Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Summary of the crucible essay
Summary of the crucible essay
Critical analysis of the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In this excerpt from the book, the reader is able to learn the true intentions and motives behind Abigail’s actions. Throughout the book one is able to see how Abigail is repeatedly trying to protect herself by creating false accusations against innocent people. Abigail tries to protect her reputation by creating a hostile atmosphere; forcing others into agreeing on lying about what actually happened in the woods. What sets this quote aside from others, is how Abigail uses threats of violence and, the belief that the she might know some form of witchcraft. Abigail uses these threats in order to try to save herself and her reputation throughout the book.
Zig Ziglar once said, “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.” I feel that this quote relating to The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, means that you have to have loyalty to have success in life. This quote explains itself in the Crucible by how Elizabeth was hurt by the affair Proctor had with Abigail. Since Elizabeth is motivated by loyalty her decision to lie in court results in her loss of John Proctor by the end of the play.
Have you ever wanted something so badly, that you would do anything to get it? Abigail Williams, one of the main protagonists in the play The Crucible, is a prime example of this. The Crucible takes place in Salem village, where over twenty people are being persecuted for witchcraft. She wanted to be with John Proctor, a married man with three children, more than anything. The extent that she was willing to go is belligerently horrific. Abigail's flaws of immaturity, jealousy, and deceitfulness led to her ultimate downfall of her beloved John being sentenced to death.
Abigail Williams is motivated to lie about her affair with John Proctor. What motivates her to lie is the thought of getting hung. Another big reason that she could be lying is for vengeance. Abigail loves John Proctor and one night they had an affair and touched. Since then, Abigail has been jealous towards John’s wife, Elizabeth. Abigail goes into the forest with some other young girls and Tituba, who makes a potion to have boys fall in love with them. This is a great example, “ABIGAIL, pulling her away from the window: I told him everything; he knows now, he knows everything we—BETTY: You drank blood, Abby! You didn't tell him that! ABIGAIL: Betty, you never say that
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigail William’s flaws – mendacity, lust, and arrogance – that led her to be responsible the most for the tragedy of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. Driven by lust, Abigail was able to lie to the Salem community in hopes of covering her and her friends’ deeds and gaining the attention of John Proctor. Her arrogance enabled her t0 advance her deceit.
Abigail's necessity for revenge makes her threaten the young ladies into following her idea of deception. “Let either of you breathe a word,” Abigail threatens, “or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”(835). Abigail knows that all the girls in the woods fear her to death. Which made the witch trials easier for her to get by. Another thing is that Abigail ends her affair with John Proctor to try to get revenge on him. “A man may think God
Her motive for accusing others of witchcraft is because she wants to get rid of Elizabeth so that she can be John’s “perfect wife,” and because she does not want to get in trouble. Abigail is the perfect foil for anyone who is even slightly honest. Elizabeth, on the other hand, “have never lied.” John Proctor said to Danforth, “There are them that cannot sing, and them that cannot weep--my wife cannot lie.” She fires Abigail as her servant when she finds out about an affair between Abigail and her husband.
Abigail Williams is accused of witchcraft early on. In order to avoid conviction she confesses to witchcraft, accuses Tituba of forcing her to drink blood and do witchcraft, and accuses Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop, Goody Sibber, Goody Hawkins, Goody Booth, and countless other innocent people in court. She throws herself down in the court and does other dramatic actions in order to convince the court that a person is in fact a witch. This leads to people being falsely accused of witchcraft and forced to accuse others in order to live. Because of Abigail's growing power in the court, people become fearful of her. One of the most important people who begins to fear her is Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth is afraid that Abigail will accuse her of witchcraft. She also gives more insight into Abigail's behavior in court. She states that Abigail will “scream and howl and fall to the floor” when the accused are brought forth (50). The people and the court begin to believe that Abigail can see who the witches are. Her words and actions become the deciding factors in a defendants fate.
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 has slept with on more than one occasion be the victim? It’s possible when the town she lives in is worse than her. Although Abigail Williams is typically thought of as the antagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, she is in fact a victim as much as any other tragic character in the play.
This is the remark Abigail makes to John Proctor about Elizabeth and what she is doing to her reputation. The main reason behind Abigail accusing so many people is that eventually the blame is put on Elizabeth. Abigail’s hopes are to have Elizabeth killed so she and John can go on living their lives together. Not only does she want to live her life with John Proctor, but Abigail is also angered at Elizabeth because of the reputation she has given her throughout the village. Her actions go to show how willing she is to ruin numerous lives in order to get revenge on Elizabeth and also get rid of Elizabeth to carry on her dreams of marrying John Proctor.
Her ability to lie, her outspokenness and developing sexuality, is unlawful against the Puritan views and deemed as evil. If convicted of the acts she has committed, including her apparent interaction with the Devil, she would face severe consequences. But to avoid this, Abigail realizes that through deceiving innocence she can control and manipulate murderous acts to save herself and her reputation. This was a new opportunity for her to expand her rule over the town. Controlling the young girls around her, Abigail uses her newfound sense of power to manipulate the group in fear. Driving them to aid her accusations, she uses them in the court to prove her claims. Abigail quickly strikes fear into the girls when she begins to hit and threaten the girls screaming, “And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring you a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller 19). By threatening the girls, Abigail easily frightens them enough to do her bidding. Using fear to her advantage is evil and this act of manipulation only furthers her antagonism. Abigail now has the ability to use facades and delusion with the loyalty of the other girls, to convince the people that it is not her conjuring spirits, but others in the town attacking
Abigail Williams is the troubled niece of Reverend Parris of Salem. She is an orphan; made so by brutal natives who killed her parents before her very eyes. The witch-hunt begins when Abigail is at the age of seventeen. She has a large role in this novel, especially on these dark events and also her relationship with John Proctor.
Abigail is wicked and confident and is not afraid to take control of situations. This is shown when she is with Parris, Abigail is respectful on the surface but she hides her resentment and disrespect. She talks back to defend her name and in Act One, she suggests to Parris," Uncle, the rumour of witchcraft is all about; I think you'd best go down and deny it yourself." She is also aggressive and forceful, the other girls are afraid of her. When Mary Warren suggested that they should confess to dancing in the woods. Abigail threatens them,."..I have seen some reddish work done at night and i can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!"
The Salem Witch looked to be so innocent, because of this she had everyone fooled. Abigail Williams went through a hard time, which gave the illusion of her innocence. Abigail should be the one held accountable for all imprisonments and execution of all the innocent people, because she lied her way through the witch trials so she could get what she wanted, and her biggest reason was to get John Proctor.
I disagree with Winona Ryder, but only to an extent. Abigail is villain of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. She is a liar and a selfish person who is ready to dispose of anyone who gets in the way of she wants. For example, in act one on page 1137, she tells her friends that she'll kill them if they say anything about what really happened in the woods. While the example very clearly shows Abigail as a vicious person, I do not believe that Abigail is alone in making herself the villain. Abby's parents were brutally murdered when she was a child and now she lives with a man that is distant and not very affectionate. Therefor, more than likely she has developed an all consuming need for attention and affirmation. So, when John Proctor seduces her
Abigails vigorous greed gets her power in the corrupt town of Salem. She got her power from the lies she told to the mystified people of the court and town. Her lies are simple yet compelling. The way she receives this power is similar to the tyrant Adolf Hitler, he said “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” Even though Abby gets the power this way it is not enough for her. She then proceeds to steal her uncle's money and vanishes. Her uncle Parris tells Judge Danforth “I believe she has vanished, I discovered my - my strongbox is broke into.”(pg.126 Act 4) Abby is so greedy that she steals from her father who caught her when it was too late. The power was not enough for Abby and she left