Preview

The Crucible Character Analysis Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
641 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Crucible Character Analysis Essay
While many dark sides were uncovered throughout the crucible, Abigail Williams is the most self-centered, dishonest and manipulative character in The Crucible because she lies to conceal her affair and avoid witchcraft accusations which therefore result in the many deaths of innocent people. One of the first and most obvious traits about Abigail is that she is a manipulative young lady. There is a very evident personality change from the beginning of the play to the end. Around the end of the first act, Abigail attempts to guilt Proctor into continuing their affair, trying to convince him that he still loves her no matter the sin (Miller). She tries by saying, “I have a sense of heat, John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have …show more content…
She caused many hangings of innocent people, along with the outburst of John Proctor confessing his adultery with Abigail. He backs himself up by saying, “Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might!—for I thought of her softly, God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat! But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands, I know you must see it now. My wife is innocent, except she know a whore when she see one.” (Miller). He confesses in hopes of proving that Abigail wants to accuse his wife of witchcraft. Ultimately, it doesn't work and Abigail once again reigns victorious. Overall, Abigail was the most selfish and manipulative characters in the The Crucible. She can guilt or scare anyone into doing anything, and she can get anyone she wants to believe her. This makes her one of the most the powerful characters. Although she is driven by her lust for John Proctor and saving her reputation, she does a lot of collateral damage trying to obtain these.
Abigail's disregards of Puritan way leaves her in this situation, but to her- all's fair in love and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the Crucible, we know that Abigail Williams is obsessed with John Proctor’s love, which motivates her to go down a villainous path. She is vindictive and a compulsive liar, which allows her to have power in the Salem Witch Trials. Here, we can apply the typical character traits of female villains.The romance element is very important to Abigail’s villainy. Abigail's behaviour in the trials is provoked by her past affair with John Proctor as well as her feelings towards Elizabeth. In this situation, Proctor is supposedly responsible for Abigail’s evil nature. The aftermath of this relationship led to the revenge attribute, in which Abigail and the other girls begin accusing people of witchcraft as a way of hopefully eliminating Elizabeth…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abigail Williams, a character from The Crucible, is a misfit archetype. A misfit archetype describes a character who doesn’t fit in with their community and surroundings. These types of characters can often display an attitude of freedom. I chose the misfit archetype for Abigail Williams because she fits into it very well. To begin with, Abigail was found conjugating with Tituba and other girls in the woods. She is also a misfit because she starts accusing fellow citizens of being witches. Arthur Miller wrote a novel called The Crucible, with a character named Abigail Williams, who fits the misfit archetype that can be connected to 21st century, the time period that The Crucible takes place, and characters, both in The Crucible, and in other novels.…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe that Abigail Williams was the villian in The Crucible. To begin with, she accused many innocent people of witchcraft. In act one for example, she accuses Tituba. Her accusations ended harming many people. Another detail that shows that she is a villain is that she runs away when things end up not going her way. In act four when she realizes that she was loosing people's attention she gets on a ship to get away from the town. As one can see, Abigail Williams is truly a horrible person.…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    She’s also a skillful liar. She is the leader of her group of girlfriends and is willing to do anything to protect herself. The angelic part of her personality is gone after the first act when it is discovered that she accused Goody Procter of witchcraft. Although Abigail seems like an innocent girl in the beginning of The Crucible, her ruthless, persuasive, and wicked personality leads her to her lustful plot to murder making her the representative of the devil she projects on others. She goes out of her way to get the troubles off of her and on to someone else. Abigail seems to bring the evil to the play. She has the willness to make her self look good and put others down. She interacts with witchcraft and believes in it. She lies about everything and tells lies to get the trouble off of her. She steals from the Reverend and runs…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    She would call witchcraft on innocent people for example John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail fancied John Proctor and was furious when John ended the affair to go back faithfully to his wife Elizabeth. Abigail accused Elizabeth of witchcraft and as a result of of Abigail’s accusation It caused John’s death. Another major reason i believe she is the villain is when she saw her town falling to pieces she stood there and filled with pride. Abigail enjoyed being able to have the power of putting a label on someone and cloud everyone's judgment. Once one of her followers backed down from…

    • 146 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    John and Abigail’s affair causes Abigail to fall love with him and wanting to kill his wife. She wanted to kill Goody Proctor so she can take her place and live happily with John Proctor. This caused John Proctor to confess that he committed adultery so he can prove that the trials are fraud and also prove that his wife is…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel of The Crucible, written by Authur Miller Abigail committed the greatest crimes. Abigail destroyed the reputations of many and killed much of her surrounding society. Her power lied in the fact that judges believed her, making all those women who fell victim to her scapegoats. She is the one who triggers off a sense of hate in the play. She tempts John Proctor into sexual activity, and to escape punishment for dancing, she deflects the actions and blames them on someone else, and does not care how many lives she ruins. “ ABIGAIL: give me a soft word, John. A soft word; PROCTOR: No, no, Abigail, that’s done with; ABIGAIL: oh I marvel how such a strong man may let a sticky wife-; PROCTOR: You’ll speak nothing of Elizabeth” (page…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Early in the play, it is established that Abigail and John Proctor have had an affair, this being the reason Goody Proctor fired Abigail and also why Abigail starts the whole fiasco in order to get of Good Proctor so she and John can be together. Why Abigail thinks calling witchery on massive amounts of people will allow her and John to be together is beyond the understanding of the writer of this essay. But for some reason, she thinks this is a good idea and proceeds to aid in the accusation and death of 19 innocent people. One who is mentally stable would surely not take such extreme actions.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the many characters that Abigail affected was John Proctor. Her love engulfs her conscience, making her want to act out and eliminate Elizabeth…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    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.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abigail Williams - 1

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Miller portrayed Abigail’s character as influential, "…strikingly beautiful girl...” (8) yet highly malicious with an "…endless capacity for dissembling…" (8) which is specified in Act 1. This represents and gives the reader an indication instantly, that Abigail can manipulate people using her looks in such a way that they crumble. As the play advances this is brought to action, especially with various members of the Salem community like John Proctor and Judge Danforth. She seduces John proctor with her looks to fulfill her loss of a man figure in her life. Furthermore, she utilizes her attractive looks to take control over the court. Abigail’s manipulation of the girls misleads the court by shifting the blame away from her and towards Mary Warren and Elizabeth. Thus, Abigail’s false pretence shows that she holds enough authority to make others follow her in her deceit, even if it is reflected as a sin.…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She has become envious of Elizabeth Proctor, who has made an effort to restore her relationship with John. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as a young girl consumed by envy; her actions and desires deviated from her ability to evoke pathos to plead why she should be with John Proctor, yet her actions led to the demolition of Salem and ultimately drove her to the path of destruction.…

    • 2325 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays