“Knowledge is power, power to do evil or to do good.”- Veronica Roth In the play “The
Crucible” by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the girls being in the woods,
she is the one who drives the play. The evil and lying takes over her mind she gets worse
throughout the story.
Instead of changing herself she tries to change people around her from getting caught it's either
them or her. Even before the trials she wasn't innocent because she had an affair with John Proctor
Neglecting the fact it was against the villages beliefs. Abigail Williams was non stop visualizing
about her affair the more she thought about it the more she convinced herself she was in love.
“You loved me John Proctor, whatever sin it is you love me yet” (Act 1) That concludes all she
wants is John. Abigail used her authority to create a base for her lies. When she was in the woods
she drank blood to Kill goody Proctor. “You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor” (Act 1). That
reveals she will do anything to get past the obstacles
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Her main target to incriminate was Goody Proctor, but she had to delicately choose people before Goody Proctor. “I saw Goody Booth with the devil” (Act 1) She’s starting to build up her lies to increase her credibility with the court and the village. Each victim she blames strengthens her position of being innocent. To have her fiction be more convincing she threatens the girls tangled in this to lie with her. “I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you’ (Act 1) Exposing how far she will go and how manipulative she is with the girls knowing Abigail would not hesitate to falsely accuse them too and is now controlling them. So now she is getting caught up in these lies it’s too late to go back, she's longing John Proctor and wants to look as innocent as possible but in reality she's the real witch of the
Her lies play a part in starting the witch trials. To save herself she would throw any of the other girls or towns folk to blame. “ I want the light of God”, “I saw Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, and Bridget Bishop with the devil”. Watching Abigail's actions we see how much she is willing to bend the truth and even manipulate others to keep herself away from blame/harm. Yet even with all the lies and manipulation from Abigail there is an instance
She would lie to get out of trouble and to stay safe, and She made the other girls say what she wants and lie with her. At the beginning of the Act One, her uncle, Reverend Parris, was questioning why she was fired from Mr. Proctor’s house. She replied by saying, “She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bigger woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” (pg.12) Abigail did not tell him the real reason of why she was fired, and she lied and put the blame on Mrs. Proctor.
Many viewed her as an angel and truthful but in reality she was not good and had nothing but bizarre ways of getting back at people and bad intentions, she would lie to save herself and wrongly accuse others of doing things to keep her name clean. Meanwhile everyone besides the few who knew her, got the wrong impression and were fooled by her lying front she put up. Abigail was all about making others happy on the outside and a good christian girl to the point she over exaggerated it and her lying got her nowhere. In act 2.2 the text explains, “You mad, you murderous bitch” (Miller 152). By proctor saying this you see that he knows her intentions and even though he made a mistake he is coming to terms with it, she is doing the complete opposite and being selfish.
Abigail Williams: The First True Witch of Salem, Massachusetts “Controlled hysteria is what’s required. To exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It’s agony. But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to sing” (Arthur Miller, AZ Quotes).
Abigail seeks vengeance after her affair with John Proctor. She is still madly obsessed with him. After John rejected her, she makes up lies in court in desperate attempt to get Goody Proctor hanged. She thinks if she gets rid of Goody Proctor she will be able to have John all to herself. One quote that supports this is “I do sir.
Abigail defies all judgements against innocence as she is the driven evil force in The Crucible. Arthur Miller shows Abigail Williams to instinctively defend herself, as it is the humane reaction when accused of wrongdoing. It is common to tell a lie but, the intention of sabotage is a different story. Abigail had many tricks up her sleeve to manipulate the court. Her purpose to convince the town of her innocence was one of many.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.
Abigail is willing to accuse any one in her path of witchcraft even if it means taking the lives of those close to her. Abigail Williams’ emotional desire guides her actions even if it conflicts with morality. Abigail williams is driven to do unthinkable things because of her love for John Proctor. Abigail works in the Proctor’s home and while doing so she finds herself attracted to John. Abigail’s obsession with Proctor leads them to have an affair, which they try to keep
(I.465-472). Seeing Abigail cry, it suggests that Abigail’s affair with John Proctor has influenced her behavior in jealousy and lust as she strives for nothing more than her love for John Proctor. By only being heartbroken, Abigail is not to be fully blamed for the hysteria within the town as her actions are only based on desperate attempts to win John Proctor over, and no intentional harm whatsoever. However, on the other hand, Abigail cannot be excused with outside forces making her the way she is due to the fact that she has clearly had a choice in most of her decisions and actions throughout the witchcraft crisis. When Mary Warren, another girl involved in the forest incident, enters the court, she explains to Danforth, the judge, that the girls are lying and are only pretending to see spirits.
Abigail finally sees the outturn of her lies she has made for what she wants. Proctor is hanged which she didn’t attend to do, but now pays the price. She also found out what lying can do “They’re pretending, Mr. Danforth... Mary, please don’t hurt me!.”(miller 120-121). Lying has made her corrupt and is used to persuade to make harm with.
She wants to kill his wife so she can marry John Proctor. Abigail is trying to be on both sides in the situation so that she can save herself. When she is accused of being a witch she rats out other people to try and make it less of a problem for
Abigail 's heartless attitude is shown in act two when she frames and accuses Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft. She desired and longed for this revenge on poor Proctors innocent wife, aiming for her through out the play. Later on in Act Three she seems to lose her last attachment of society by destroying John Proctor, who she claims to love with all her heart. When John attempts and threatens to expose Abigail’s wrong doings, she skillfully manages to turn the whole problem around on him, sending him off
One common question about The Crucible is how Abigail Williams is the most evil force in the play. It is shocking when a girl talks back to authority out of disagreement, but few go as far as Abigail Williams. While she may only be 11 years old, her manipulative and vengeful personality allows her fool her Uncle and later turns a whole town against each other. She is really a master of manipulation and trickery, and she gets herself into affairs without punishment and has threaten all who oppose here. Abigail really is the devil in human form.
She managed to infiltrate herself into the justice system and convince the court of her lies, and then the court forces the people to either accuse neighbours or friends or to risk being hanged. Mass hysteria takes on the village, changing the social landscape completely, destroying friendships, families and taking human lives. Abigail just sits by through all of that, being more motivated by seeing her plans succeed and she enjoys the power her lies obtain her. This exemplifies that Abigail does not have love or simple lust, she is not just a bad person, but that she has pathological obsession and is living in her own mind, still thinking that John will come back to her and that would be the ultimate fulfillment of her