Free Essays on The Crucible: The Character of Abigail Williams

She does everything that is physically possible to get rid of her. She drinks a charm to kill Elizabeth, she stabs herself with a needle to accuse Elizabeth of a crime, Abigail also accuses Elizabeth of being a witch. The whole play, those were the only intentions that Abigail had, exterminate Elizabeth Proctor. Even though John decided to attempt to make the court look differently at Abigail and see what she has done to many people in the city of Salem. The misleading trait that Abigail has, helps her get out of a rocky situation without harm. The threatening of the girls, drinking a charm, stabbing herself with a needle, and accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft are all the reasons that Abigail is also an evil individual. Abigail was the most misleading and evil character in the play written by Arthur Miller.

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.

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.

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

Abigail is presented to the court with a group of girls who also have been with her during the night when she was caught dancing. She pleads “I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 45). She uses them as a scapegoat even though she knows that they have a high reputation in this village. This brings the villagers more fear that “Witches” can also be highly respected people, but so far they were the only ones with high reputations to be accused. Abigail knows that she now holds a high reputation, so she uses it to accuse others to cover up what she has done. She was considered wicked and sinful before the trials, and now is viewed by the village/court as an innocent young girl.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Abigail Williams in The Crucible."Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

Abigail is unquestionably manipulating on all accounts. She manages to act pure and virtuous while lying to the courts about the whole situation in the woods instead of taking responsibility and telling her uncle Parris that nothing had happened in the woods that would be the cause of Betty’s “illness.” In the beginning Abigail admits to being in the woods and admitted to having fun and dancing in the forest with the other girls, but when Parris started to put the blame on her and started to convey on witchcraft she automatically placed the blame onto others and it all started with Tituba. All of the other girls then follow Abigail’s lead by impeaching a large amount of civilians. When Mary Warren speaks out about how the accused are innocent and Danforth interrogates Abigail she retaliates with, “I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I have seen blood runnin’ out! I have been near

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 lust for John Proctor as well Parris’ desire to maintain his reputation in the society prompt the beginning of the Witch Trails. Abigail, after having an affair with Proctor, she continues to have lust for him and struggles with the fact that Proctor is married to Elizabeth. In hopes to become Proctor’s wife, Abigail drink “a charm to kill Goody Proctor” at night after dancing naked in the forest (18). It is her lust for John causes her be immensely jealous for Elizabeth and thus motivates her to dance in the forest at night, a performance of the forbidden and what is viewed as a sign of witchcraft. When questioned by Hale if she has “call[ed] the Devil,” however, she answers with certainty that she “never called him” but rather it has been “Tituba, Tituba” (40 ). Her denial of performing witchcraft herse...

Abigail Terrorizes the young girls to keep her own reputation from being destroyed. After admitting to Reverend Parris about dancing in the forest she pleaded by stating to the little girls “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,” (Miller 1268). Abigail understands that if the truth gets out about her drinking the charm to kill Elizabeth Procter she will be sentenced to death, thus evident by how she speaks to Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis while, Betty is non-responsive after being threatened by Abigail. The depths she went to ...

In the early 1600’s there was the development of New England and Chesapeake Bay colonies, and even though they were both settled by people mainly of the English origin by 1700 they became very two distinct societies. As the two colonies evolved, they developed contrasting economies, societies and institutions.

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.

“The first permanent English settlement in the New World was established at Jamestown, in Virginia, in 1607.”(Brinkley, The

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.

There are clearly many similarities and differences in overall religious, economical, and governmental origins in American colonies. Many colonies were founded for exclusive religious freedom However, many came to be motivated in by economy and profit. Also, the American colonies evolved from non-representative and elitist governments into a more democratic system, which is closer to the pure democracy of today.