Abigail Williams Motives In The Crucible

Abigail Williams was a character in a play by Arthur Miller called The Crucible. She wasn’t just a character in Miller’s play, she was a real woman during the Salem witch trials and caused just has much trouble in her actual life as she did in the play. Abigail was extremely selfish, cruel, and possibly insane. She hurts so many people in such a short amount of time and hardly seems to care as long as she doesn’t get in trouble.

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.

Imagine losing everything: your job, family, and good name all because of someone accusing you of something that there is no sound evidence for. Now imagine people losing their lives for insubstantial reasons, and anyone who spoke out against these would lose everything themselves. Wouldn’t corruption reign from personal vengeance and create an aura of hysteria? Readers see this exact effect in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as well as in the historical event of The Lavender Scare, in both of which people were wrongfully castigated for unjustifiable accusations. The Crucible and The Lavender Scare were both similar and different.

Many authors use specific themes to develop their purpose in their literature. Aurthur Miller focuses on the theme of character motivation in his historic play The Crucible. Abigail is a character in the play who is very manipulative towards others to get what she wants. Abigail does not care about what she has to do to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor, and to be with John Proctor. The girls in the play go along with Abigail to keep the lie of witchcraft going on.

When you think of Abigail Williams you think of a evil girl. She will kill to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble. Abigail and group of girls danced in the woods naked and Abigail drank a blood charm. Abigail threatens the girls that she will come “in the dark of the black of some terrible night” if they mention what happens to anyone (1.1.1244) By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear of losing their reputation spread hysteria.

“Life, woman, life is God 's most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it” (Miller 132). In the months of February 1692 to May of 1693, more than 200 people were falsely accused of witchcraft, 20 of them being brutally executed, including two dogs, creating a craze for witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams, a twelve year old girl, is seen as the initiator in Salem’s trials. In the 17th century, women’s rights were faint, as women were seen as the weaker link of the two genders. So when Abigail Williams was asked who afflicted her cousin, Betty, she was quick to point fingers to her uncle’s Barbadian slave, Tituba.

The play The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the Puritan era and was written by Arthur Miller as a metaphor for McCarthyism in 1950. This play suggests that persecution can occur at anytime and anywhere as well as that the real tragedy lies in people who lose their integrity under societal pressure. Many citizens of Salem made decisions based on vendettas and personal gain which resulted in a lose of a sense of right and wrong which fueled the witch hysteria. Someone who acted out vengeance and personal gain was Abigail Williams. She was the original cause of the hysteria of the witch trials.

The crucible by Arthur Miller is a novel set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts during The Witchcraft Trials of 1692. The story opens with some girls dancing in the woods with Tituba, a slave. They are caught in the act by the town’s pastor, Reverend Parris. One of the group members and Parris’ daughter, Betty, fell unconscious.

he Crucible is about the witchcraft trials that took place in the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1962. Miller studied the court records of the trials to gain insight to develop his characters which were actually all real people. Miller perfectly conveys the theme that rumors can destroy a person by using the conflict between Mary Warren and the other girls. Mary Warren is against the girls because the girls are accusing her of witchcraft. Abigail yells out “Mary, please don’t hurt me” because she wants to make it seem like Mary is practicing witchcraft (Miller 195).

Abigail Williams Destined for Hell "The truth doesn't cost anything, but a lie could cost you anything." This quote by an unknown author perfectly sums up the way Abigail Williams acted and treated people. During the Salem witch trials Abigail Williams was no typical Puritan women. She was seventeen years old and did whatever she wanted.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historic play but more importantly is a social and psychological drama that takes place in a small puritan town in Salem Massachusetts. Many different themes find their way through this play but the most important theme is the danger of Hysteria, reputation, and Intolerance can destroy a town no matter the strength of the people in the town. As this play was written during the red scare during the cold war this play shows many aspects as McCarthyism which had similar event that the Salem witch trials had but with the red scare. Hysteria was a major factor in the many accusations of witchcraft that occurred throu out the play “The crucible”, the first example is when the young girls of the community of Salem,