ipl-logo

Examples Of Abigail's Reputation In The Crucible

451 Words2 Pages

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem rely heavily on their reputations, which in the face of witchcraft, leads to false accusations and hysteria.
Abigail showed her fear of a blackened reputation through her hasty accusations when being accused herself. In The Crucible when Abigail is trapped in a web of her own lies, she is accused of calling the Devil. With all eyes on her, and a need to save her reputation, she quickly replies, “I never called him! Tibuta, Tibuta…” (Miller 40) All eyes turn from Abigail to Tibuta, the household slave. As a final statement to convince the others she is innocent, Abigail yells hysterically, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 40). From this moment forwards, Abigail continues to use accusations to save her reputation, so she is treated as a victim more than a witch. Iska Alter further explains why Abigail would go to the length of full accusation of witchcraft by stating that “As …show more content…

When he was on the verge of clearing his reputation by claiming he was following the Devil, he refuses. When Danforth asks him why, he cries out “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 133). Proctor holds integrity and self-regard above the peoples’ view of him. This character trait is a stark contrast between the attitudes and behaviors of many of the people of Salem. Gerald Weales notes that Proctor was not able to gain the strength to accept death over lying about his name until Elizabeth, “absolves him of the sin of adultery.” Once she had done this, he realizes that his name, his own perception of self, is more important than anyone else’s view of

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Abigail's Behavior In The Crucible

    164 Words  | 1 Pages

    When Abigail is being questioned by Parris and Hale she is asked if she saw any one else with the devil and starts throwing out names in society they are low questionable reputation. When Abigail is questioned she says Tituba, Sarah Good Elizabeth Proctor and, Goody Osborn. Even though she has no evidence she starts throwing put names that seem like they would be a witch because

    Read More

  • Examples Of Abigail In The Crucible

    163 Words  | 1 Pages

    Second, Abigail not only accused people herself, but she was able to convince other girls to accuse as well. For example, in Act 1, at the end of the scene, girls began to shout out names of people that they supposedly witness commit witchcraft. Translated, Abigail was so power

    Read More

  • Examples Of Abigail In The Crucible

    239 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Crucible, Abigail accuses more than half the town of witchcraft to cover up her affair with a married man, John Proctor. She lies and accuses people to prevent being charged with attempted murder against Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, because of jealousy. Abigail who is very similar to Joseph McCarthy, she starts to accuse people who share a glance towards her direction or even people that she dislikes or offended her in some way. The people of the town grow intimidated or fearful of her because she throws false accusations and evidence towards anyone who may have upset her. In the playwright, The Crucible, it is shown that there are accusations thrown at people, but has no supported evidence for why some people of the town

    Read More

  • John Proctor Character Analysis

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    Proctor says: “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?

    Read More

  • Self-Preservation In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    953 Words  | 4 Pages

    I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil”(45)! Abigail also goes on to blame Goody Sibber, Goody Hawkins, and Goody Booth. It is clear in this situation that Abigail is just saving herself. Another example would be Mary Warren. After Proctor brought her to court with the intention of freeing Elizabeth, Mary Warren turns on him and says, “ My name, he wants my name.

    Read More

  • Does Abigail Williams Cause Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

    875 Words  | 4 Pages

    I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! (Miller.1.1050). With Abigail's careless act, the town is in despair, every time she would create a lie it would turn people against each other. Even when these group of people have been living with each other years, with one action from Abigail they are automatically believing each person is associated with the Devil.

    Read More

  • Abigail Williams Flaws In The Crucible

    799 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Life Or Death: Did John Proctor Make The Right Decision?

    1158 Words  | 5 Pages

    Proctor is a well respected upperclassman and him sacrificing his life led to his family living a greater life. To the court with great emotion proctor states “ Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143).

    Read More

  • The Role Of Gossip In The Crucible

    412 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gossip’s role The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller is set in The Salem Witch Trial. During this time in history, religion was far more important than actual law and reason. In this book’s case, legalistic Christianity decided the devil himself was roaming the streets of Salem. Anyone who seemed as though they had bumped into the devil was killed.

    Read More

  • Abigail A Victim Of Society In The Crucible

    1772 Words  | 8 Pages

    Even with her past dilemmas, Abigail creates too much chaos is Salem to be considered a victim. She tricked the court into believing that Elizabeth was out to kill her, even though no such event was true. Her actions led to Goody Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop and many more losing their lives. Abigail may be victim in certain circumstances because of her past experiences, such as viewing her parents be killed by a group of Indians; nonetheless, she cannot be considered a victim if her intentions are out to harm others. Abigail was given an opportunity to tell the truth of her accusations when Mary Warren opposed her, but she did not, and continued on her devious ways, not letting go of her previous mistakes.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Abigail In The Crucible

    269 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think Abigail is to blame for the hysteria at the end of Act 1, because she accuses other people, lies, and tries to get what she wants. First, when Abigail says, “If they be questioning us tell them we danced- I told him as much already.”(18). Abigail is telling the other girls to lie to Reverend Parris about what happened in the woods that night he saw them. Fear is used to scare the girls into lying even though what they did was wrong, Abigail doesn’t want to lose the power of controlling and “witchcraft”. Secondly, Abigail is speaking to John Proctor saying, “Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be-.”(24).

    Read More

  • Theme Of Integrity In The Crucible

    914 Words  | 4 Pages

    It Proctor values his reputation, albeit in a positive way (unlike characters such as Abigail) when he says"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?

    Read More

  • Abigail Williams Transformation

    934 Words  | 4 Pages

    Abigail Williams was the goody two shoes that kept her reputation high, until she turned on many with a single lie. In The Crucible By Arthur Miller, is set in the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts where a witch outbreak has jailed many of the women from a fault of one girl named Abigail. It causes havoc in Salem that will lead to death in the village. Abigail has shown many transformations and showed that she is very dynamic from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences throughout the story of The Crucible. Abigail has shown that she has grown mentally and emotionally.

    Read More

  • The Role Of The Puritan Society In The Crucible

    999 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to save herself from extensive consequences when the society had found out about her eating of the chicken blood in the forest, she is forced to blame someone for her wrongdoing. With this, Tituba comes close to her death, as it is intolerable for any Puritan to take play in witchcraft or consult with the Devil. Abigail claims that Tituba always “comes to [her] while [she] sleep[s] [and that] she's always making [her] dream corruptions!” (44). Although this is untrue, the Devil is placed in a situation of crime, which raises his level of power, as he is the one who is known to force people into performing sinful acts when they are under his influence.

    Read More

  • Abigail A Victim In The Crucible

    768 Words  | 4 Pages

    Abigail The Victim In the Crucible many are to blame for the events that occurred, but one of the one’s who seems to take blame the most is Abigail Williams. She holds most of the responsibility because she was to blame for the girls meeting with Tituba in the woods. When Parris located the girls in the woods, Abigail tries to hide her behavior because she fears that it will uncover her affair with Proctor if she confesses that she attempted to cast a spell on his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail also lies to avoid being punished for witchcraft.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Abigail's Reputation In The Crucible

Open Document