Without the vengeful seventeen year old girl, Abigail Williams, the chaos that occurs in the small town of Salem would dissipate. While living in a Puritan society and having to move in with her uncle having fun was definitely not a top priority, but in Abigail's mind it was. In 1692, a small Puritan town known as Salem, Massachusetts youngs girls are about to face the death trial for dabbling in witchcraft. Abigail Williams, along with five other girls and her family’s slave Tituba, were caught dancing in the woods by her “perfect” uncle Reverend Parris. The next day Parris’s daughter who was also in the woods the night before will not wake up. The rumor of witchcraft went spreading violently throughout the small town along with other towns …show more content…
The main way the Abigail does this is by lying. As the two of them are talking Parris asks why the girls were dancing in the woods and why was one of them naked. Abigail was quick to reply with the statement, “No one was naked! You mistake yourself, uncle!” (Miller 11) This shows that Abigail did not want to tell her uncle that one of them was naked because she did not want to be faced with him asking her more questions, and her possibly having to tell him what really happened in the woods. Once again, Abigail was being faced with the tough questions she again was quick to come up with a lie. When Reverend Parris asked Abigail again what were they doing in the woods he started asking about conjuring spirits because he saw all of the girls dancing around the fire and singing. Abigail stated, “But we never conjured spirits” (Miller 10). By saying this Abigail proves to the reader that she is willing to lie to avoid being punished. As the play continues the truth comes out that they did try to conjure spirits by calling to the seven dead babies that belonged to the Putnams. The reason that Abigail did not want to tell her uncle what they were doing was because if she would have told them that they were conjuring spirits her and her friends would have been faced with the death penalty for dabbling in
Although there was still time before the issue became too difficult to handle, Abigail made the other girls involved lie, instead of giving them the option to speak the truth. The notion of witchcraft would not have existed in the town if Abigail hadn't made the girls lie and instead told the girls' story straight. For her self-serving ends, Abigail persisted in her falsehoods about witchcraft, which led to a widespread panic that would never have taken hold if she had been honest from the
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.
Dark and sinister forces were going around Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Over twenty innocent people were found guilty of witchcraft and were sentenced to death. These sinister acts at the time were thought to be happening by witches, but the truth of the matter is that it was actually being caused by a girl named Abigail Williams, who was seeking her vengeance on the townspeople. The girl named Abigail Williams was a teenager who had been seen dancing in the forest with her friend Betty Parris. This was considered a crime back in the 1600’s and the punishment was whippings.
First and foremost, one of the most destructive consequences that Abigail’s accusations create is the hangings of harmless beings. This is due to the rotten seed that her claims plant into everyone’s brain. The seed develops into a wicked, twisted weed and skews the visions of everyone in the town, including the people that form the backbone of the court system. Out of fear, the judge and court officials willingly accept Abigail’s allegations even though she does not provide any sufficient evidence. It is absent to the court officials’ knowledge that Abby and her comrades are actually faking the occurrences and visions they claim to have.
In order to get what she wants, Abigail ‘...drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s [A town farmer] wife. [She] drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor…’(20) while she was in the company of the other girls of the colonie while also dancing in the woods. Generally this would be considered witchcraft at this time and if Parris knew of this Abby would certainly be hanged for it. So in the presence of all the girls who were in the forest dancing with her, she stated,”...
Then Abigail threatens all of the girls that if they confess to anyone, she will “bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”. Even though Abigail’s threat did work, it only worsen her situation.
Along with love being a main encouragement for all of Abigail’s dishonesty, fear also plays a huge role. ‘’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. And you know I can do it’’ (Miller18) shows how far Abigail will go if anyone even dares to tell the truth. When Abigail got caught by her uncle when dancing and doing witchcraft naked in the woods, she knew her consequences were for a fact going to be nothing short of brutal.
On the day of John’s execution, Abigail’s uncle, Mr. Parris, discovers some alarming news about her. When Parris announces, “My niece, sir, my niece—I believe she has vanished” (126), the judge and countless people become infuriated by her actions. Despite all of the scheming and planning, Abigail disappears from Salem with nothing more than a broken heart and a bitter spirit. Overall, Abigail’s jealousy engenders her own failure, which characterizes The Crucible as a “fall” story. Abigail embodies a determined yet devious personality, and as a result, she succumbs to the evil within her own self.
However, this is inaccurate because Arthur Miller shows that Abigail is controlling through her own dialogue. Here Abigail threatens Mary Warren, Betty, Mercy, and other girls. She shows here that if anyone tells the truth about what really happened in the forest, she will kill them. This is one opportunity for the audience to see the evil in Abigail. Also, for the audience to feel threatened themselves and to feel frightened or surprised to see Abigail's true colors underneath all of her lies.
A quote in the novel exposes the outcome of dishonesty committed among the characters, “ ‘I told him everything; he knows now, he knows everything we’—…'You didn't tell him that,’ ” (Miller, 1953, p. 18). The reader is able to better understand the motives behind Abigail’s actions. In order to protect herself, she utilizes threats of violence the keep the girls from telling the truth. Because she believes the obtains some witchcraft, she tries to keep the group of girls in line. The community’s strong belief in the supernatural is evident throughout the play, “let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here.
Abigail Williams was historically quite different from how she was depicted in The Crucible and yet her character remained faithful to the original. The real Abigail Williams was only a child of eleven years old at the time of the Salem Witch Trials, not a teenage girl seeking revenge in order to be with the man that she loves (“About Abigail Williams”). Williams was likely an orphan as she lived with her uncle. Not much is known about her parents or how she came to live with Reverend Parris (“The “Afflicted””). Her lack of a stable two parent home may have contributed to her psychological need for attention and her role as the foremost of the “targeted” and “harassed” accusing girls.
Abigail is extremely concerned with her well-being and reputation. In Act One, Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about dancing in the forest, and, instead of confessing, she begins denouncing others. This illustrates how she is willing to allow others to be harmed because of her extreme fear. One example of this is when Abigail states, “Not I sir—Tituba and Ruth” (Miller 15). The character of the residents of Salem is not exceptional.
In the first Act, Abigail manipulates the girls into helping her lie about the forest “incident” in the beginning of the play. "Now look you, all of you we danced and Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam 's dead sisters, and that is all. Mark this let either of you breathe a word and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you." (Miller I, 20). In this quote, Abigail becomes aware of what she did in the forest along with the girl and threatens them to keep silence if they want to keep their lives.
She claims that Elizabeth’s spirit pushed a needle into her stomach. She said these things because of her prior knowledge of where Mary Warren keeps her needles for safe keeping. Making Abigail the dishonest child of the
She is eighteen years old, she had an affair with a man named John Proctor, and she cannot be trusted. Abigail displays three character flaws: dishonesty, envy, and lust. Abigail displays dishonesty in the play because she lied about her and the other girls conjuring spirits in the woods. Abigail lied to her uncle and told him “It were sport uncle” (Miller 10 and 11) .Abigail ’s uncle questions her about why she was kicked out of Elizabeth