchcraft that they were accused of, they were hung for all to see, this begins to cause paranoia among the citizens of Salem. Abigal’s deceptions only led to mass hysteria and the destruction of Salem as a whole. Abigal’s deception led to various outcomes that could not have been predicted. One main outcome was tearing apart the community in Salem by turning neighbor against neighbor driven by the Suspicion of witchcraft and one’s place with god. These factors and Abigal’s lies lead to the perfect storm of arrests and deaths. Abigail's lies were the tip of the iceberg to living in a society in constant fear, not only did they have to worry about where they stand with god but they also had to be careful who they talk to because maybe they would be the next John
Abigail is a selfish and manipulative. She makes other people do things for her. That way is more obvious to people believe what she is saying is true. She never wants to take responsibility of her own actions and that's another reason why she lies and makes people lie just because she wants to be covered. Abigail's belief is that she always wants to be right on the choices she makes.
Over time, she keeps lying and accusing other people other people in, but when the truth was being revealed, she ran away to a different place fearing her bad reputation in town. Some people only care about how their names are seen, and they do not care about the truth. For example, Deputy Governor Danforth knew that the truth about witchcraft, but he refused to announce it because he fears that his reputation will get ruined. Next, Abigail caused many people to be hanged so she denies the truth and
Getting out of character to prove to appoint but ends up dead. Living a life that unholy casing the devil for using your mind body and soul. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is known to change her character in many ways in the story to prove her innocence. The play takes place in Salem at the Proctors house, church and then they turn the church into the court. Abigail is most responsible for the drama in Salem because she tries to make herself seem so innocent instead of owning up to the problems she started.
William Shenstone, a wise English poet, once said “A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.” As you read you see that Abigail is just telling lie after lie and the majority believe her. When someone goes against what Abigail is saying and says the actual truth, everyone, of course, thinks of it as a lie. Abigail successfully changes their ways of thinking and manipulates them into trusting her. If Abigail had been taken out of the picture this situation would have been avoided.
Abigail was the whole reason any of the drama in Salem started, she was caught dancing in the forest, and accused of witchcraft soon later. With this accusation and the whole town of Salem focused in on the case Abigail had quite that platform that was willing to hear what she had to say, but instead of setting the record straight she danced around the truth and fled before anything bad could happen to her. “Thirty-one pound is gone. I am penniless. ”(Miller act IV para 74).
People tend to believe what they want to believe. Whether the information is presented by celebrities or politicians or through paid advertisements on social media, it can be misinterpreted as true, even when it has been proven false. Misinformation causes people to make reckless decisions based on what they have heard or seen. False information has led to unfortunate events, such as the Salem Witch Trials and prejudice-based violence. False information connects events in both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and current society, shaping the opinions of the public and allowing authorities to stay in power despite false evidence against them.
While it is true that Abigail has had a very difficult life, as she has lost her parents,and her uncle, Parris, has treated her horribly, and the one person she loves will not return her love, she cannot be claimed to be an innocent victim. Her choices are what make her a villain. For one thing, Abigail states that she wishes for John to return for her, meaning that she willingly chose to have a sexual relationship with John. John let Abigail do this, but he also did not force her into it. Abigail chooses to have a relationship with John, and knows the trouble it will bring them both.
In Arthur Miller’s the Crucible, the lies told by the characters are human acts of self-preservation, sometimes told at the risk of other, and sometimes told to try and assist others, which begs the question, is it ever exceptional to lie? Miller’s play begins in Act I by presenting all characters whom instigate the Salem Witch Trails. The main protagonist and the character that can be mostly accredited for the lies and accusations which cause the uproar would be Abigail. Abigail’s character is static because her actions always appear malicious and she shows great will for self-preservation.
Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do but you could not prove your innocence so you ended up confessing anyway? During the Salem witch Trials more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were hanged. The Crucible is a play written about these trials and everything that happened. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the claim by John Proctor, “There are them that will swear to anything before they’ll hang” is correctly shown in the book, and the Salem Witch Trials because in both, many people confessed to things that they didn’t do so they would get out of trouble (Hale 69).
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 a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (317). Abigail is trying to convince herself that this is all she did with the girls even though, in reality, she knows they did much more. She does this in order to make herself feel less guilt towards the situation. She knows the trouble she will get into so she chooses to
In a small village called Salem, witchcraft and sorcery exist, however everyone is pointing fingers but not a single soul knows who is actually to blame for this nonsense. During this time period of hysteria, there are multiple scenes that are very questionable due to one person and one person only. Abigail is the one most responsible for the hysteria and witchcraft in Salem. She threatens the group of girls that accompanied her in the woods while they all danced. She has also lied about many things on multiple occasions in which causes an extreme amount of suspicion.
Abigail exclaims of her passion and love for God when in reality she is filled with sin and lust. Opportunity was given for honesty throughout The Crucible of which
Lying is the most committed sin. Everyday people lie whether small or big. Every human knows that lying should not be exercised, but sometimes, in certain situations, lying is necessary due to the consequences of telling the truth. In the Bible, James 3:8, quoted is “But no human being can tame the tongue, it is a relentless evil, full of deadly poison.”
In this moment, fearful Abigail sees the depth of the witchcraft and requests help from God. Abigail’s manipulative tactics make her appear innocent when in reality, she is using it to reap her own benefits even though they will affect her negatively later
In The Crucible, Miller described Abigail as a “beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling” (Miller 142). In the story, Williams serves as the