In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, one of the main characters, Abigail, is a menacing, teenage girl who likes to stir up trouble. Abigail has many character flaws. She is envious, dishonest, and lustful. All of these flaws caused a lot of complications in the town of Salem.
One of Abigail’s major flaws is envy. She and John Proctor had relations in the past, even though he is married. Abigail believes she is very much in love with John. John’s wife, Elizabeth, is a very innocent and simple women and Abigail is very envious of her. She does not want to share John and she will do whatever she has to do to have him all to herself. Abigail constantly bashes Elizabeth and makes up lies about her. Like when she says, “She is blackening my name in the village! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”(Miller 471). Abigail is obviously very jealous and goes to the extreme to get what she wants. Most things that Abigail says about Elizabeth are false and very rude. Abigail tells John "Oh I marvel how such a strong man may
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Abigail is very lustful for John Proctor even though he has a wife and is much older than her. Her lustfulness gets the best of her and makes her do things that hurt other people. Abigail and Johns relationship in the past makes Abigail believe that John is much more in live with her than Elizabeth. She tells John, "I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near"(Miller 470). Proctor told Abigail that he will never touch her again and she wants to remind him of the times they had in the past. Abigail suggests that he is lonely and still misses her, "I have a sense for heat John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness"(Miller 470). She believes that Proctor is absolutely miserable without her and that he thinks about her nonstop. The lust she feels causes so many issues throughout the
¨I have known her, sir. I have known her.¨ A crucible is a test or severe trial, and no trial is more severe than that of a man’s soul. The entire story of Salem is ridden with tests of character and the humanity of the citizens as they respond to the mass hysteria created by someone crying witch. Every single character in this play is given a trial through which they must come to achieve their greater purpose, and these trials expose the skeletons in their closets and the blackness of their sins. However, the similar message is presented in different ways by the cinematic portrayal and Miller’s original play. Lies, unsubstantiated accusations, jealousy, and self-righteousness are the main factors fueling the flame of deceit and hatred. John
In act two of The Crucible, a poppet with a needle in it’s stomach is how Elizabeth is accused of stabbing Abigail. Abigail cannot let the affair she had with John Proctor seven months ago. She will do anything she can to get John Proctor for herself, even accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft. While Abigail Williams isn’t physically in act two, her dark shadow is noticed throughout the act causing trouble for the characters, especially Elizabeth Proctor.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
First, In the book The Crucible Abigail Williams is the vengeful, manipulative, and a liar. She seems to be uniquely gifted at spreading death and destruction wherever she goes. She has a sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them. All these things add up to make her one good antagonist with a dark side. In Act I, her skills at manipulation are on full display. When she's on the brink of getting busted for witchcraft, she skillfully manages to pin the whole thing on Tituba and several of Salems other second class citizens. Also since Abigail's affair with John Proctor, she's been out to get Elizabeth, his wife. She convinced Tituba to put a curse on Elizabeth, hoping to get rid of her and take
John Proctor is a man with many secrets and fatal flaws. His lust for Abigail Williams led to him having affair, and created Abby’s bitter envy toward his wife Elizabeth Proctor. “Abby I may think of you softly from time to time but I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched Abby” (Miller 177) John Proctor denied that he had an affair with Abby. Then Abigail utter these words “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge
Elizabeth is often cold and not open towards people yet she changes as the novel progresses. Abigail accuses her friends and the townspeople of witchcraft; her motivations for turning against her friends are mainly because of Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail had an affair with Elizabeth's husband, which made Elizabeth fire Abigail. Abigail is in love with John and while talking to him she says, "I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through some door" (Act I). This illustrates her love towards John and that she will never forget their affair and how Elizabeth broke them up.
In Act I, when John and Abigail have a private exchange in Betty’s room, Abigail pleads with John for his affection, imploring, “Give me a word, John. A soft word” (Miller 22). Abigail evidently still wishes for involvement with John, pleading with him to ‘give [her] a soft word’. This hints that her devotion to John takes place on an emotional level, rather than just a physical one, as she wants him to comfort her. After John denies her, Abigail snaps, “[Elizabeth] is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a - “ (24). Abigail’s jealousy is most noticeable in this quotation. She uses the words ‘cold, sniveling woman’ to describe Elizabeth, reminding John of his wife’s reaction to the affair and her ‘coldness’ towards him, attempting to prod at a weak spot in their marriage. By telling John, a man, valued by his reputation and implacability that he ‘bends to [Elizabeth, a woman]’, Abigail also seeks to hurt John’s self worth. Abigail’s overly emotional responses correspond with the stereotypical behavior of a woman in this time period. She leads with her heart rather than with her head, both when she refuses to accept that John does not love her and when she verbally berates Elizabeth when she realizes the only way for her to truly have John is for Elizabeth to be out of the
After the incident she was raised by her Uncle Parris. Although being raised by her uncle she never felt loved by him because he was never really fond of children. Abigail never had a father or mother figures in her life. She will always flirt with John whenever Elizabeth was not around. Abigail will talk bad about Elizabeth which shows she has some jealousy toward the couple’s marriage.
Abigail influences the situation, so the conclusion will be in her favor. Arthur Miller uses the characters to show their judgment of her. In the beginning of The Crucible, Abigail states that her name will not be tarnished through gossip (Miller 12). This indicates that gossip is going through Salem
John Proctor had a tragic flaw which was a lust for sex, which eventually leads to an affair with Abigail and him being indirectly accused. Before the book took place John Proctor and Abigail had an affair with each other. This eventually led to Abigail being fired by the Proctors. John Proctor loses all interests in her and Mrs. Proctor forgives him, but at different parts of the play John still shows feeling for lust. “Proctor: gently pressing her from him, with great sympathy but firmly” (Miller 22). This action by Proctor describes that he is still physically attracted to her because he is still showing sympathy for Abigail and they were pressing up against each other sexually. At the end of the scene he starts to fight with Abigail and she gets upset. “Abigail: saw your face when she put me out, and you lov...
Abigail Williams the main character in The Crucible by Arthur Miller draws the interest of the reader as she is a wicked, confident girl who lies to get what she wants and defends her name and her life.
To further complicate matters, John decides not to reveal to the court that Abigail has admitted to him in private that they were just sporting in the woods. Abigail spreads additional accusations and false rumors about her neighbors. These accusations have no basis in truth and their only purpose is for Abigail’s own benefit. Furthermore, Abigail is jealous of John’s wife, Elizabeth, and she schemes to get rid of her in order to take her place. Abigail’s plot is to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the main character Abigail Williams is to blame for the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail is a mean and vindictive person who always wants her way, no matter who she hurts. Through out the play her accusations and lies cause many people pain and suffering, but she seemed to never care for any of them except John Proctor, whom she had an affair with seven months prior to the beginning of the play. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth used to employ Abigail, until Elizabeth found out the affair and threw Abigail out. Although John told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again, she tried desperately to rekindle their romance. "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) She claimed that she loved John and that he loved her. Before the play began, Abigail tried to kill Elizabeth with a curse. She thought that if Elizabeth were dead John would marry her. Further into the play, Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft. She saw Marry Warren, the Proctor's servant, making a poppet. Mary put a needle into the doll, and Abigail used that for her accusation. She stabbed herself with a needle and claimed that Elizabeth's soul had done it. Although Abigail claimed she loved John, she may have just loved the care and attention he gave her. John cared for her like no one else had. In a way he could be described as somewhat of a father figure to her. When Abigail was just a child, she witnessed her parents' brutal murders. "I saw Indians smash my dear parent's heads on the pillow next to mine..." (page 20) After her traumatic experience, she was raised by her uncle, Reverend Parris, who is somewhat of a villain. In the play it was written, "He (Parris) was a widower with no interest in children, or talent with them." (Page 3) Parris regarded children as young adults who should be "thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak." (Page 4) Therefore, it is obvious to see that Abigail grew up without any love or nurturing.
Her motive for accusing others of witchcraft is because she wants to get rid of Elizabeth so that she can be John’s “perfect wife,” and because she does not want to get in trouble. Abigail is the perfect foil for anyone who is even slightly honest. Elizabeth, on the other hand, “have never lied.” John Proctor said to Danforth, “There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep--my wife cannot lie.” She fires Abigail as her servant when she finds out about an affair between Abigail and her husband.
The true antagonist of the play is the town of Salem itself, because of the judgemental and self concerned peoples, and its oppressive views. Abigail;s outrageous actions are due to her desensitized views on death and actions otherwise viewed as unethical. From her youth ABigail recalls: “ I saw indians smash my dear parents’ head on the pillow next to mine and i have seen some reddish work at night” (Miller 20), because of this Abigail is numb to death and suffering and is in fact quite morbid. There is no problem in condemning other to death in Abigail’s eyes because she doesn’t see the issue with it. Abigail does not seem to comprehend that it is unethical to let people be hanged and stoned to death and has no issue telling others that she “ can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down” (Miller 20). Not only is Abigail desensitized to murder and death, she is also numb to other unethical dilemmas. Abigail is desensitized to corrupting the Proctor’s marriage because of her childish lust and obsession for John Proctor. Such desires can be seen through her encounters with Proctor. In regards to their so called “relationship” she says: “it’s she put me out, you cannot pretend it were you. I saw your face when she put me out, and you loved me then and you love me now!” (Miller 22). Abigail does not view her behavior t...