How Does Abigail Williams Get So Much Power In The Crucible

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The Crucible How does an individual gain so much power through trials? In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as a powerful individual by revealing her control over the younger girls and the continuous accusations she makes until the end of the play. Throughout the entire play, it is made clear that Abigail has control over the younger girls in the village. In Act 1, it is right away noticed that her way of controlling them is through causing fear by making threats. While talking to Betty, Mary, and Mercy about being careful with what they say regarding the event that occurred in the woods, she says, “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word...and i will come to you in the black of some …show more content…

Cheever had presented a warrant for the arrest of Elizabeth Proctor. Upon John Proctor asking who had charged her, Cheever replied, “Why, Abigail Williams charged her” (69). Along the beginning of the play, we can make the assumption that Abigail wants Elizabeth Proctor out of the picture due to an affair she had with John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband. So her form of doing so is by accusing her of witchcraft as well. After a warrant being sent for her arrest, John requests there be proof for the accusation and the “evidence” is found, “Cheever: I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps...and in the belly of the poppet a needle’s stuck” (71). Abigail Williams had accused Elizabeth Proctor claiming that she had stuck a needle into her belly. In order to make it believable, she had fallen over during dinner at Reverend Parris’s house and screamed in pain. Parris had gone to save her and found a needle stuck two inches into her belly. When questioned how it got there, she claimed she had seen Elizabeth’s spirit push it in. However, it is known that Abigail sat next to Mary Warren in the courtroom while she made a poppet and stuck her needle into the doll’s stomach for safe keeping. Acknowledging this, Abigail took it as an opportunity to turn it into one of her accusations, this time targeting

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