Essay On Abigail Williams In The Crucible

Sinner to Saint: Is Abigail truly malicious or is she simply misrepresented? Abigail Williams is one of the most contradictory figures within The Crucible. She is charismatic, bright and persuasive yet lacks any sense of morals or fairness. She is vindictive, selfish and reckless in her pursuit for power and affection. Such actions are seen in Act one when Betty briefly wakes up from her coma like state and begins yelling at Abigail, “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (Miller, 18) This can be seen as an act to be involved romantically once again with her former boss John Proctor, who she has an illicit affair with. After Betty’s revelation Abigail promptly shuts down any idea of rebelling
Many people in Salem, with a select few exceptions, get caught up in the hysteria and are complicit in allowing these witch trials to happen. Take Deputy Governor Danforth as an example, he is shown evidence that the accused may be innocent but is more concerned with the reputation of the court than with bringing justice to the town. He reasons that since witchcraft is an “invisible crime…Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it?” (Miller, 93) Using this logic, of lack of it, Danforth has made it almost impossible for the accused to defend themselves. We may also blame the town as a whole for being so religiously fanatical they are easily terrified by the stories that Abigail and her friends spread around. But since Danforth is the one with the most power in these proceedings, and considering he has seen factual evidence that the accused could be innocent and does nothing, he is quite responsible. Danforth was elected or appointed to make responsible decisions. Therefore, with said position of power comes more responsibility yet Danforth shows no sense of justice with this responsibility and sends many innocent people to their