The Crucible Abigail Williams Downfall Essay

The community in which someone lives will often have definite effects on the people living within it. This means that you can often connect someone's behavior to their surrounding area. However in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, you can not blame the puritan society that Abigail Williams resides in for her actions. The root of her estranged actions and decisions is her past, personality, and her pride. Abigail’s past has a large part to do with her insane outbreak. In the beginning of The Crucible Miller tells us that Abigail’s parents are dead and she has now been sent to live with her uncle, Reverend Parris. Abigail is treated fairly by Parris even though she is not his own child, but in Abigail's eyes she is not getting what she wants. Miller tells the audience throughout the book the story of Abigail Williams and John Proctor. He tells of how Abigail used to work for the Proctor family up until John’s wife found out about the affair and kicked her out. This constant lust for John and then her being denied plays a large role in her accusing others of being witches. She thought that if she could get certain people out of the way then she could be with John. Abigail has a very forceful personality. She is a stubborn and independent young woman that knows what she wants and will do anything in her power to get

Her pride causes her to excessively lie in order to make sure she is not seen in a bad light. Abigail’s main objective is to be with John but she refuses to let that be known to the community. In the beginning of the story Abigail meets with John behind the barn to try and convince him to be with her, however John refuses. He will not allow her to be a part of his life anymore. This situation hurts Abigail's pride. She has gotten everything she wants until this moment when what she wants most is denied. She uses her anger towards John to fuel her