During the time of adolescence in one’s life, emotions and feelings become more noticeable to them. It is a time when one begins to search themselves and find out who they are and what their personality is. Sometimes it isn’t easy to portray these emotions and feelings and one might not know how to handle them. In some cases one might portray these feelings and emotions in a bizarre form and it becomes a disorder or a mental problem. In The Crucible by Aurthur Miller, Abigail Williams, the antagonist, displays signs of abnormal adolescent behavior, schizophrenia and shows that she cannot easily handle her emotions.
The ways these emotions and feelings are sometimes conveyed are sometimes seen as an outlandish acts and they are better known as abnormal adolescent behavior. Abnormal adolescent behavior occurs during the transition from childhood to adult. (Ages 12-17) Abnormal adolescent behavior can be best described as acts done by an adolescent that are not easily accepted into society. They are bizarre, wild and almost crazy acts. Some adolescents reach a stage where they begin to experience different things and some begin to act out wildly not being able to necessarily control themselves. Some digns of this disorder can be aggressive behavior that may harm or threaten other people or animals, destructive behavior that may damage or destroy property, precocious sexual activity and lying or theft. These signs and actions can lead to a higher chance of the adolescent having suicidal thoughts or attempts, academic difficulties, higher chances of injury and problems with the law and sexually transmitted diseases. What can or may cause or bring about this abnormal behavior in an adolescent may be rejection from parents, peers and ...
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...igail was accused of lying, Abigail claimed she had seen Mary as a yellow bird spreading her wings descending upon her trying to take her soul away from her. Abigail’s actions throughout the story lead us to believe that after a while of pretending to see things, she becomes schizophrenic. In the beginning, the people never really understood what she meant when she had said she saw things. After Abigail had accused people and the accused where being hung, Abigail continued to accuse innocent people. These people were immediately imprisoned. Abigail and the girls would have to come to their trials to prove that these people where witches and other “evil” beings. Abigail put on an act every time and countless innocent people where hung. She had no emotion and no remorse for what she had done or what she was doing. This tells us that Abigail has become schizophrenic.
However, she was not able to do this on her own; the community helped to hang nineteen innocent people. Her place in society, having an uncle for a reverend, placed her in good light. She would be able to escape most suspicion because of her position in the society. Furthermore, the Puritan people were easy to scare, and Abigail was well aware of the matter. If she could scare a few people into believing in witches, when rumors were already flowing, she would be able to divert attention from herself, while seeking revenge for Elizabeth as well. After the incident with Reverend Parris, she needed to find people to blame. Although, some people may say she should be pardoned for her past; she was an orphan from the beginning so she did not know better. “ABIGAIL: I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night (Miller 19, act 1).” Her claimed true motives were because of her terrible start to life. Although she had an uncle, who was a villain himself, she was without parents and a true guide for the important lessons of proper humanities. She was also raised without love or nurturing, leading to the reason why she had an affair with an older man. Abigail was neither a victim nor did she act entirely on her own. Abigail found herself backed into a corner, use the societal Puritan
Because of Abigail’s deleterious behavior, many innocent victims were brutally murdered. All of her actions were selfish and pretentious. Abigail may not have intended to cause the witch trials, but she certainly did nothing to end them once they began. Abigail’s lustful behavior, her unhealthy habit of lying, and her obsessive desire for power makes her responsible for the Salem witch trials.
Abigail and her friends start to accuse people in the town of witchcraft; by saying a person’s spirit attacked them. The people who were accused were usually the outcast of the town or someone Abigail and her friends
Abigail's necessity for revenge makes her threaten the young ladies into following her idea of deception. “Let either of you breathe a word,” Abigail threatens, “or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(835). Abigail knows that all the girls in the woods fear her to death. Which made the witch trials easier for her to get by. Another thing is that Abigail ends her affair with John Proctor to try to get revenge on him. “A man may think God
At that instant, Abigail was able to abuse her new found authority and use it as power against the people of Salem. This new found power led to 91 citizens of Salem to be accused of witchcraft. To begin with, Abigail had her own amount of authority that she had used as power in order to keep the other girls quiet about what had happened in the woods. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you (20).” Abigail Williams had her own personal conflict of confusing authority for power. Abigail and the other girls thrived on this chance to take control of the situation. It was an opportunity for Abigail to not have to follow rules, speak hesitantly, or be precautious of her actions. At the time of the Salem witch trials, everyone had their own duty to preform. The woman would cook and clean and the men would work to provide. Having an opportunity where the tables were turned and the young women had the possibility to have an input was overpowering. It was easier for Abigail to have power over others rather than having the power to control herself.
To begin, teenager Abigail Williams exhibits the sinister side of human’s natural tendencies towards desire and deceit through her role in the play, identified Jungian archetype, and Kohlberg moral stage. First, as a female and an orphan, Abigail expresses the desperate sentiments of powerless women in the hierarchy of Salem society. Evident in Miller’s stage direction description, seventeen-year old Abigail depicts “a strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling” (Miller I.8). Abigail’s dissembling or “hiding under a false appearance” (Webster Dictionary), reveals women’s inability to express genuine feelings, often out of fear of societal judgment or intolerance. As a female teen and orphan, Abigail represents a character with no authority in the Salem community, forced to act with malice and spite to get attention (as any female with a desire for influence would in this time). Second, identified with the Jungian archetype of the rebel, Abigail Williams acts with rage in an attempt to reveal and upend the immoral expectations present in Salem. Evidence of Abigail’s
Today in society a person’s future is often dictated by their past. Traumatic events will in many times create a such a person to behave in an unacceptable behavior. Throughout literature such people are used as characters to further the plot. The term frequently used for this type of character is an antagonist. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the protagonist, Abigail Williams, creates the sole conflict based on her adolescent years. For characters like Abigail, in The Crucible, her early life and relationship with John Proctor contributes to her actions despite some being seen as inexcusable.
Abigail’s character is one of extreme manipulation; however it does not start out like this. In the beginning Abagail is an unwedded “orphan” (1.8) who lives with her uncle. This means she is only a little higher than being deemed a slave. This low social status is what drives her lust for John Proctor. Abigail’s main goal is to marry John Proctor and doing so displace his current wife Elizabeth. Abagail and John become seduced by each other and have an affair. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge into my heart.” John however has tried to move on from his mistake with Abagail “And now you bid tear me the light out of my heart” (1.24) and redeem his marriage. This hurts Abagail, but then the witch trials begin. Abigail like other towns folk uses these trials to their advantage. Motivated by her lust for John she begins manipulating others around her and eventually schemes a plot to get Elizabeth hanged for witchery. “Abagail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Rev. Parris house tonight and without a word she fall to the floor, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly he draw a needle out. She testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed it in.”(2.74) this shows Abigail’s manipulation of deceiving the people around her and planting false evidence to get Elizabeth accused of witchcraft, so that she may be with John.
All things considered, it’s quite clear that Abigail Williams suffered from schizophrenia. Our detailed look into her hallucinations throughout the novel lead the reader to the conclusion that Abigail Williams did in fact suffer from Schizophrenia. From her delusions and evident social paranoia and mistrust in others, all the way down to her poor executive functioning, this fact is made evident. If only in 1692 we had better diagnosis for mental disorders, Abigail could have gotten the help she needed, and the pain others endured do to her hallucinations could have been
Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing is wrong and she’s the only one who can put a stop to it. Abigail’s frustration grew as Mary announced to the court that, “She [Abigail] sees nothin’!” (121) and tried to accuse her of murder. Abigail saw Mary’s confidence building up as Mary kept denying using witchcraft after she repeatedly accused Abby of it. Transition here Abigail screaming at the “bird” on the ceiling because she thought it was Mary, Mary supposedly sent to attack her as Danforth asks Mary, “Have you compacted with the Devil? Have you?”(121) and Mary replies with, “Never, Never” (121). Mary Warren knows that if she does not admit to using witchcraft she could be hung, but she knows she must put an end to Abby’s manipulation. Earlier in the novel, Mary was too intimidated by Abigail and would never have had the courage to accuse Abby of lying about the events in the woods. To successfully accuse Abby, Mary had to admit that, “I never saw no spirits” (112) which put her own life in danger as well. Until accusing Abby of witchcraft and murder in the court with John Proctor, Mary Warren had no confidence in herself and did what everyone else wanted her to do. At the end of the play, Mary made decisions for herself and wasn’t afraid to go against what everyone else was doing.
In conclusion I ask this again: 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 slept with on more than one occasion, be the victim? Abigail is truly a victim just as much as one of those she condemned to death, because of Salem’s judgemental, self-concerned and oppressive views and beliefs led her to it.
.... That at birth she was a different child to the present day Abigail. I feel that she has always had a sense of evil within herself. Her parent's deaths only heightened this sense and sharpened her intent, gave her the opportunity to exercise at her own will. From a powerful envy grew hate and from these emotions she brought a whole town to its knees.
When navigating some pretty challenging waters, teenagers have a tendency of lying as a way to get attention, to make themselves seem more powerful or attractive to others, or to get sympathy or support. This was especially true for Abigail, who was already going through the stress of having no parental support. Due to her mother and fathers death, Reverend Parris (her uncle) had to take on the role of her father. However, whether or not he was successful in that role was debatable. As both minister and father to Abigail he was expected to take on both roles and teach Abigail right from wrong. Instead, however, he fail in both roles when he left out the fact that his niece had been caught dancing and conjuring spells in the forest, desperate to protect his reputation. One white lie of Abigail’s led to another until that lying eroded into a devastating effect. Had Parris corrected Abigail and taught her the lesson of lying and doing wrong in the first place, Abigail would not have continued telling worse lies that led to the mass hysteria in the community.
Abigail’s struggles come from many of her personal desires that are forbidden in her society, causing her to lie. However, this also creates further social problems, such as the initiation of the witch trials. After Betty is stuck in a coma, Reverend Parris questions Abigail about the night in the woods, because he is suspicious and she denies that it had anything to do with witchcraft. Abigail replies to Parris saying, “ We never conjured spirits” (24). Abigail lies to Parris, denies the statement that witchcraft ever occurred, and says that all they did was danced. Witchcraft and dancing both are sins in the society, and she knows that her reputation is at stake and finds the need to lie to look innocent. Parris wants to be sure and calls Reverend Hale to look further into the issue. Once Reverend Hale comes into town, he questions Abigail about the night, and she once again denies everything he asks her. Abigail is being questioned by Hale, and once Tituba enters she screams, “ She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!” (45). Abigail denies every...
One night the girls were caught dancing in the woods naked by Reverend Parris. Abigail threatened the other girls she would kill them if they ever said what they were actually doing, which was conjuring spirits. Abigail was the one who had done most of the wrong dong including drinking blood. Because of this event the start of the whole witch hunt and hysteria can be accredited to Abigail. Whenever she would be accused she would make up a lie, and threaten the other girls to say it was the truth.