Abigail Williams Character Essay Final Draft
Abigail Williams Character Essay
Stefan Byker Given the patriarchal lifestyle and the lower-rank women held in Puratin societies, it is shown that Abigail Williams has been living her entire life at Rock Bottom, and her actions within The Crucible are only to keep her from falling even further, which is important because this fact provides some reasoning and understanding to her selfish, manipulative decisions. All throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams is seen lying to and manipulating people all in attempts to get what she wants and protect her reputation. Despite how heartless and dark these actions might seem, they are performed for one distinct reason: Abigail is already ranked in the lowest of the low of society, and being exposed for who she truly is—a liar who has partaken in witchcraft with her friends, Susanna Walcott, Mary Warren, Betty Parris, Tituba, and more, would bring nothing but pain, heartbreak, and quite possibly death to her. In Puratin societies, women were always considered “the weaker vessel in both body and mind” and treated poorly with disrespect, meaning that Abigail is obviously treated with this apparent disrespect. Throughout the Crucible, there are two occasions in which Abigail is at risk of being “whipped.” The first of these occasions lies on Page 1130 when Abigail attempts to convince her uncle, Samuel Parris that she was indeed not partaking in witchcraft the previous night within the woods. She says “uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it—and I’ll be whipped if I must be. But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft. Betty’s not witched.” The other lies on Page 1140 when Abigail speaks to John Proctor about how Elizabeth despises her for “no reason” and is “blackening her name in the village.” Proctor responds by angrily shaking Abigail and screaming “Do you look for whippin’?” Obviously, these quotes show that the village seems to withhold a punishment in which women are whipped, thus fueling this belief that women
Stefan Byker Given the patriarchal lifestyle and the lower-rank women held in Puratin societies, it is shown that Abigail Williams has been living her entire life at Rock Bottom, and her actions within The Crucible are only to keep her from falling even further, which is important because this fact provides some reasoning and understanding to her selfish, manipulative decisions. All throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams is seen lying to and manipulating people all in attempts to get what she wants and protect her reputation. Despite how heartless and dark these actions might seem, they are performed for one distinct reason: Abigail is already ranked in the lowest of the low of society, and being exposed for who she truly is—a liar who has partaken in witchcraft with her friends, Susanna Walcott, Mary Warren, Betty Parris, Tituba, and more, would bring nothing but pain, heartbreak, and quite possibly death to her. In Puratin societies, women were always considered “the weaker vessel in both body and mind” and treated poorly with disrespect, meaning that Abigail is obviously treated with this apparent disrespect. Throughout the Crucible, there are two occasions in which Abigail is at risk of being “whipped.” The first of these occasions lies on Page 1130 when Abigail attempts to convince her uncle, Samuel Parris that she was indeed not partaking in witchcraft the previous night within the woods. She says “uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it—and I’ll be whipped if I must be. But they’re speakin’ of witchcraft. Betty’s not witched.” The other lies on Page 1140 when Abigail speaks to John Proctor about how Elizabeth despises her for “no reason” and is “blackening her name in the village.” Proctor responds by angrily shaking Abigail and screaming “Do you look for whippin’?” Obviously, these quotes show that the village seems to withhold a punishment in which women are whipped, thus fueling this belief that women