Salem Meets Dennis the Menace
What’s the difference between Abigail Williams and Satin? Very little! Abigail turns life around for many innocent citizens of Salem. She took away their freedom and attacked their emotions. Abigail shows many similar qualities to Satin in The Crucible. She certainly rejects God and does what she wants to do regardless of whom it may hurt.
Abigail Williams was a menace to society because she destroyed the calm community of Salem through her destructive, sinful acts.
Abigail tries to steal Goody Proctor’s husband John. Abigail makes an attempt to kill Goody Proctor by casting a spell upon her. She had been Goody Proctor’s servant, but Goody Proctor dismissed her. Abigail turned from God when she cast the spell on Goody Proctor. She drank blood and spoke over a boiling caldron. Abigail also had an affair with John, and she wanted to have John to herself. Abigail was completely engulfed in the idea of spending the rest of her life with John. This would never happen, because John didn’t love Abigail. However, Abigail was not willing to let anything stop her in her quest for John.
Abigail and the other girls had a dark secret. Abigail was willing to do anything to hide the truth from the world. All the girls were lying the whole time about being bewitched. Abigail was a very controlling person. She was able to use this quality about herself to intimidate the other girls to not confess, but keep acting and lying with her. Abigail showed the other girls by accusing Mary of witchcraft that she could condemn anyone that tried to reveal her secret. Showing the girls that if they weren’t with Abigail, they were against her, the girls didn’t hesitate to listen to whatever Abigail said. With Abigail controlling all the girls, and the girls being the only means of anyone getting convicted of witchcraft, there was no fair justice. If they were accused of witchcraft, they had two options. Their first option was to admit their crime, and then they had to sign a document that declared them a sinner. This document was hung above the church door so that everyone could see. If they decided to not admit their sin, there was no forgiveness. Regardless of who they were, there was no escaping death. Once convicted of witchcraft, and if they didn’t confess, they were set in jail to wait for the day that they would be hanged they for their crime.
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.
First, In the book The Crucible Abigail Williams is the vengeful, manipulative, and a liar. She seems to be uniquely gifted at spreading death and destruction wherever she goes. She has a sense of how to manipulate others and gain control over them. All these things add up to make her one good antagonist with a dark side. In Act I, her skills at manipulation are on full display. When she's on the brink of getting busted for witchcraft, she skillfully manages to pin the whole thing on Tituba and several of Salems other second class citizens. Also since Abigail's affair with John Proctor, she's been out to get Elizabeth, his wife. She convinced Tituba to put a curse on Elizabeth, hoping to get rid of her and take
For example, as a result of the lie Sarah is put in the position by the court that she may either confess to the crime and save herself or not confess and get hung. The act also affects the town of Salem because the girls notice how much influence they have over the court and begin to accuse of witchcraft anyone they do not like. Although Mary Warren does contribute to the hanging of many people, but when Proctor begs to her to go to the court with him and confess to save Elizabeth, she gets a chance to redeem herself. She tells the court that the whole witchery situation was just the girls pretending. Mary says, “I cannot charge murder on Abigail” and adds, “[s]he’ll kill me for sayin’ that!”
Abigail was able to easily deceive and manipulate the court to try and get what she had set her eyes on, being John Proctor; a much older, married man who had had an affair with Abigail once when she was a sort of servant in his household. After finding of this, his wife Elizabeth had banished Abigail from their house. Abigail sought revenge...
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.
It was easier for them to blame the devil for the problems of society than fix the problems of their own strict way of life. So the girls involved with Abigail, like Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren, named many people in the town as witches. These people were put in jail and would be hanged if they did not confess to the crime of devil worship or witchcraft. Another part of the developing plot is that John Proctor knows Abigail and her friends are lying, but he is afraid to say anything because eight months before he had an affair with Abigail and did not want to be seen by the town as a lecher, which means wife cheater. So, Mr. Proctor has to fight with himself to come out and tell the truth, or his wife might die because of Abigail saying she was a witch.
Abigail Williams was the person who was most responsible for the boisterous witchcraft situation in Salem. Abigail was in the forest dancing when Parris caught the girls. In The Crucible, act 1 page 1093, Abigail says, “ 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 quote is Abigail admitting to Reverend Parris that she was dancing in the forest. Reverend Parris assumes them of practicing witchcraft. Dancing in the forest at night in Salem because they were strict. This creates the topic of witchcraft in act 1 of The Crucible. Abigail accuses Tituba of calling the Devil. In act 1 of The Crucible page 1108, Abigail says, “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba …” . This is important because it brings another character into the situation. Tituba is accused of being a witch. This is going to cause her to act chaotic because she is going to be denying it. Being accused will also lead to her being whipped or killed. It will also lead to her accusing other women. Abigail accuses more girls to be witches. in act 1 of The Crucible page 1111, Abigail claims, “ I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil!... I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!... I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!”. This brings more chaos to the situation. The girls accused of witchcraft will accuse others which will lead to
A tragic event is difficult to endure, but it can be one that helps a nation in the long run. The event can bring light to a bigger issue, or it can be the final straw before conflict arises. Emmett Till was a fourteen year-old boy, black boy that was brutally murdered by two white men in Mississippi in 1955. The murder of Emmett Till was a shocking event that made the country stronger because it brought both African-Americans and whites in the fight for equality.
Rebecca had warned, “there is prodigious danger in the seeking of loose spirits.” (Act 1, pg 22), and I should have listened, instead of trying to save my name. My name that has been burnt by the ambers of deceit. Abigail burnt my name; jeopardising my position in the church with conjuring, and if my enemies had found the truth out; I… I would certainly be thrown out of the church. The town is already wavering from my Guidance and authority and I fear it’s my fault… I… I could never admit this to anyone but maybe my preaching’s were too heavy on the devil and damnation, that they were partly to blame for the hysteria and this obsession. By trying so hard to keep the devil out of this town I let him slip right through my figure tips. I was too caught up in extracting all darkness and sin, that I was blinded. So blinded, I wasn't able to see the rumours were true. Abigail was thrown out of the Proctor’s household for more than incompetence. It’s clear now; she’s fixated with John, a fixation, which cause so much pain. A fixation that I can now safely say makes my blame for this mess fall on Abigail and John
Abigail will admit to committing witchery in order to gain a higher position in the community. Abigail’s motivate is to frighten Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, and Betty Parris; “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” (1137) She wants to gain control over them.She does not want them telling the information about making potions or drinking blood- serious crimes of witchcraft. Abigail is a vengeful young lady, but not in the sense of seeking to harm someone in return for a perceived injury, but to just obtain power over the girls to save her secret from being revealed. Abigail is the troublemaker and bullies certain characters in order to get her way.On page 1140, Abigail tries to convince John that his wife is a troublemaker and tries to convince him to leave his wife;“She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! she is a cold, snivelling woman, and you bend to
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 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.
Abigail Williams was the most courageous character in The Crucible, because she did many things that were against Salem's ideology. “...for she will not sit so close to something so close to something soiled” (Miller 11). That quote was Reverend Parris to his niece, Abigail Williams. She was viewed as a heathen and rejected socially within the parish. She was very courageous because she pushed past her status and made change within Salem to get what she wanted.
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.
After reading the section “Philosophies of Education,” I believe that learning, learners, and teaching needs to to be interactive, that students learn best when their lessons are active, challenging and relevant in their world and that they learn through experience. Teaching would include less textbooks, more hands-on activities and the use of technology in the classroom. To be an effective teacher, we need to understand how children learn and realize that not all will fit into one mold and we shouldn 't expect them to either, they need to think for themselves and draw their own conclusions. Some teaching strategies may work great for one student in the classroom yet may not work for all. Therefore, our teaching and the curriculum used needs to be flexible to meet the needs of all the