In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, Abigail is most to blame in the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials is based on a period of time where the devil’s work has found its way into the Christian city of Salem, causing everybody accused of witchcraft to confess, or be hanged. Abigail, a teenage girl at the time, has fell madly in love with a man by the name of John Proctor. John is a married man, but in his past he has had an affair with Abigail which nobody knew of. Abigail’s immaturity shows throughout the story, along with major jealousy over Elizabeth Proctor, John’s wife. All these events of hanging and sin in Salem lead back around to Abigail’s jealousy overall
Abigail Williams calls Elizabeth’s name in court accusing her of witchcraft: “she (Abigail) wants me dead, john, you know it” Elizabeth said. Abigail started this hysteria hoping to kill Elizabeth so she could have her husband. By looking at The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one can see how the people were being accused of witchcraft in Salem, which is important because it all started upon John’s adultery with Abigail Williams and ended up causing innocent people to die.
Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed. Miller best depicts the evils in people through the main prosecutor in the the play Abigail Williams. Abigail is undeniably the most destructive and corrupt individual in The Crucible. Through her vengefulness, threatening her peers, carelessness at others’ expense, and complete disregard for human life, she ensues a tumultuous event to Salem.
Out of all the characters in the book, there are many that contributed to the hysteria of the witch trials, however, of these characters Abigail Williams contributed the most. In the beginning of the play, we see Abigail and a collection of other girls dancing and making a charm in the woods. Abigail made this charm in order to kill Mr.Proctor 's wife. If Abigail wasn 't so crazy in love with John this scene in the woods probably wouldn 't have taken place. Therefor, Parris would have never caught the girls and there wouldn’t be rumours of witchcraft. Also, throughout the play Abigail accuses many people of witchcraft in order to save herself. An example of this is when Hale questions Abigail in act 1, and Abigail accuses several girls of
In the late sixteen hundreds, the mania of the Salem witch trials affected various families and individuals. In order for such terrible events to take place, an array of people catalyzed the trials. In Arthur Miller’s theatrical work The Crucible, Miller creates a specific group of young girls who accuses countless amount of men and women of witchcraft. Abigail, the leader of the girls, testifies in many of the executions taken place by lying about the people’s collaboration with the devil. As one of the antagonists of the story, she intends to kill Elizabeth, the wife of her paramour, John Proctor. The Crucible exemplifies a “fall” story through Abigail because her jealousy begets her own demise.
Abigail is the villain in this play. She’s the woman who holds grudges, is selfish, and a great liar. Abigail seems to be especially gifted at spreading destruction and chaos wherever she goes. She is able to manipulate others, for example, all her friends and the whole town. In addition, she obtains control over all of them and sends nineteen uninvolved people to their deaths. All these things add up. Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off
Salem Massachusetts was a town of quarrels in the early 1690s so it was no surprise the word of a single teenage girl set all the townspeople turning on eachother. In the years leading up to the Salem Witch Trials, miniscule tensions broke free between the people of Salem. This apprehension didn’t become a tangible threat; however, until a young girl named Abigail Williams cried witchcraft. Therefore, Abby was the most to blame for the events plaguing Salem in 1692.
The play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials in 1692. Several girls claim to be afflicted by witchcraft, then accuse people in the town of witchcraft who are usually people they dislike. Two of the main characters Miller focuses on are Abigail Williams and John Proctor. While Abigail Williams and John Proctor both start out with lying and selfishness, Abigail never gets better, she stays with her selfish ways while John works towards selflessness and becoming a better person; therefore, Miller displays the theme of selfishness vs. selflessness in relationships or choices.
Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria.
Cruelty is a recurrent theme in literature that often acts as a critical factor in a novel’s development. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the occurrence of cruelty is seen to be gradually increasing as the story goes on from accusations of witchcraft that lead into chaos and death. Through Miller’s depiction of the merciless accusations and murders of innocent people, cruelty reveals a high extent of people’s animosity and vengeance that is greatly influenced by the attitude of the surrounding atmosphere.
Abigail can be described as villainous for being a notorious liar. A prime example of this villainous behavior is shown when Betty is waking from her sleep during the beginning of the play. The girls are discussing about how they should cover up the truth about the night in the woods, when Betty starts to cry out. In the midst of her distress, Betty exposes Abigail and gives the reader more insight as to what went on in the woods that night. “You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that”(1.343)! Betty Parris further explains to the audience Abigail’s reason for drinking blood. “You did! You did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor”(1.347-49)! It is now revealed that Abigail Williams
In the play the Crucible she was the head of the accusers. She and her group accused many townspeople of witchcraft leading to almost all of their impending deaths and a mass hysteria. Even if she herself did not accuse the victims she stood in trial as a witness and lied about many incidents. Her rampage started with a man known as John Proctor. John Proctor was Abigail's lover, even though he was a married man. When she asked him to divorce his wife so they could be together he refused, this was a major stepping point for Abby. Abby is evil although she isn't a witch because she is setting people up to be killed. “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.” Here we see Abby looking after only herself while threatening those who dare to go against her. This proves she will go to any lengths to keep herself safe and the evil that she is
In the beginning of the story Abigail Williams was in love with John Proctor and was willing to do anything to be with him. She was caught dancing in the woods and was accused of witchcraft. She started to blame everyone in town she didn’t like for being a witch. She told all the girls in town that she would come in the night and kill them if they tell anyone about what they were doing in the woods. She had accused Goody Proctor of witch craft so she could have John to herself. She would do or say whatever it took to get John Proctor. Abigail told John that he taught her how to love and she wanted to be with him.
“She's a witch!” If you heard someone say that over and over again would you start to think differently about that person? Abigail is manipulative and a lair. Hev Parris found her and all the young girls of the town dancing naked in the woods, She claimed that someone made
In act 4 of The Crucible Hale declares to Elizabeth, “Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it” (Miller1326). This is very accurate; life is so precious and it goes by so fast. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, many innocent people are falsely accused of witchcraft and their lives are taken away as a result. The Crucible shows that the Puritans are quick to judge and do not listen to their fellow townspeople during cases of life or death. People die because of unjust reasons, and the theme of unresolved conflicts between people can have tragic results is shown very strongly by Abigail Williams through her affair with John, her complications with Elizabeth, and the