Throughout The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a series on witch trials occur that creates mass hysteria in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Abigail Williams, one of the main characters, fabricates the lies that begin the witch hunt in her attempt to divert everyone's attention towards her including the attention of John Proctor. In the play, Proctor has an affair with young Abigail while his wife goes through postpartum depression causing Abigail to fall in love with him but John returns to his wife Elizabeth. While Elizabeth Proctor barely forgives him, John does all he can to make it up to her. Unfortunately, the biggest consequence of the affair is not the loss of security, but when Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft. Elizabeth and Abigail have very conflicting characters, but they also compare in many ways and contribute to the symbolism of the play over all.…
The setting of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, conveys a powerful structure of jealousy to the reader’s understanding that Abigail Williams’ decision in concealing her affair with John Proctor will prevent charges of witchcraft on John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor. In addition, Abigail William is marked as the lowest in the social pyramid in Salem. Witchcraft gave her instant recognition within Salem which fed her power from within, which led to the circulation of innocent people being indicted with false accusations.…
In The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail’s flaws of lust, dishonesty, and temper that led her to be the most responsible for the tragedy of the witch-hunt in Salem. Throughout the play Abigail displayed these three flaws towards other characters by threating, lying and showing affection. I believe that Abigail is most at fault because she is the one who started all the chaos in Salem by telling a little white lie that later led more and more lies along the way.…
In Salem, Massachusetts in the year of 1692 the Salem witch trials ruined everybody’s lives and ignited all because of Abigail Williams. In the play the “Crucible” which is also known as a severe test, the town of Salem was considered a Crucible. The town was put through hard and controversial times. Abigail’s attachment to John Proctor makes her try to get rid of his wife Elizabeth throughout the entire play. Abigail also even threatens and lies multiple times to people to get what she wants. Abigail is a mean and selfish person that always wants her way no matter who she hurts.…
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. He wrote it because he wanted to get his message across. In the 1950’s Arthur Miller was summoned by the House of Committee on un-american activities. He was accused of being a communist. Miller was trying to get his message that the society has turned into a hypocritical society. During the 1950’s the U.S senator John McCarthy was accusing everyone who would be a threat as a communist. Since Arthur Miller was a political advocate who was against the inequalities of race in America and his vocal support of labor and the unions made him a target to John McCarthy. His basic need to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralysed a whole generation and in short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse. Arthur Miller admitted that The…
She was then taken in by Reverend Parris, her uncle, and was able to find employment in the Proctor household, which led to the development of the conflict in The Crucible. Abigail was sent away from the Proctor household after Elizabeth found out about the lecherous acts between Abigail and John Proctor. The build up of experiences, from the murder of her parents up until the first act probably led her to the current disposition she is in during the play. She easily prioritizes her own desires at the expense of others, even going to the extent of cursing Elizabeth Proctor during prior to the first act and, later on, blaming Elizabeth Proctor for practicing witchcraft. Abigail Williams does not seem to be bound by moral standards, as seen in her continuing active participation in the witch hunt and conviction of a number of Salem's citizens. Her knack for mischief develops further towards the third act, when Mary Warren came forward with the claim that she had lied about being afflicted by supernatural forces. This statement could have displaced the previous accusations that Abigail and her friends had given in the past. Abigail, recognizing the possibility of being imprisoned for deceiving the court, started acting as if Mary Warren had cast her spirit on Abigail and her friends. Mischief turned into vengeance at this point, when the girls were too deep into their lie that self-preservation and hatred towards those endangering that self-preservation fueled their…
Abigail Williams is a deranged character throughout the play. Towards the end she gets even worse. It all starts out because she’s in love with John Proctor from whom she had an affair with. She does everything she does to try to get John to be with her. One night when Tituba and the other girls went out in the woods to dance around a fire Abby brought a chicken. She drank the chicken’s blood and sacrificed it into the fire in hope that Elizabeth proctor would die. When Betty wouldn’t wake up from her sleep while John came to visit her, so then Abby tried to make her move with him. John stated that he didn’t want her no more towards Abby. Once the town starts to talk of witchcraft Abby blames Tituba for the whole thing. She explains that Tituba made all the girls go out into the woods and dance. Abby will do anything to keep herself out of the blame.…
An innocent person getting robbed, traumatized, or blamed for a crime he or she did not commit. What do these predicaments have in common? All of these occasions make people victims, that can transform them to be who they are, based on a simple calamity. But what makes a victim? How can one really define it?…
Doesn’t just about everyone have that one friend who is just straight up mean and lies all the time. Take that person and multiply their personality by ten and they will still be nowhere close to being as evil as Abigail Williams. She is the utmost stuck up self-centered person in the story. She has no respect for anybody seeing as to how she believes they are rodents compared to her. Throughout the story, she hurts many people and ruins many more people's lives. Abigail's personality can be described as a Rose. She is beautiful on the outside, but underneath the “red petals” is a “long thorny stem”, that being her dark evil personality.…
"All is fair in love and war"-proverb. People will do anything for love. There is no act that is too bad or too good when going after the loved one. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem in 1692/93 where Abigail Williams is the main character who acts among an evil intent because she can't be with her "love", John Proctor. She is willing to do anything to get Elizabeth out of the way so that she can fulfil her fantasy of being John's wife. John regrets committing adultery while his wife was sick and rejects Abby. Whereas others once reproached her for her adultery, she now has the opportunity to accuse them of the worst sin of all: devil-worship. The sin is fatal. Abigail manipulates and accuses her way up to increase her credibility to get what she wants.…
The Crucible is a drama that is exciting and intriguing with unforgettable characters. One of the main characters from the play is Abigail Williams, she is complex and at times the reader wonders why she does the things she does. The three adjectives that the reader may use to describe Abigail are selfish, a liar, and a leader. Abigail is one of many interesting characters, and perhaps the most interesting one in The Crucible.…
Reverend Hale speaks of how so many have been accused that the Devil is in Salem. A simple pointing of the finger has led multiple people to be hung. This power of pointing the finger is abused by Abigail to accuse and incite hysteria in the people of Salem. Her extreme acting overrides the reasoning of the public and causes them to think with emotion and fear. Mary Warren falls prey to Abigail’s antics and betrays Proctor because of it. Abigail with the other girls accused of witchcraft act as though they are being controlled by someone else or feel a cold draft. These anomalies scare the people of Salem driving them to hysteria. The unsuspected accusation of witchcraft towards many townspeople caused Salem as a whole to become enveloped in hysteria. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, hysteria is prevalent in the way Abigail Williams incites the other girls, Marry Warren’s sudden change of sides, and Salem as a…
At this time, the colonists were still dependent on Britain but were also very inexperienced in living on their own, therefore making them very nervous and susceptible to paranoia. It began with young girls suffering from attacks that caused them to scream and contort themselves. This was diagnosed as witchcraft and citizens of Puritan society began accusing one another. Hysteria spread throughout Massachusetts, with more and more people being accused and wrongly executed. By the end of the trials, those that were still in prison were pardoned and released. These trials are looked upon as a painful mistake in American History. Arthur Miller retells these events in his play, “The Crucible.” The play follows Abigail Williams and her attempts at accusing others of witchcraft out of fear of being caught herself. She eventually flees Salem, taking Parris’s money, and John Proctor falsely confesses to…
One of the main characters of the play The Crucible, Abigail Williams, is the most spiteful and least complex character throughout the entire play. She is the villain of the play, even more than Parris or Danforth. She is on the lower end of the social hierarchy; the only people below her were slaves like Tituba. Abigail Williams possess wicked character traits that give her a negative perception. She is a jezebel figure who lacks feelings, an immoral character who lacks ethics and a manipulative person who lacks a conscience.…
In The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a wicked, sinful, foul girl who lies to get what she wants. She defends her life and her name by falsely accusing others of conspiring with the devil. Witchcraft or evil is forcefully shown through abigail williams. wickedness is represent by abigail in many ways. She uses many ways to fulfill her evil wants some of them were through whoring, insanity, allegation.…