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The role of Abigail in the cricible
The literary work of crucible by arthur miller
Arthur Miller's hidden meaning behind the crucible
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The Crucible Paragraphs In the Crucible by Arthur Miller most of the characters are overly complex. One of the least complex characters is Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams is least complex among the characters, but is the most insensitive character in the book. Abigail is a naïve young women who lies, and manipulates her peers to gain the power she lacks in society. Abigail is motivated by revenge, love, and power. Abigail and John Proctor had a meaningless affair in the past, but it was only “meaningless” to John. Abigail is intertwined in what she believes to be the truth: John is in love with her, and they are going to be, and are meant to be together. In Act One Abigail and John Proctor are having an argument on their “Love” for one another. Abigail says, “I have a sense for heat John, and yours has drawn me to my window, I’ve seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness. Do you tell me you’ve …show more content…
never looked up at my window?” (23) Abigail is drawn together by the allusion that he loves her when in reality he does not have those mutual feelings toward her.
Not giving up on her “reality” of the situation Abigail, out of jealously continues to rage at John about his wife not being fit for him: “Oh, how I marvel such a strong man may let such a sickly wife...” (23) Seeing that this is getting nowhere, Abigail concludes a plan. Abigail is going to see that Elizabeth is tried by the courts. Abigail tells the courts of her “suspicions” that Elizabeth is involved in witchcraft , not because she wants justice but because she wants John and without Elizabeth she will have him to herself. Later on Abigail also turns in 19 innocent people for being involved in witchcraft, when in reality they are not and she knew it. Early on in Act One Abigail is talking to Proctor and she says, “We were dancin’… she took fright is
all.” (pg.22) Abigail uses lies to justify the surrounding situations, tries to manipulate her peers to satisfy herself wants and “needs”; love, revenge, and power. Sadly Abigail is not the only one driven by power and love. But love in this case is different. Reverend Parris is the father of Betty, the “sick” child who lay in a coma. Parris is a power hungry man who only cares about how he is preserved by the community. Parris is motivated by power and love. Parris wants the people to see how powerful and how strong he is and wants them to love him. Parris may be “religious” but no man or women should be hungry for the power, only hungry for God’s graces and the health of the community. Parris wants to be seen strong and capable of placing laws and going through with them so they will perceive him as powerful and his image will still be mighty. When Parris first found out about his daughter Betty Parris being in “a coma” because of an illness or because of “witchcraft” he did not automatically jump to her side on her first outburst, but he became angry. Parris did not like the fact that this could ruin his reputation. In Act One Scene One Parris is raging at Abigail because of Betty’s condition, he is trying to get answers. When he finally realizes that this is out of his control he speaks the truth, “I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.” (10). There is no love for his daughter’s health, only for his personal satisfaction. When problems are out of his control, it horrifies him. Parris is horrified not for the sake of what might happen to the people involved, but to have his reputation being tarnished.
In act two of The Crucible, a poppet with a needle in it’s stomach is how Elizabeth is accused of stabbing Abigail. Abigail cannot let the affair she had with John Proctor seven months ago. She will do anything she can to get John Proctor for herself, even accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft. While Abigail Williams isn’t physically in act two, her dark shadow is noticed throughout the act causing trouble for the characters, especially Elizabeth Proctor.
A motivation can be described as a character having a reason to behave or act in a particular way. Someone or something can be someone's motivation. A child obeys its parents to avoid punishment or a clerk works overtime so that he can afford a better car are examples of motivation. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, characters illustrate several types of motivations. Throughout the play, Abigail is motivated by jealousy, power, and attention.
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 the Crucible there was three characters that stood out from all the other ones in this wicked story. Abigail Williams was a big influence in this story she would lie and lie to get out of things and she was also the leader of the girls in the woods. Furthermore she also had an affair with John Proctor which made John and Elizabeth relationship unstable. Also John Proctor runs into a situation at the end of the story where he is put in the position if he wants his pride of not signing that paper full of lies or die knowing he did the right thing of not lying. Additionally, Elizabeth Proctor has never lied ever until the day John was being prosecuted for his witchcraft and possibly adultery and Elizabeth lied so that his name wouldn't be ruined.
In every family, there is one child that is always very misleading and evil, and besides that, they get away with everything that they do that is unsound. The certain person in the family may break on of you mom’s favorite plate, and then end up placing the blame on you, and then persuades your parents that he or she is telling the true. Abigail Williams is the poor duplicate of that sibling or relative. She influences everyone that she is an innocent teenage girl, but that is not the case throughout the play. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail is the bona fide misleading and evil teenage girl.
Throughout the many acts of the play, we sense the anger rolling off Abigail’s words. “I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” By these words, we know that Abigail Williams is angry. She’s angry at John Proctor for trying to hide the crime he committed with her, and for the lack of closure she
The Crucible How does an individual gain so much power through trials? In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays Abigail Williams as a powerful individual by revealing her control over the younger girls and the continuous accusations she makes until the end of the play. Throughout the entire play, it is made clear that Abigail has control over the younger girls in the village. In Act 1, it is right away noticed that her way of controlling them is through causing fear by making threats.
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.
Her selfishness is evident when Abigail and her friends accuse the innocent people of Salem of witchcraft. She puts the blame on others, so she does not get punished for dancing in the woods. Abigail shows her anger towards John Proctor when she tries to accuse his wife and ultimately gets John killed. Her anger leads her to make the poor decisions of getting John killed, even though he did nothing wrong. She is a coward when she puts the blame on innocent people and runs away before John gets hung. Her craven attitude is the last flaw that ultimately leads her to run away from Salem. Abigail’s flaws eventually bring her to her downfall by the end of the
Abigail Williams is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is the main character and causes trouble everywhere she goes. The Salem Witch Trials is about hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft. In The Crucible Abigail is a no good villain. Abigail first commits adultery with Elizabeth’s husband.
How Arthur Miller Establishes the Character and Motivation of Abigail Williams in Act One and How She is Not to be Trusted
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 Williams the main character in The Crucible by Arthur Miller draws the interest of the reader as she is a wicked, confident girl who lies to get what she wants and defends her name and her life.
In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, emotions and drama are displayed. People who were guiltless, lost their lives because of one girl who was jealous and selfish. One of the main characters, Abigail, is to blame for the tragic events that happened to innocent people.
The Crucible follows the lives of those in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, through these witch trials. Although it keeps true to much of the actual witch trials, characters and events have been changed, added, or taken out. This version of the trials is mainly centered around a girl named Abigail Williams. While it does follow the lives of other characters, Abigail determined everyone’s fate in The Crucible.