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How Did Abigail Williams Play In The Salem Witch Trials

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Although many characters participated in the Salem witch trials, Abigail Williams was the main source of the consequences. From her threats to the Salem girls, they followed her into doing wrong. In The Crucible, Abigail threatens the girls that if they mention anything to anyone, then she will hurt, or ultimately kill, them at night. Because of this, all the girls, who took part of the witchcraft that one night, did as she told them and accused those who she accused.

Abigail and the Salem girls' pretense caused an uproar of mistrust and allegations towards innocent people, which caused their reputations and lives to go down. For instance, when in the presence of the court, Proctor, and Mary Warren, Abigail pretended that Mary's spirit was above them with wings. She and the other girls continued this act by running outside and saying that Mary was flying down upon them. Her actions impacted the viewpoint of the court, especially Danforth's, towards Mary. She was then accused of witchery; however, Mary escaped the possible consequences by saying in public that she loved God and blamed Proctor for threatening her to kill her if she did not help him retrieve his wife and overthrow the high court. …show more content…

From the very beginning, if she had confessed the truth, then many innocent lives would not have been tampered nor killed. Due to her affair with John Proctor, Abigail has the greatest urge to be with him. She ruins the marriage between the Proctors, and even said she wanted to kill Elizabeth. Her selfish desires of being with Proctor and killing his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, provoked nothing but many families to mourn in the death of

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