Good morning Judge Danforth, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I am here today on behalf of Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth has been accused of performing witchcraft, along with many other citizens of New Salem. The form of witchcraft Elizabeth allegedly performed was with the use of a poppet. Miss Abigail Williams has testified to the court, that she had been stabbed by a needle to the stomach. Abigail Williams claims that Elizabeth Proctor is currently under the possession of the poppet that was used to harm her. There is no existing evidence to prove Abigail Williams accusations. First, I would like to address the fact that Miss Abigail Williams is eighteen years old. Abigail is still a child! A child accusing innocent people of horrible, unforeseen crimes, that result in hanging. Abigail does not understand the full consequences and problems she has put herself and others into. …show more content…
On the other side of this affair was Goody Proctor’s husband, John Proctor. John Proctor has received full forgiveness from his wife, Elizabeth. While John and Elizabeth stand tall in their relationship, Abigail still longs to be with John. Abigail wishes for Elizabeth to be dead. I have come to the conclusion that Abigail framed Goody Proctor, by taking drastic measures in order to be with John, by stabbing herself with a needle. Earlier, the day of the incident, Mary Warren, the Proctor’s maid, had been at court volunteering. While bored, Miss Mary Warren claimed, she had made a doll for Elizabeth. Abigail Williams was in the room, and saw the opportunity to frame Elizabeth, and finally get what she wanted - Elizabeth dead. Abigail then stabbed herself in the stomach with a needle, and claimed that Elizabeth Proctor committed the crime of witchery using the doll Mary Warren made her as a
Proctor: “You’re coming to the court with me, Mary. You will tell it in the court.” Mary Warren: “I cannot charge murder on Abigail.. (in terror) I cannot, they’ll turn on me-”(80). In this situation, it focuses on John Proctor and Mary Warren.
In the late 1600’s, Salem, Massachusetts was flooded with witch hysteria. This was based on the Puritan religion, which was taking the Bible verbatim. For this reason, there was no hard proof, but rather spectral evidence. A multitude of citizens was falsely accused and used as scapegoats to save oneself's. In The Crucible Elizabeth Proctor happens to be one of the many people who gets thrown under the bus.
Mary Warren put a needle inside of the poppet, later on Abigail fell to the floor screaming with a needle in her stomach. Cheever finds the poppet in Elizabeth's possession and she is convicted of witchcraft. John Proctor knows the truth and speaks up to receive justice for his wife. In act II, Cheever arrives at John Proctor's house with a warrant for the arrest of his wife, Elizebeth was accused for the needle being found in Abigail's stomach. John Proctor rips the warrant out of Cheevers hand for Elizabeth's arrest and tears it in half.
Honesty is not always the best policy, especially when it forces you to decide to sell your soul or end your life. Abigail Williams and her girls manipulated the entire village with their mass hysteria. Through lying about their doings with witchcraft, Abigail’s needle wound, and Abigail’s so called “vision” of a yellow bird and the girls following suit, they all managed to circumvent from the Angel of Death. First and foremost, as this play starts out, Abigail and her girls were just dancing in the woods along with other devilish acts. No harm could come from that.
The fact that later John wants to stop the relationship is reasonable and right, but Abigail refuses to do it, and even chooses, willingly, to destroy John’s family by attempting to kill his wife to reclaim John for herself, as shown when Betty states, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (1.157). She chooses to do this again when she accuses Goody Proctor, as mentioned earlier. She also chooses to let other people die so that she can avoid a whipping.
The Closing of Act Two (Scene One) Elizabeth Proctor is kneeling on the edge of a small cot in the corner of a dark room. A candle sitting on an unstable nightstand flickers and begins to snuff out. Across the room, a boy is asleep. Elizabeth folds her legs and pushes her hands together. She closes her eyes and begins to speak.
Mary warren contributed to the hysteria because she gave Elizabeth a doll with a needle in it. This doll Abigail gave Mary to give to Elizabeth because Abigail wanted to frame Elizabeth. Abigail then stabbed a needle into herself and showed it to Reverend Parris. Reverend Hale and Cheever were sent to investigate the Proctors house, where they searched for the doll with a needle in it. Elizabeth said, “I never kept no poppets, not since I were a girl” (Miller 73).
It has gotten to the point where Abigail gets jealous of Elizabeth and wanted her to hang out so she can be with Procter. Mary Warren had given Elizabeth Proctor a poppet that looked like a voodoo doll with a needle that Abigail had put in it. While she didn't want to own up to her problems so people accused Mary. Abigail had made other people frustrated but she could've just stopped what she was doing, Abigail had made Proctor get hanged which that's where she felt bad because although she wanted him she caused his death.
In The Crucible, there could be many suspects to blame for the innocent deaths that happened in Salem. Proctor could be blamed for the innocent deaths because he lied about his affair with Abigail. Speaking of Abigail... in my opinion Abigail Williams is the one to blame for the innocent deaths because of the lies she told, the accusations she made, and the affair she had with John Proctor. Abigail Williams told many, many lies in The Crucible. The reason the witch trials began in the first place was because of the lie she told about being in the woods.
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.
After continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.
Since the beginning of time people have gone through trials in court to either be proven innocent or guilty. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller a massive number of people were being convicted in Salem, Massachusetts because of the witch trials. The law of the land states that everyone is above suspicion until they are demonstrated to be guilty by legitimate evidence; in the play the Crucible if a person was accused of an unlawful act they were summons for being a witch and working for the devil without proper confirmation. Citizens in Salem were imposed to establish their innocent or be put to death, which caused conflicting issues in the village.
Her charade would have been more believable if she were able to convince Mary to deny putting the needle into the poppet. Logic again was thrown to the side when the court cannot wrap their heads around the idea that Mary gave the poppet to Goody Proctor and had herself, stuck the needle into its stomach for safe keeping. They would much rather believe that Elizabeth kept a poppet for 15 years and stabbed a needle into it with the intention of hurting Abby because Elizabeth is, in fact, a witch. This is just another example of how illogical the Salem Witch Trials
John Proctor also claims in court that “she only pretended to faint” to try to convince that she is being attacked by witches and devils. Abigail Williams evil actions caused lots of people to suffer. Abigail Williams, a static character does not change by the end of the play because she continues to protect her reputation instead of telling the truth. Throughout the play Abigail choose to continue to lie about the witchcraft instead of telling the truth. She is a static charatcer because she had many chances to stop the trails, and tell the truth.
Abigail is trying to have a guiltless woman slaughtered in order to seek