How Does Abigail Williams Use Abuse Of Power In The Crucible

“Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment,” this quote stated by Mahatma Gandhi completely describes Abigail Williams. As she is one of the most complex characters in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Abby is an innocent character in the beginning and then with her responsibility and discovered passion, she turns into the corrupted snake that she is. Because of Abigail's inner battle between passion and responsibilities, she ends the lives of the innocent and creates more problems for herself than there were in the beginning. Her responsibility to those that she loves and to hide the truth is what drives the plot forward, but her passion for power is what leads to her demise. In the beginning, she using her power for the love of her sister, but when she starts to use

The quote by Mahatma Gandhi directly relates to how Abigail handles herself in the play. She is only trying to save her cousin when she becomes drunk with power and Mary is the one who finally sets her straight. It wasn’t until Abby found her passion of power that she became evil. Even if Mary wasn’t aware of the amount of power she held when she convicted John, she still solved the problem within the town by ridding them of Abigail. Abigail’s passions started innocent, to protect her cousin, but lead to the need for power. When she finally had her power, she came to a place where she could either die for those that she loved or continue to have influence. She was weaker than John ever was because he died protecting what he loved most and she ran away when her power was in question. It was her responsibilities that lead to her passion, in which she found her corrupted snake