Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, is about the persecution of people falsely accused of being witches or believing in witches in Salem. Many people die in the village after a series of lies and unjust practices. Abigail Williams, after having had an affair with Proctor, begins this cycle of lies to make her feel more important in Salem. Her character includes both superiority and resentment throughout the play so far and the way she does it shows that she is rebelling against the compressed society.
In the Salem society, the role of the child is to be quiet, and stay out of the way. When Abigail is being considered a witch in the first moments of the story, Rev. Parris is very worried about how this will affect his image, and not of the fate of Abigail. It is this society where Abigail feels the need to break loose and to act the way a teenager should freely. This is the reason why she goes dancing in the forest. ‘We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there’s the whole of it.’ This shows why there is a need for Abigail expressing her need to act her age and to break out of the restrictions of the law. Her struggle is to do what she wants in a society that believes in ordering her around.
Arthur Miller shows Abigail's not trusted by other people including her uncle. When all of the talk about witchcraft troubles her uncle, Abigail thinks she should be the authority. When she is talking to her uncle she does tell him about the witch craft and she advises him on something that she does, "Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about, I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself," this shows us that she has heard of something about witch craft and is...
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...s Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. Her resentment deepens when Proctor tells the court about their affair. Abigail's resentment is apparent through her words and her actions.
Arthur Miller's development of Abigail William's character in The Crucible greatly affects the plot of the play. Her haughtiness and superiority make many people believe her lies. Her resentment toward those that betray her influences many of her decisions. The authoritative, deceitful character of Abigail Williams is certainly unforgettable.
In conclusion, I think Abigail is deliberately rebelling against society because she does not feel important at the beginning because of the affair with Proctor and the way he treated her. Her own uncle, reverend Parris thinks she is lying about what she did in the forest. Also she blamed Tituba about the witch-craft. Also she wants Proctor’s wife dead.
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.
In every family, there is one child that is always very misleading and evil, and besides that, they get away with everything that they do that is unsound. The certain person in the family may break on of you mom’s favorite plate, and then end up placing the blame on you, and then persuades your parents that he or she is telling the true. Abigail Williams is the poor duplicate of that sibling or relative. She influences everyone that she is an innocent teenage girl, but that is not the case throughout the play. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail is the bona fide misleading and evil teenage girl.
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.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it appears to be that Abigail is a victim of her society. She was, in a way, pressured to do what she had done. Many things may have influenced her behavior. That much is obvious. However, she should not be excused for what she did.
Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband. Later on Abigail begins to accuse innocent people of doing witchcraft which causes them to die. Abigail Williams uses the Salem Witch Trials to put out all the resentment she has toward everyone.
Vengeance plays a key role in causing the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, who?s probably most to blame for the trials, acts out of revenge. She and John Proctor have had an affair and when Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she throws Abigail out of their house. During the trials, Abigail is still in love with John Proctor and goes after Elizabeth out of vengeance. Elizabeth tries to explain this to John, who is in disbelief: she ?thinks to kill me, then to take my place? (61). Abigail?s main motive for destroying Elizabeth is revenge for being thrown out of the house and for having John Proctor, the man that she loves. Another character who seeks revenge is Mrs. Putnam, who has had seven children die shortly after childbirth and blames her midwife, who has many children. Rebecca Nurse is charged ?for the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam?s babies? (71). The trials are an opportunity for Ann Putnam to seek vengeance against Rebecca for having healthy children and grandchild...
The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller. Based on the Salem witch trials. The Crucible contains the lust, greed, false accusations, and lies of this time period. Preserving one’s reputation is a prevalent theme in The Crucible. If one of your loved ones were accused of witchcraft would you be genuinely worried about their well-being or more concerned with preserving your reputation? Reverend Parris, Judge Danforth and Abigail Williams were three characters who were more concerned with their reputations staying good than the well being of others and the truthfulness of the court.
Sometimes, things are not what they seem. In the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a character named Abigail Williams does not fit the description of a typical, Puritan girl. Puritans are dedicated to their religion and the young girls are meant to be well-behaved and proper. Yet Abigail is found breaking some of the Ten Commandments. What drives her to do such evil things? She partakes in forbidden rituals, commits adultery, and lies under the oath of God, but Abigail is not at fault. Any young girl in Salem during the witch trials would have done the same, as a whole crowd of other girls did. She is used for sex by a man named John Proctor. She lies to receive the human necessity of respect, security, and belonging. She behaves the way a young girl would act. Abigail is portrayed as a dishonest, corrupt, and vicious girl, but in reality, she is the victim of the Salem Witch Trials for she is only following her natural impulses, is blinded by her love, and carries out the mess the adults have created only to try to protect herself.
The Crucible, is a play by Arthur Miller, and it tells a story about the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams plays an enormous part in the Salem Witch Trails by her constant lying, turning the trails into a mass hysteria. She is known in the town of Salem for causing trouble and being released from the Proctor’s house. Elizabeth Proctor released Abigail from her house under the suspicion that Abigail and John were having an affair. Elizabeth is very pure and upright and that is one of the reasons that these characters are foils from each other.
It is clear that Abigail Williams is portrayed as the antagonist in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, taking place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts and based on the witch-trials therein. She serves as a catalyst for the witch trials by falsely accusing innocent townspeople with the intent of maintaining the position of power she gains from them. Due to the transparency of her actions, Abigail’s ulterior motives are also distinguishable. Certain effeminate stereotypes are presented throughout the course of the play. One of which, being that of the immoral, husbandless woman, Abigail embodies. Slave to emotion and motivated by lust, Abigail falls
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.
Elizabeth Proctor is a perfect example of this given the fact that she is the wife of John Proctor, the man Abigail has strong feelings towards. John and Abigail had an affair when Abigail used to work as a servant for the Proctor family, but Elizabeth found out and sent her away. Abigail shows a profound sense of jealousy and hatred towards Elizabeth because in her mind she is the only thing standing in the way of her and John being together. “She‘d dare not call out such a farmer‘s wife but there be monstrous profit in it. She thinks to take my place, John” (Insert Citation.) Abigail accuses Elizabeth of practicing witchcraft in attempt to take her place as John Proctor’s wife. She claimed Elizabeth Proctor sent out her spirit and it stabbed her with a sewing needle which was coincidently found in the poppet Elizabeth received from Mary Warren (one of the “afflicted” girls) that night. After Elizabeth Proctor was taken in for witchcraft John practically forced Mary Warren to testify in court saying that she and all the other girls lied and made everything up. During the trial John confesses to having relations with Abigail Williams in order to explain why she would have motive to falsely accuse Elizabeth in order to get her out of the way. John proclaimed that Elizabeth knew of this affair and
The Crucible is a morality play due to the dramatization of Good and Evil that is shown in the characters. The characters Abigail, Reverend Paris and the Putnams are all painted as the forces of Evil in The Crucible. Abigail Williams, who is selfish, manipulative, power hungry, and intelligent, is the main antagonist in The Crucible. In Act I, it is found that Abigail had an affair with John Proctor who
The Crucible demonstrates a dynamic relationship between fear, judgement, and death. In the Salem community, individuals were accused of witchcraft and executed based off the words and actions of others. Words that murdered innocent victims and brought hysteria to the quiet town. Malice laced in accusations charged by a few teenagers of Salem who wanted control. Abigail who is the ring leader of the entirety of the ploy, who used Christian principles, and played off the fear of others for her own gain. Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as a manipulative, envious, and a deceptive antagonist which brought her fate upon herself.
How can a girl who condemned seventy two to a death sentence and drank a charm to kill a man’s wife, a man she has slept with on more than one occasion be the victim? It’s possible when the town she lives in is worse than her. Although Abigail Williams is typically thought of as the antagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, she is in fact a victim as much as any other tragic character in the play.